"Scream of the Wolf" is one of the more fascinating stories from the 70s.
**SPOILERS**
Driving along a lonely road, a man is attacked by a strange creature. Sheriff Vernon Bell, (Phillip Crane) is sent out to investigate the incident, and finds strange tracks in the woods. He goes to old friend John Wetherby, (Peter Graves) an expert tracker who just entered retirement, to get some help on the case. John agrees, and he begins to search around the area of the attack. He runs into Byron Douglas, (Clint Walker) another local animal tracker. Douglas doesn't provide any support for John, and he decides to finish investigating. Another attack brings a news report on the attacks, which brings the attention to Sandy Miller, (Jo Ann Pflug) an old friend of John's. After the creature is found to be a werewolf, it attacks Sandy in her home, forcing John to finally track down the werewolf and kill it.
The Good News: I know it doesn't seem like that long of a film, but this is far more entertaining than it should be. I don't know if it's the 70's tone that it has, or if it manages to actually be that entertaining, I haven't found out yet. This is a film that I can repeatedly by on and enjoy it all the way through. Few movies can actually do that continuously, as you become more and more accustomed to them. I have even grown too actually like the design of the werewolf in here after initially hating it. The werewolf is only seen in a few quick shots, but that was enough to know that it is a pretty frightening creature. It does feature a very wolf-ish look. It also looks like a cross between the two previous werewolf classics, "The Wolf Man," and "Curse of the Werewolf," with that of a more traditional-looking wolf. There is also a lot more suspense than you would expect in the film. The best part has to be the raid the wolf has on Sandy's cabin. That is a spoiler moment, so I can't reveal too much, but it does provide a very original jump that has since been copied in just about every other werewolf film since. It may not affect too many because you have seen it many times before, but this is the oldest film I have seen with that particular jump. It is also good to see genre veteran Peter Graves in here, as he hams it up like he does in so many of his films. He plays a regular role for him, and he plays it like he normally does in lots of movies. It was a nice surprise to see him in here.
The Bad News: As usual, we hardly get to see the werewolf, which I don't know why as it is a very good design for a werewolf, but they kept it limited to a few scenes at the end. Another thing that annoyed me with the film is that it is pretty short. Even for a TV movie, this is still a lot shorter than it could've been. The plot does allow for some more time to chase after the wolf.
The Final Verdict: If you can ignore the fact that they have a cool wolf that is hardly used, this is another entry in that "Give-it-a-chance" category. I don't know why more people don't about this film, as it does provide some action-packed scenes and a very creepy lead wolf.
Today's Rating; PG-13: Vicious Werewolf attacks, very minor gore, and a brief view of a mangled corpse
**SPOILERS**
Driving along a lonely road, a man is attacked by a strange creature. Sheriff Vernon Bell, (Phillip Crane) is sent out to investigate the incident, and finds strange tracks in the woods. He goes to old friend John Wetherby, (Peter Graves) an expert tracker who just entered retirement, to get some help on the case. John agrees, and he begins to search around the area of the attack. He runs into Byron Douglas, (Clint Walker) another local animal tracker. Douglas doesn't provide any support for John, and he decides to finish investigating. Another attack brings a news report on the attacks, which brings the attention to Sandy Miller, (Jo Ann Pflug) an old friend of John's. After the creature is found to be a werewolf, it attacks Sandy in her home, forcing John to finally track down the werewolf and kill it.
The Good News: I know it doesn't seem like that long of a film, but this is far more entertaining than it should be. I don't know if it's the 70's tone that it has, or if it manages to actually be that entertaining, I haven't found out yet. This is a film that I can repeatedly by on and enjoy it all the way through. Few movies can actually do that continuously, as you become more and more accustomed to them. I have even grown too actually like the design of the werewolf in here after initially hating it. The werewolf is only seen in a few quick shots, but that was enough to know that it is a pretty frightening creature. It does feature a very wolf-ish look. It also looks like a cross between the two previous werewolf classics, "The Wolf Man," and "Curse of the Werewolf," with that of a more traditional-looking wolf. There is also a lot more suspense than you would expect in the film. The best part has to be the raid the wolf has on Sandy's cabin. That is a spoiler moment, so I can't reveal too much, but it does provide a very original jump that has since been copied in just about every other werewolf film since. It may not affect too many because you have seen it many times before, but this is the oldest film I have seen with that particular jump. It is also good to see genre veteran Peter Graves in here, as he hams it up like he does in so many of his films. He plays a regular role for him, and he plays it like he normally does in lots of movies. It was a nice surprise to see him in here.
The Bad News: As usual, we hardly get to see the werewolf, which I don't know why as it is a very good design for a werewolf, but they kept it limited to a few scenes at the end. Another thing that annoyed me with the film is that it is pretty short. Even for a TV movie, this is still a lot shorter than it could've been. The plot does allow for some more time to chase after the wolf.
The Final Verdict: If you can ignore the fact that they have a cool wolf that is hardly used, this is another entry in that "Give-it-a-chance" category. I don't know why more people don't about this film, as it does provide some action-packed scenes and a very creepy lead wolf.
Today's Rating; PG-13: Vicious Werewolf attacks, very minor gore, and a brief view of a mangled corpse