Cry of the Werewolf (1944)

The estate of a lady werewolf is now a museum based on her legend. When her tomb is located her gypsy daughter is determined to protect it. Oh, and she’s a werewolf too.

Taking a cue from Son of Dracula they set the story in Louisiana, but still gave it an Eastern European feel. Nobody spoke with a southern accent and they wore winter clothes inside and out. It was December, but it still felt out of place.

The story centers on the son of the museum curator and a pretty museum worker from Transylvania. Gosh, they sure do make a cute couple. They are trying to solve the mystery of the professor’s death. And so are the cops. They have trouble putting it all together despite having all the clues handed to them. Suspicious people act suspicious.

I wanted to like Cry of the Werewolf. I really did. I wish I could edit the script while watching to fix the dialog and straighten the story out. It wouldn’t have been that hard. But it could have used more than a little tinkering. We know all the secrets early on. There is no mystery, no ambiguity, and it's a shame. I think the filmmakers simply didn’t want to ask much from the audience. We got them into the theater, why make them pay attention?

Clearly there was no budget for makeup and special effects. The wolf transformation is simply a dissolve from the shadow of the Gypsy Princess to that of a medium sized dog. Couldn’t even afford a big dog. And don't get me started on the rubber bands. On the plus side, Nina Foch was very good as the Gypsy princess trying to protect her mother’s grave. She went on to a long, successful career, so don’t feel bad for her.

As I said, I wanted to like this film, but it felt like the film didn’t want to be liked. An atmospheric werewolf story set in a spooky museum and a gypsy camp has promise for a B horror film, and the performances were pretty good. But clumsy dialog and an underdeveloped story sabotaged this effort. AMRU 2.5.