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Film: Werewolf of London
Year: 1935
Director: Stuart Walker
Writer: John Colton
Starring: Henry Hull, Warner Oland and Valerie Hobson
Review:
This was a film that I’m not entirely sure about when I first learned about it. It could be one that I looked over due to being a similar title to An American Werewolf in London, which I’m guessing that later film did as a homage here. This is one though that I didn’t realize is a lesser seen Universal Classic film. I had to do a bit of searching, but was able to see this as a Voyage through the FiVes watch.
Synopsis: a strange animal attack turns a botanist into a bloodthirsty monster.
This starts in Tibet. Dr. Wilfred Glendon (Henry Hull) and Hugh Renwick (Clark Williams) are here searching for a rare flower. They meet a Buddhist monk who tells them about the valley where it is found and also warns them to not go down there. It is a place where people enter but never leave. They still go ahead with their search for the Mariphasa lupina lumina. It is in this valley that Wilfred finds it. He is attacked by a strange animal from the synopsis. His arm is scarred in the process.
Our duo then returns to London. Wilfred lives with his wife, Lisa (Valerie Hobson). She is part of society with the likes of Ettie Coombes (Spring Byington). Wilfred likes to be left to his research. He does own a large garden of rare plants including the Venus flytrap. It is open to the public and gets several visitors. It is around this time that Paul Ames (Lester Matthews) shows up. He was a childhood friend of Lisa. Things are made awkward when events of the past are brought up. Wilfred also grows jealous of this history.
There is another man who shows up, Dr. Yogami (Warner Oland). He knows about Wilfred’s trip and inquiries about the specimen of flower he brought home. Wilfred is intrigued that this strange doctor knows about it, but refuses to allow him to help with his experiments to make it bloom. That is a struggle currently. Dr. Yogami also comes with a warning. The evenings of the full moon will result in Wilfred becoming a werewolf. He doesn’t heed this warning though.
That is until he sees a change come over him. He is working with his assistant and uses a device to simulate moonlight. Wilfred’s arm changes. He needs to use the flower like Dr. Yogami said. There is a party coming up that Lisa wants her husband to join her at. He starts to change and wants her to leave before he becomes violent. We also see that someone takes two bulbs of this flower that are blooming. Wilfred goes to get them to prevent his change, but they're gone. Part of the warning was that he would attack those that he cares most about, which leads to this beast form of Wilfred going to the party where his wife is.
I think that is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to then start is by saying I’m shocked this doesn’t get more love. It seems like this one starts lore that would be continued to be used. It is expanded more for The Wolf Man, but it seems this is the first to incorporate the idea of the full moon. This is just an observation as I’ll end this section saying that I enjoyed what this is doing.
Now that I’ve set that up, it makes me wonder if Gary Brandner saw this ahead of penning his trilogy of novels, The Howling. Again, I’d bet other werewolf films and lore also influenced it, but this one bases the creature in Tibet where Brandner had his in Australia. These are two different places that share the fact that they’re both isolated locations. I’ve seen Tibet, which is where the Himalayas are where we usually get yeti or sasquatch creatures. I love this idea that there is a rare flower that grows due to the isolation. Its properties affect the werewolf so that correlation also works. I like the setup where two people from the modern world travel to this remote location, get attacked and bring the curse back home.
I am going to shift and share a nitpick here. The moon doesn’t produce its own light. It is light that reflects from the sun so moonlight having the power to do anything doesn’t truly make sense. I’m not going to be a stickler and there could be more to this. Then to move from there, I do find it interesting that we’re getting an odd variation of the mad scientist film. Wilfred becomes cursed due to his trip looking for this flower. His research is then to get it to bloom which changes it to trying to find a cure. I still like playing with these concepts to do something different. His research does cause friction with his marriage as he focuses more on it than doing social things with his wife. This drives her into the arms of a man who truly cares about her. In Wilfred’s defense. After his return from Tibet, he is cursed and needs to find a cure before it is too late.
Now on the other side here, we have the character of Dr. Yogami. I don’t want to call him a villain. He is hiding a secret and he reveals information to Wilfred so he is an expert. His secret was obvious with his knowledge of the flower. He is the reason that Wilfred is in this state, but that’s also the fault of that character for his search for the flower. Dr. Yogami gives a warning that isn’t heeded and this is where he does something that makes him a villain. He is doing this though to not harm others so it makes him a grey. That’s something that I appreciated with the depth of writing for that character. Oland also does well in bringing it to life.
Let’s then finish out with the rest of the acting performances. Hull is good here at being this stoic scientist. It isn’t until he worries, he’ll lose his wife that we see jealousy. We also see his madness to reverse this affliction before it is too late. The newspapers provide him stress, seeing what he might have been doing at night. Blacking out and losing yourself is terrifying to which he portrays. Hobson is solid as his wife. Lisa isn’t as fleshed out as I’d like, but she drives tension by rekindling with Paul and upsetting her husband. Matthews was good there as well. I’d say the rest of the cast then rounded this out for what was needed, pushing the stars to where they end up.
All that is left then would be with filmmaking. First let’s discuss the best part which are the effects. The look of the wolf man here feels similar to The Wolf Man. I’d bet Wolf borrowed more from this as well. Wilfred still looks like himself but with fangs and a bit more hair. He has an underbite which makes him look more monstrous with the teeth. We also get multiple transformations which look good and not even for the era. Just in general. Let me credit how they framed this and the editing. Plus, the cinematography was good. I like going to Tibet, then the labs as well as other locations in London. Aside from that, good sound design with the wolf howls. The music was also solid for what was needed.
In conclusion, I’ll say again that it is a shame this film doesn't get more love. The acting might not be as strong as The Wolf Man, but I do think that we get an interesting concept here. It uses elements of mad scientist films, just in a different way. There is good depth to the story and with the characters. I like the introduction to the werewolf lore. The acting is solid with Hull, Oland and Hobson leading the way. There are good transformations that I credit the effects, cinematography, framing and editing. Plus, the sound design and music worked to build the atmosphere. Due to things, I’ve said here, I consider this one a gem that needs more love. I’d recommend seeing this to werewolf fans as well to those who like films from this era.
My Rating: 8 out of 10