Face of the Screaming Werewolf

I'm sorry, but I have a totally different opinion on this movie - if you can name it a "movie". If you want to see Lon Chaney Jr in his last Wolf Man theatrical appearance, it's better for you to catch the original version of this film, LA CASA DEL TERROR, Mexico 1959, directed by Gilberto Martinez Solares. As usual, Mr. Warren totally destroyed an excellent film in cutting about one-third, mixing it with elements of a Rafael Portillo mummy film totally unrelated with the other, and (always as usual) putting his name on a film made by others. Not only the original LA CASA DEL TERROR is an excellent film, but the comic elements (with Tin Tan) are well integrated with the horror segments, as it was the case in ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, also with Chaney...

Well, having just previously watched La casa del terror, I now have also seen this-Face of the Screaming Werewolf-which contains footage of La casa del terror and La momia azteca, both Mexican-made horror movies. The Lon Chaney Jr. footage from the former is still not very exciting. Also dull is the new footage directed by Jerry Warren who's the producer who stitched this movie together and not very well since his new segments look very different, lighting-wise, from the Mexican footage assembled with it. The only parts I liked were the ones from La momia azteca which I've yet to watch in its entirety. So on that note, Face of the Screaming Werewolf only gets a 2 from me....

If you read Rudolph Grey's excellent "nightmare in ecstasy", you will find a passage that refers to Edward D. Wood Jnr. directing Lon Chaney Jr. as a wolfman climbing up the outside of a building for promotional reasons. Is this a previously uncredited entry in the Wood CV?

Seriously, I know the B-movie world is a strange place ... but have you honestly ever heard anything quite so preposterous and pointless? Here, filmmaker Jerry Warren (who later made Frankenstein Island) threw together two Mexican horror movies, "La Casa Del Terror" and "La Momia Azteca". No, really. He took two movies, and edited them together into one. He recorded his own scenes in order to combine them in some plot about a woman leading a team of archaeologists to find two ancient and evil mummies, one of whom is a mummified werewolf ... and it all makes absolutely no sense.

A bunch of scientists using mental regression hypnotise a woman and she describes a pyramid. When they take her to visit the pyramid, she has a flashback to a song-and-dance tribal ritual. And the ritual scene goes on. And it goes on. And it goes on. Just when you're beginning to wonder if Warren can't get more than THIS out of two whole movies, they finally venture inside the pyramid. And they venture. And they venture. Oh sweet Jesus, when is this movie going to start? Then they're attacked by stock footage of a mummy. Eek! And from here on, it only becomes even more of a big, stinking mess.

What is there to say about this movie? The script is unbearable. The acting is amateur (don't be surprised if you see them glancing right at the camera). The soundtrack is ludicrous and intrusive. While the production values of the original Mexican movies hold up, Warren's sets are far from convincing. The way the various scenes are edited together is often hilariously bad. There is no narrative flow whatsoever. Scenes drag on and on, while the viewer has no idea what's supposed to be happening. They say if something's worth doing it's worth doing well, but this movie was never worth doing. It's a bad idea, badly executed, and I feel sorry for the innocent cinema-goers back in 1964 who must have wondered what the hell they were being subjected to.

"Face of the Screaming Werewolf" stands among the worst movies ever made. If you want to see Lon Chaney's final big-screen performance as a werewolf, try and find the original "La Casa del Terror". And if you're looking for anything resembling quality, ignore this piece of trash. If you like bad movies, however, by all means check it out ... but keep your finger on the 'fast forward' button.

A bad movie can be fun--especially if the film doesn't take itself seriously or is so over the top that you cannot believe they'd make such a monstrosity. However, many times they're just bad--devoid of fun in any way. Into which category would I put "Face of the Screaming Werewolf"? Read on...

Some scientists head to Mexico for archaeological doings. There, a group of Aztecs (???) dance about in long, boring choreographed production numbers. The scientists discover a couple mummies and take them back home. For kicks, they revive one of them and it turns out he's ALSO a werewolf!! Then, after ripping off one of their friend's faces, he faints--exhausted from all that face- ripping. So what do they do? Work harder to revive the monster! And, wouldn't you know it, the other mummy wakes up and has a really bad attitude as well.

Does ANY Of this make the least bit of sense? Not at all--which isn't surprising considering the film's pedigree. Jerry Warren Productions took two Mexican films (one of which I saw and it was the god-awful original "Aztec Mummy" film--the other "House of Terror") and chopped them to pieces and added a bit of new material with a very faded American star, Lon Chaney Jr.--who at this point was a rather sad alcoholic. The film is just as awful as you'd expect given the circumstances under which it was made! And, as a result it's rather random and incomprehensible at times.

So is this one bad enough to enjoy? Yes and no. Yes, you and your friends could watch it together and laugh at how incompetent the mess of a film is. However, I also say no because it's even more fun to watch original film "The Aztec Mummy" because it's unintentionally hilarious--as are the follow-up films (especially "The Aztec Mummy Against the Humanoid Robot"!).