The Werewolf (1956) Directed by Fred Sears

*** ½

A few years back Turner Classics showed a couple of lesser known werewolf films back to back. Since then, I kind of continue to pair them together. This is the first time that I can remember including both of them in October (these, strangely enough, seem to be a winter pairing I fit in a double feature) besides way back in 2007 (wow, 8 years!). I reviewed the first werewolf film a few hours earlier, Cry of the Werewolf, and now I just finished The Werewolf, a film directed by Fred Sears and produced by Sam Katzman (together they made Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers, which had the luxury of Ray Harryhausen special effects), considered drive-in fodder back when it was released in the 50s.

While the sci-fi angle that produced the lycanthropy which torments the innocent out-of-towner Steve Ritch might be a bit of its time (two scientists are working to produce a cure for “radiation poisoning”, taking advantage of Ritch’s driving through their area, having crashed into a tree accidentally, and injury as a reason to experiment on him!), I think the location of Big Bear Lake (the sleepy “hunters’ town” called Mountaincreek is the epicenter of the film’s plot while its wilderness (a national forest in California) is a major draw just due to its outdoor breath of fresh air (and seeing a werewolf in its environs is quite unique) that removes us from a movie set. The cast is your basic beer-guzzling, blue collar, plaid-wearing, orange-vested alpha male bunch with even a few of their women lounging around the watering hole looking to take a few “shots”.

Ritch looks “city” and his initial scene is a fascinating contrast compared to those in the bar who pal up at a corner to chat it up, quite taken aback by his presence. Ritch does look out of place. I think this scene is quite interesting. Ritch, right out of the chute, is immediately sympathetic as his tortured face and shriveling presence indicates a soul in agony unsure of what the future holds. Suffering amnesia, a barfly with no money notices he has a twenty in change, accosts him in an alley and has his throat ripped out by Ritch who turns werewolf when antagonized. Some consider this to be homoerotic, mainly in how it is directed with the legs of both men shown protruding from the alley while entangled.

Ritch just so happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He spends the majority of the film trying to avoid capture and gunfire from eager hunters looking to nab them a dangerous animal on the prowl in the woods.

I like the werewolf look (mainly the head/face while remaining in a haggard suit), and Ritch’s performance is exactly what it should be. The tragedy of his situation and the sad realization that a poor guy, who didn’t deserve his fate (and has a worried wife and kid who just want their husband/father home), will probably end up shot down by a posse (not to be denied their chance to bring down a beast, the ending has the werewolf successfully fleeing a bridge, across rocks to the other side of its body of water only to be taken down before he can truly escape) due to an affliction that winds up killing three men (two of which caused his lycanthropy to begin with) offers plenty of dramatic pathos and layers the film with that “you can run but not hide forever from the ‘end’” inevitability.

I think upon re-evaluation The Werewolf just might be a worthy addition to any werewolf marathon during October. It has good folks who do care about Ritch (the local doctor, his niece, his niece’s sheriff fiancé, some locals who feel for him and his family…), but feel almost powerless / helpless to halt what ails him. Probably the film’s biggest scene from the emotional standpoint of the victim with lycanthropy has the sheriff agreeing to allow Ritch’s wife and kid to call out to him as he hides deep in the woods. My favorite scene has one of the “evil scientists” confronting Ritch in a cave as he realizes they might (but ultimately won’t and can’t, just basically hoping to clean up their mess by killing Ritch so he isn’t able to tell others of what they did to him) could help him, soon angered by the knowledge that he’s meant to be killed, turning werewolf from human in the process. Another scene I like has the two scientists beating the town drunk unconscious so that his laid out body could get the attention of the deputy standing watch over Ritch in a jail cell (after giving himself up). They get into the cell only to encounter Ritch turned werewolf. I like how he is turned around by them, his werewolf face startling them. I guess I just like how he surprises them before they can silence him. It is payback for what they did to him—a measure of revenge, if you will—but also adds to the eventual escape and final hunt to finish off the creature so he can’t hurt anyone else accidentally.

For a B-movie to be dismissed as piffle to be forgotten after a minor drive-in tour of duty, I think it better than such criticism. I think it certainly deserved of a “I Was a Teenage Werewolf” kind of cult fandom. Maybe someday it’ll achieve that.