Saturday, March 10, 2012

Werewolf Of London (1935)




This was a great Saturday afternoon choice. I got into it's theatrical presentation complete with beautiful costumes, sets and for the time period, very believable wolf man make-up. I thought I had seen the first werewolf movie from Universal Studios but The Wolf Man with Lon Chaney Jr. didn't come out until 1941.

I liked how the transformation into a werewolf is not overdone and the inflicted botanist can still make his way around the city wearing his cloak and hat and shoes. Nothing gets ripped or torn or stained. If not for his 9 day growth of facial hair (and six inch fangs) you wouldn't know he was changed at all.


I love how no one gave a shit about logic because audiences at the time never asked themselves those kinds of questions. Lots of hammy over-acting is this one but it stands up as an early and little seen classic in the Universal monster movie genre.

7/10

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

He's the hairy-handed gent,
Who ran amuck in Kent -
But lately he's been overheard in Mayfair.
Better stay away from him,
He'll rip your lungs out, Jim.
Heh - I'd like to meet his tailor...

Awooo...

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

This one has been on my "To-See" list for a long time now. Best I've been able to find is an upload on YouTube broken up into eight parts. Unless I can sneak it onto my Dad's Netflix queue (As a huge Charlie Chan fan I'm sure he'd watch anything with Warner Oland) I may have to just settle for that.

Phenomenal Poster Though, I'd never seen that one before, thanks much for sharing it!

Cal's Canadian Cave of Coolness said...

I just came across it on the bit torrent and took a chance.