THE WEREWOLF On Blu-ray From Arrow

 

It's back to Arrow Video's COLD WAR CREATURES: FOUR FILMS FROM SAM KATZMAN Blu-ray set. This time I'll be looking at THE WEREWOLF (1956). 

THE WEREWOLF is by far the best film in this set. It's not as outlandish as the other entries, and it's downbeat and realistic tone makes it stand out. 

In a small remote Northern California community, a violent creature is on the loose--but it's actually a man who has been injected, without his knowledge, by an experimental serum. The man, named Duncan Marsh (Steven Ritch) has no idea what is happening to him, or why he essentially changes into a werewolf. The local sheriff (Don Megowan) is determined to protect the locals, while his girlfriend nurse (Joyce Holden) wants to help the man and find out the reasons behind his plight. Also on the lookout for Marsh is his wife and young son, and the two doctors (George Lynn & S. John Launer) who are responsible for his condition. The doctors don't want to help Marsh--they want to kill him to prevent exposure of their activities. 

THE WEREWOLF has a distraught, put-upon man on the run, who doesn't comprehend what's wrong with him, it's in black & white, and it has a tragic ending. I would call THE WEREWOLF a "rustic noir", since it takes place in a rural, wooded setting. Steven Ritch is very good as the sympathetic Marsh. There's nothing extraordinary about Ritch as an actor, but that makes his situation all the more real. The two doctors who secretly experimented on Marsh are not Mad Scientist types, but bland ordinary fellows, which makes them seem more dangerous. The small town setting is clearly defined by director Fred Sears, and his use of the snowy outdoor locales makes the story stand out from the usual sci-fi/horror fare of the same period. 

Don Megowan (who played the transformed Gill Man in THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US) is the by-the-book sheriff, while Joyce Holden is good as the sympathetic nurse. Eleanore Tanin plays the sad role of Marsh's wife. 

The look of the werewolf in this film resembles a lycanthrope from another Columbia film, 1943's THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE. It's still an effective makeup job--and because Marsh's rages are triggered by anger instead of the full moon, we get to see him transformed in full daylight. 

As in the other films included in this set, THE WEREWOLF gets plenty of extras. There's an introduction to the movie by Kim Newman, and he briefly discusses the career of director Fred Sears, then talks a bit about the movie's combination of science-fiction and traditional horror elements. There's a visual essay called BEYOND WINDOW DRESSING, written and narrated by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. In it she examines the leading female characters in each of the Sam Katzman films in this set. There's also a very pedantic audio commentary by Lee Gambin (he believes there are a LOT of subtexts in this low-budget 80 minute B movie). Also on this disc is a short 8mm version of the film, a trailer, and an image gallery. Like the rest of the films in the set, there's a reversible disc cover, and three mini lobby cards in the case. 

THE WEREWOLF is the most notable feature in Arrow's Sam Katzman set. It has a thoughtful, almost realistic tone....so much so that one is a bit surprised that Katzman produced it.