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 She-Wolf
Of London (1946)
Synopsis
A series of brutal slayings in a London
park prompt Scotland Yard to begin looking for a werewolf.
Young debutante Phyllis Allenby has reason to believe she
may be the killer, suffering from a family condition called
the "Allenby Curse". Is she the culprit, or is it all in her
mind? Don Porter and June Lockhart star.
Shawn: Let me start off by stating that whoever arranged this
DVD set needs to be shot. Why is She-Wolf Of London before Werewolf Of London. Not that they are sequels,
but they aren't arranged in any logical fashion.
Cary: Agreed. However, I have a better question: why is She-Wolf even on here?
****Spoiler alert****
There's NO GODDAMN WEREWOLF!!!
Shawn: If
not for the ending, She-Wolf would be a very good companion
piece to Jacques Tourneur's Cat People.
Cary: I could see that.
Shawn: It's very much a psychological horror film, which NONE
of the other Universal pictures really are. It's far too ambiguous,
and then the ending that comes straight out of a dime-novel
takes even that away. So yeah, I am thinking that it
was included because they never would have released it otherwise. That said - I really enjoyed it.
Cary: It has as much to do with werewolves as The Hounds Of The
Baskervilles does. I didn't enjoy it, but probably because
I came into it with expectations.  For
instance, being as it was on The Wolf Man Legacy Collection set, I expected A GODDAMN WEREWOLF!! I will not shout anymore,
but honestly, I felt let down by this one. Even watching it
this time (which was my second time), I felt let down.
Shawn: I have this great horror film reference book called Creature
Features by John Stanley. This was the only film on any
of these sets not included. I wondered why... until I watched
it. It's interesting on a Noir-Lite basis, but it really,
really doesn't belong here. But then this would have
been a short set.
Cary: This set probably lacks the most when it comes to sequels,
actually. I think it hurts that the other movies featuring
this character were named after other monsters. Still, they
should have just provided commentaries for the three films
that had werewolves and moved on.
Werewolf Of London
(1935)
Synopsis
A young botanist travels to Tibet in
search of the fabled "Marifasa Lupina", which only blooms
in the moonlight. However, he is attacked and injured while
in the region, and upon his return to London, discovers he
has become a werewolf. The answer to his cure lies in the
mysterious flower he brought back with him, but there is another
werewolf on the prowl. This one has followed him back from
Tibet and is determined to steal the cure for himself. Henry
Hull stars in what is actually the original Universal werewolf
movie.
 Shawn: What did you think about Werewolf Of London, because
I dug the hell out of it.
Cary: This was one I was seriously looking forward to the minute
I picked up this set. I used to read Famous Monsters of
Filmland religiously growing up and there were a number
of issues with stills from this movie. I really like it. I
think it's great on this set in that it predates the feature
title, and still, the makeup effects are comparable.
Shawn: Wow, Famous Monsters. I miss that magazine. I think
I only got into it towards the very tail end. I was
really impressed with the quality of the print on this one.
It looks amazing for its age.
 Cary: Agreed. If you didn't know better, you would think it was
a Wolf Man sequel. Also, as the documentary points
out, this is totally an Elvis werewolf. I kept waiting for
him to break out into a rockabilly song.
Shawn: I liked how, as he changed, he momentarily would pass
by an obstruction, and as we see him again, more make-up is
applied. That was cool, and I actually think it works
better than The Wolf Man transition scenes because
it seems so seamless.
Cary: I agree. I do still love The Wolf Man transitions,
though. Especially the hospital scene in Frankenstein Meets
The Wolf Man. The obstruction bit works very well, though.
The whole flower thing was different and kind of cool. I liked
that twist on what we normally see in werewolf "lore".
 Shawn: Especially since the wolfsbane wasn't used as a werewolf
cure in the Wolf Man films.
Cary: One thing I thought was hilarious, though, was the way the
Tibetan werewolf looked as he peered over the rocks at his
victim. I don't ever think I've used the word "goofy" to describe
a monster before, but he really looks goofy.
Shawn: It was a simpler time, and you could tell no one was really
banking on the success of Werewolf Of London. Nothing
about this really screamed "franchise starter."
Cary: No. Actually, the only thing about this that I didn't like
was the ending. Why is it that once he's shot he can suddenly
wax poetic about his life and the love he's lost... while
still in complete werewolf form?
Shawn: I nearly forgot about that moment. Oh, I did want
to say that Aunt Ettie could really party with Minnie from Bride Of Frankenstein, since they are both the most
annoying pepper pot bitches cinema has ever seen.
Special Features
. Stephen Sommers on Universal's Classic Monster: The Wolf Man
. Monster By Moonlight: An Original Documentary
. Feature Commentary by film historian Tom
Weaver
. Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man Theatrical
Trailer
. She-Wolf Of London Theatrical Trailer
. Werewolf Of London Theatrical Trailer
 Cary: We've hit up the extras a couple of times in the chat so far.
What did you think of the commentary on this one?
Shawn: I think this was my favorite commentary. Tom Weaver says
a lot, and talks about a ton of unfilmed scenes. Plus, he
has a New York accent that makes everything said seem completely
conversational instead of lectured.
Cary: I completely agree. It's not my favorite, but it is damn close.
The commentary was fun on this one. I like Weaver's delivery
a lot, and he keeps me entertained much more than some of
the other film historians. Not to sound like a broken record
here, but this documentary is pretty good. I like that they
had some interview footage with Curt Siodmak (the screenwriter).
Shawn: Yeah, all of the Universal docs have been pretty goddamned
impressive. There isn't a bad one of the bunch.
Cary: The trailers are good, but again, overall, this one has much
less to work with than the other sets and I think it suffers
from that.
Shawn: Yeah, like no trailer for the main film.
Cary: But damned if we didn't get one for She-Wolf Of London!
 Shawn: Bitter much?
Cary: Is it too much to ask that we get a female werewolf here?
Jesus!
Shawn: I would love a female werewolf! Haven't you seen Howling
II? Sybil Danning shows her tits like 40 fucking times.
It's AWESOME. Plus it's got Christopher Lee.
Cary: That's the only part of that film that is awesome. That's
another review, though. I'd like to add that this is the first
set of films in which neither of us has made any reference
to the hotness of a leading lady... including She-Wolf.
Shawn: You're right, and that is sad, because She-Wolf does have some babes. Of course, they are all morose and think
they are killers, so they wouldn't be cool to party with.
Cary: It's time to wrap this up. I give this 3.0 pants, my chief
complaints being too few films and no extra commentaries on
the ones they have. I mean, I'd totally give this one extra
love if they had a commentary on Werewolf Of London.
That would be awesome.
Shawn: I think I would be more generous with a 3.5, but the fact
that the extra films aren't in order and are light on the
features really strikes a blow. That said, though,
I still think The Wolf Man and Frankenstein
Meets The Wolf Man definitely belong in every horror fan's
collection.
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