The Werewolf (1956) by Fred F. Sears

Director: Fred F. Sears

Year: 1956

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Werewolf

Plot:

Following a strange accident, a small-town sheriff is forced to believe that the attacks are caused by a stranger passing through town who claims he is a werewolf created in an experiment, and they try whatever they can to capture the creature before it can do more harm.

Review:

This one isn't that bad, with some solid points about it. One of the best parts of this one is the fact that it has a really great way of making the werewolf a really interesting creature, where not only does it have a unique way of bringing about the change, but it also creates a more era-appropriate style monster. This gives the creature a little extra it might otherwise be missing as being a generic werewolf, and it does have a better, more impressive tone throughout here due to that, with how it turns the creature's origin loose on the small-town wilderness. The design isn't that terrible for the time, having the classic look to it with the hair pattern, but the inclusion of a much more fearsome and intimidating set of fangs, complete with drool, is a nice touch. What also seems to be a positive is that there's a large amount of action for it, and these are what make the film an overall enjoyable one with a steady stream of nice scenes.

From the opening attack on the mugger to the first chase into the woods as they attempt to track him down, these are quite fun with plenty to like about them. The finale is the best scene since it travels through the forest, over a mountain, onto a road, down a bridge, and into a gorge where the final confrontation takes place, where the relentless chasing of the villagers along the way makes it a really great action scene. Along with the easy pace, these are the movie's main positive points.

This one here doesn't have a whole lot of flaws. The biggest issue is that the werewolf has a lot of traditions changed around. There's the fact that silver bullets don't kill it and regular ones do, especially in werewolf form, as regular bullets stop it in werewolf form, which is a big change to the traditions. The biggest ones, though, are that it transforms during daylight hours, which very rarely happens, and although this one does have a really unique way of coming into being, it still gets the powers of a werewolf without the bite or wound. Some of these changes aren't quite that impressive here, with some really lame afterthoughts, and won't be all that embraced by true fans.

Another big flaw is all of the family drama in the film. There's really no need for all of it, and it really drags down the film. The big flaw is that this one displays a real piece of stupidity that shouldn't have been with the werewolf locked up. The reason why it's let loose from the cage is a mystery, as it feels like it's there mainly to stretch out the film a little bit, but it doesn't even need to be there anyway because of that angle of just stretching out the film by letting the werewolf get loose again to go out on a rampage. These flaws stop the film somewhat.

Overview: ***/5

Better than it should be as a generally cheesy genre effort, this one manages to get really enjoyable when it wants to be even though there are some flaws here holding this one down. Those with an appreciation for this era of genre fare or who enjoy the style of drive-in movies will have the most to like here while most others out there should heed caution.