Wolfman

Well, it looks like there's another contender here for the "so bad it's good" category. This is a werewolf movie that was made towards the end of a very long dry spell, after the glory days of Universal's "Wolf Man" series, and before the year 1981 brought us several great werewolf movies ("American Werewolf", "The Howling" and "Wolfen").

A man returns to his home town when his uncle dies (or, or more accurately, is murdered -- as we know from the first scene). He soon finds out that there is some kind of a curse on his family, which his grandmother is aware of and which involves some kind of an evil priest. The plot after this point is fairly predictable and straightforward. It's film-making for the sake of film-making, and there aren't very many original ideas. However, the look of the film is quite cool, and clearly it's inspired by the "Hammer Studios" productions, in which everything looks kind of like a set but has a very creepy feel to it.

The cast are generally pretty laughable. Seriously, there's no excuse for acting this bad -- hell, I've seen much better actors in local theatrical productions. The leading man has zero charisma, and even less acting ability, as clearly he was cast simply for his 'Wolf Man' appearance. This leads to some pretty hilarious scenes, for example when he delivers sentences along the lines of "Doctor, my grandmother told me that my father was a werewolf and a priest stabbed him in the heart with a silver dagger", in a complete monotone with a straight face and absolutely no emotion, you just can't help but laugh. He doesn't get a whole lot of help from the supporting male cast, but most of the female members actually seem quite competent actresses. Not that it helps much.

On the other hand, there is a sub-culture of people out there who will really enjoy this movie. If you're one of those people that collects Edward D Wood Jr's movies, or if your idea of a good time is to stay in and laugh your way through "Manos: Hands of Fate", odds are you'll really appreciate much of the badness in this movie.

It's bad. It's very, very bad. But if you're a fan of those terrible B-pictures, you'll probably find something to enjoy here.

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.

Earl is a low-key and likable actor, the storyline is basic and takes some care in introducing the characters before going into the Wolfman scenes. Some over-the-top maniacal laughter on the bad guys part early on is a riot, and shows you where they stand! It must be me but every time I watch it I think it's set in Olde England, until the Sheriff shows up and I realize it's set in the US. The name Colin Glascow doesn't help! It's not going to terrify anyone but few horror films do any more which is why plot and character is important. This gives me the feel of a retro monster mash type flick. Simplicity, the kind of film I'd make if I had a little money. Better to make an effort like this than nothing at all! It's not laughable in an Ed Wood type way, at least not to me. Maybe it's just the anti-Twilight male models, anti-CGI aspect that makes this a nostalgic nice little flick.

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????