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Cry of the Werewolf (1944)

Cry of the Werewolf (1944)

RELEASED August 17, 1944 RUNTIME 63 mins 

DIRECTOR Henry Levin 

WRITERS Charles O'Neal (screenplay), Griffin Jay (screenplay) 

STARS Nina Foch, Stephen Crane, Osa Massen

COUNTRY United States LANGUAGE English 

STUDIO Columbia Pictures GENRES Horror

Streaming on: YouTube




The plot: A young Romani woman turns into a wolf because that's the coolest fucking way to destroy your enemies.


Random observations: 

  • There aren't enough female werewolf movies Come on, Hollywood! (Or Pittsburgh!) The ones that we have are great, but they don't come out often enough. #gimmemoregingersnaps
  • This film marks the first appearance of a female as a werewolf in a talkie! WTG, Nina Foch! (You might remember her from An American in Paris.)
  • The setting is in New Orleans, Louisiana but is very recognizable as a Hollywood backlot. 

Twice-married-to Lana Turner leading man Stephen Crane is really the only actual terrible thing about this movie. It often feels like he's reading off of cue cards, and he may very well be. His woodenness doesn't mesh with the warmth of the rest of the cast.

The plot is jumbly but the writing is a hot mess! Don't believe me? Take these gems, for example:

"We will now proceed to the Voodoo room!"

"When you awaken, you too shall be the daughter of a werewolf."

And my personal favorite:

"This is a matter for science, not the police!"




0.3/1 Directing
0.4/1 Cinematography
0.5/1 Visual design
0.3/1 Editing
0.3/1 Plot 
0.3/1 Dialogue
0.6/1 Acting
0.6/1 Soundtrack/Score/Sound
0.3/1 Originality
0.5/1 Rewatchability
Total: 4.1/10 Binge Bones



The verdict: There are worse ways to spend an hour or so of your time. The quality isn't as great as many of the Larry Talbot movies, and Nina Foch is too good for this film, whereas Stephen Crane should not have been cast at all.

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