Wolfman

A long-absent relative of a cursed family returns home, only to find that he has been chosen by the others to carry the burden of their ancient curse...lycanthropy.

There is a certain naive charm to Earl Owesby's movies...they are schlock, no question, but the obvious earnestness put into them is...uh...cute? That said, WOLFMAN is an altogether watchable piece of poo, and manages to come out at least *looking* like something better than it is...a fairly well shot little horror film with very little attention payed to the details of the Victorian setting in which it takes place. The primary characters are attired in late 19th century costume, but peripheral characters have a laughable "come as you are, but try to look kinda Victorian" style.

Not scary, and not really good-bad, but mildy amusing despite itself. 4/10

I can just barely remember being taken to this movie as a 5 year old child in '79. My parents were going out on the town and were leaving me with an Aunt (who enjoyed horror movies evidently). She took me and my older cousin to see this movie and exposed me to my first taste of horror cinema. I haven't seen this movie since that night (I'm now 29) but since it has now come to DVD, I might have to check it out, just for kicks. Even though the reviews of this movie are awful, it truly scared the hell out of a five year old kid back in '79.

Wolfman (1979)

** (out of 4)

After the death of his father, Colin Glasgow (Earl Owensby) returns to the family estate where he begins to learn some dark secrets about his father. One is that his father was actually murdered. Another secret is a mysterious Satan worshiping events. And, finally, there's the fact that he's now turning into a werewolf and killing the locals.

WOLFMAN is a somewhat notorious film but then again everything Owensby did was somewhat legendary or notorious. He basically went from rags to riches and his love of movies had him begin to make them. This film was obviously inspired by the Universal series with Lon Chaney and while it's not a good movie it's certainly a rather interesting one to watch.

I say that because the film is a bit too long for its own good and some of the performances aren't that good. I'd also argue that the direction could have been much better. I could also add that the film has too slow of a pace to make it very entertaining. You could go even further by saying that there's a very non-professional feel about the entire picture. All of this stuff would be true but there's still some charm about the picture.

It has a very regional feel to it and I must say that the old time setting actually works and looks much more believable than you'd see out of your typical Andy Milligan picture. Like Milligan this film like the costume period setting and it looks real at least. I'd also argue that Owensby wasn't a great actor but he does have a certain charm here that leaps off the screen and makes you like his character and performance.

Finally, WOLFMAN does at least succeed whenever the actual werewolf is on the screen. The make-up effects are quite good with a strong resemblance to the Paul Naschy films of the era. The death scenes are more old-fashioned as there's nothing too graphic or gory. Again, there are a lot of warts here but at the same time this is a somewhat interesting take on the familiar story.

if you rent this movie, do it solely for a laugh, as it is one of theeee worst flicks i have ever seen. the acting is way below sub par. look for a story set in the civil war era, where you use a kerosine lamp at night but when colin goes into the toolshed, he turns on a lightbulb!!!! also look for the main actors to be dressed in period attire except the village mob who are all dressed in somewhat current fashions. (did they really have nylon windbreakers during the civil war??) smoking monkeys could have done a better job.....and what's with the doctor with his borscht belt accent????

Colin Glasgow, a businessman, arrives back in his old hometown when his father passes away, only to find that the man's will prohibits him from leaving for at least a month. Checking the will, Colin finds that it has been forged. But that is not the least of it – his cousins & an evil devil-worshipping priest have maintained a curse over the family's male members, turning them into werewolves. As Colin tries to uncover the mystery over the curse, he slowly becomes a werewolf.

Worth Keeter has made a name for himself, directing many episodes of the inexplicably popular 1990s television craze Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. He also made a number of slick but really poorly written genre films such as Last Lives & the rather offensive Memorial Day. Wolfman was Keeter's first film & true to form features many of the same qualities that made his later works such laugh riots.

Wolfman is basically a werewolf film done in the old school time-lapse & yak hair face masks that were pioneered back when the werewolf film was a new thing. But the time that the film was made was ready to usher in a whole new breed of transformation effects that were introduced in films such as THE HOWLING & An American Werewolf in London – effects that would make the type of stuff shown here obsolete.

Wolfman also suffers from a lack of narrative drive – indeed for a horror film, the film doesn't go very far with its premise (or more to the point, doesn't get much mileage from its central idea). The film is stuck in the mystery angle that would ironically mar many later Howling sequels. There are also the little things that suggest a mediocre production – the microphone on star Earl Owensby's coat making a tearing sound when he reaches over to kiss his co-star & several slight anachronisms to be seen in the background. Despite being the last film to feature the old type of transformation effects, Wolfman does a fair job in this area & the climax is reasonable for this type of film. If nothing else, Wolfman does a slightly better job of making a werewolf mystery than some of the crass Howling sequels.