I was a bit disappointed with this horror tale as Columbia Pictures decided to take a stab at their own werewolf flick as Nina Foch stars as a gypsy high Priestess, Celeste, whose mother was a lycanthrope passing the affliction to her. She kills a museum owner who has been delving into Foch's mother's history. The man's scientist son, Bob(Stephen Crane) and future Transylvanian wife, Elsa(Osa Massen) decide to follow a few leads through some burnt written words that his late father was penning for a forthcoming novel to be published about the infamous Marie La Tour and her werewolf lineage. The great Barton MacLane stars as Lt. Barry Lane, on the case to discover who murdered Bob's father. While the film certainly has that wonderfully polished B&W noirish look Columbia Pictures is known for, there aren't enough juicy bits with the werewolf that I desired, but Foch is striking in the lead role. No werewolf transformations except some shadow changes on the wall with Foch turning to a regular wolf. The film is more about the search for the killer of the museum curator, with Foch's Celeste using her mind-control black magic powers to persuade Bob and Elsa off her tracks. Too short with a conclusion that I found rather hastily finished. But, good cast and production values helps significantly. The idea of a woman werewolf certainly is interesting and I wish this film could've established that a bit more. Yeah, a woman in a werewolf costume would've definitely satisfied me, to tell you the truth.
Review of Cry of the Werewolf
