Werewolf of London (1935)

Bet you thought I forgot what month it is, didn't you?

That's right, it's MONSTER MONTH.  I've been super busy for the past couple of weeks, but I couldn't let October slip by without doing at least one classic monster review.

So here we go: Werewolf of London.  1935.  Universal Studios.  Six years before it's much more famous younger brother 'The Wolf Man'.  As a monster fan it's fascinating to watch a werewolf movie that came before the werewolf movie that all the other werewolf movies got their inspiration from.

Our story starts out in the foothills of the Himalayas.  Our protagonist is Wilfred Glendon, a British botanist questing after a rare flower that only blooms in the light of the moon.  It's natural habitat is a secluded valley that is said to be haunted.  Despite the refusal of the native guides to continue and the warnings to turn back, Wilfred pushes on to the valley.  He discovers the coveted moon flower, but is attacked by a humanoid wolf creature!  And bitten on the arm!  Oh No's!  He manages to fight off the beast and return to England with his botanical discovery.

Turns out all is not well in the Glendon household.  Wilfred is a workaholic scientist you rarely leaves his lab, and he is neglecting his wife Lisa, a socialite who keeps trying to pry her husband away from his experiments and go to fancy parties.  Even though he is busy trying to get the moon flower to bloom with artificial grow lights, he agrees to leave the lab long enough to attend a botanical society gathering.  It is here that he meets Lisa's close childhood friend, Paul, and seeds of jealousy are sown.  He also meets one Dr. Yogami, a fellow scientist who mysteriously know all about the moon flower and the werewolf who attacked Wilfred.  Warner Oland, best known as film's famed Hawaiian detective Charlie Chan, is playing Dr. Yogami here.

Dr. Yogami reveals that the moon flower is the only known antidote for werewolfism, and that he was the werewolf who attacked Wilfred in Tibet.  He begs Wilfred for a sample of the flower before the next full moon.  Wilfred doesn't seem to believe his story, but Dr. Yogami leaves him with a warning: He two will become a werewolf - and a werewolf will destroy the thing it loves the most!

Prolonged exposure to the artificial grow lights brings about a change in Wilfred.  He begins to transform!  He quickly injects himself with fluid from the moon flower, and reverses the transformation.

Lisa continues to socialize with her friends - and Paul - and Wilfred grows increasingly jealous, feeling like he is unable to participate until he has sorted out the werewolf business.  Dr. Yogami breaks into Wilfred's lab just before the full moon and steals several of the moon flowers!  Now Wilfred can no longer stave off the transformation himself!

Wilfred's first real werewolf transformation is really well. done.  after his hands transform he stumbles down a hallway lines with pillars.  As he passes each pillar his face has more and more wolf features.  This does away with the stopmotion style transformation of 'The Wolfman' where Lon Chaney moves ever so slightly between takes, causing a slightly jerky transformation.  You could easily argue that the Werewolf of London has better Werewolf makeup as well, as they don't cover actor Henry Hull's entire face in hair.  Sometimes less is more.

Wilfred dons a hat and trenchcoat and begins to stalk the streets of London.  He ends up looking more like Jack the Ripper then your typical werewolf.  He ends up attacking Lisa's socialite aunt at a house where she and her friends are having a party.  He is scared off though, but ends up committing a murder elsewhere in London.

Human Wilfred is frantically trying to get the moon flower to bloom again.  His wife begs him to go out with her and Paul that evening, and he agrees out of fear of loosing her, but backs out of it at the last minute when the flower fails to bloom.  He gives the excuse that he has to leave town for a few days to do urgent, um, top secret science stuff, and she goes off with Paul in a huff.  Wilfred goes to a quaint little tavern/inn and locks himself in his room, but is unable to fight the transformation and once again stalks the night streets of London.

The urban setting is one of the big things that separates this movie from 'The Wolfman'.  'The Wolfman' has a chilling atmosphere of spooky mist filled forests, and like I said earlier, Wilfred with his trenchcoat in the back alleys of London gives off more of a Jack the Ripper vibe.  As most of Wilfred's victims are women I'd say this was an intentional comparison.

The police are baffled by these murders, and they eventually come to the conclusion that there are TWO killers, as the murders are happening in two separate locations.  Wilfred keeps sneaking off to his lab to check on the last moon flower bud, hoping it will bloom before he kills again - fearing that his next victim will be Lisa.  But Dr. Yogami is also there waiting for him...

This can't end well, can it?  Because werewolf stories always end in tragedy, and 'Werewolf of London' is no exception.

How is 'Werewolf of London'?  Well, personally, even though the transformation effects and werewolf makeup may be better, you just can't beat 'The Wolfman' in my opinion.  Henry Hull's acting is a little stiffer than Lon Chaney's - in the way that 30's acting just is a little stiffer than '40s acting - but I don't think his character is as likable.  'Werewolf of London' does have atmosphere, but it can't top the spooky forests of 'The Wolfman.'  Although, I suppose a monster stalking an urban area at night should be scarier than a monster stalking the woods at night.  I mean, nobody says you HAVE to go into a spooky woods at night, right?

Point is, I can definitely see why 'The Wolfman' is the preferred classic.  But if you love classic werewolves, give 'Werewolf of London' a try.

-Geekboy.