Cry of the Werewolf

Entertaining take on the werewolf legend as established by Curt Siodmak in The Wolfman, blended with elements of Val Lewton's The Cat People. Interesting differences between this and The Wolfman are that the werewolf is a woman and she actually transforms into a four-legged wolf. Surely this last decision was made to save money on expensive makeup and transformation seems, but the transformations are handled with clever use of shadows and editing. The lead actors are competent, if bland, but Barton Maclane stands out as the police lieutenant, with some wonderfully written, very funny moments of sardonic exasperation and commentary. His character is also written as more open-minded than most stock police detective characters in these films. Atmospheric, fun, overlooked and underrated, Cry of the Werewolf is a must-see for fans of werewolf movies and/or classical Hollywood horror.

Note: as with so many movies of that era, there is racist content in this film. It includes the appropriation and distortion of Gypsy culture and African people, and the purely servile presence of African-Americans in one brief scene.

CRY OF THE WEREWOLF is about a legend, a family secret, and a curse. There are gypsies, a devil doll, and a Transylvanian connection! Is the gypsy princess Celeste (Nina Foch) more than she appears to be? Of course, there's a werewolf as well, with a bit of a twist. Several deaths occur as the beast tracks down those who could expose the gypsy tribe.

Police Lt. Barry Lane (Barton Maclane) is stumped, while Bob Morris (Stephen Crane) does some snooping of his own. One of the best parts has him sneaking around the basement vaults at a mortuary, while the werewolf pursues him. Will Bob uncover the truth, before his fiancee, Elsa (Ossa Massen) becomes part of the tribe?

Indeed, there's a certain CAT PEOPLE vibe to this movie. Suspenseful and mysterious, COTW is a very entertaining entry in its sub-genre..

EXTRA POINTS FOR: Viewers spotting the rubber band around the poor wolf's snout to make him look more fierce! It sort of works, until it becomes obvious he's just trying to get it off!...

One of Columbia's attempts to muscle in on the Universal-dominated horror market. This B movie has the distinction (apparently) of being the first 'talkie' to feature a female werewolf. Nina Foch is Romany Princess Celeste LaTour, who as the daughter of a werewolf (her mother) has the ability to change into a wolf at will (no waiting for the full moon for her). When the closely guarded secret location of her mother's tomb is discovered by a professor of the occult, Celeste embarks on a mission to kill whoever she needs to to keep that information from falling into the hands of non-Romanies.

Unlike 'Larry Talbot' in Universal's The Wolf Man a couple of years before, this werewolf is no tragic figure; Celeste embraces what she is, and is merciless in dispatching anybody she needs to. There are obvious influences of Cat People (1942), even to the extent of a scene of the wolf stalking someone in a basement storeroom heavily mirroring Cat People's swimming pool scene. Foch is very good (she went on to have a decent career, earning an Oscar nomination). The beautiful Osa Massen features as Elsa, the professor's assistant; she may not have had the talent of Foch, but she more than makes up for it in sheer presence. Effects (if you can call them that) are limited to some pretty unconvincing fades/dissolves from Foch to an Alsation for the transformations, and a rubber band around the dog's jaw to expose its teeth more! Fun movie that needed a bigger budget. 6/10.

There are some good moments in this film. At the center is Nina Foch who plays a gypsy princess who can become a wolf at will. It is her purpose to keep the gypsy band together by killing off those who know about her abilities. But a scientist begins to invade their domain. He is killed but it leads to his son and fiancee trying to figure out what happened. One down side is the keystone kops police force. Even if they don't believe in werewolves, they could be a tad more competent.

After looking at the list of werewolf movies on Wikipedia, I remembered this particular one was on YouTube so after watching Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man on YT, I decided to watch this one there since it was next in my chronological list of werewolf movies to watch list. Nina Foch-who I mainly remember from An American in Paris-is quite compelling as the title character as she tries to keep people outside of her gypsy family from finding out about her secret. The setting is New Orleans, Louisiana, which is a two-hour drive from my current residence of Baton Rouge but I'm guessing that this was shot on the Columbia backlot. Perhaps part of me was confused by some of the details in the story but for the most part, I was enthralled at Cry of the Werewolf. So, yes, that's a recommendation!