A gypsy princess (Nina Foch) who can change into a wolf kills to prevent her family's secrets from being exposed. Entertaining B movie that I'm surprised has such a low score and reputation here. It's got some nice atmosphere and a good cast. Stephen Crane is positively goofy but Barton MacLane makes up for it with his enjoyable tough cop routine. Heavily-accented Osa Massen is nice to look at, even if her acting leans to the melodramatic at times. The star of the movie is Nina Foch, Columbia's B movie queen in the mid-40s. She's excellent, as usual.
There's essentially two kinds of werewolf movies. The ones where the person transforms into a half-human/half-wolf creature and the ones where the person transforms into an actual wolf. Like most people, I prefer the Wolf Man type of werewolf. This one does the other, simpler version of just having Foch change into a wolf. Just like movies and shows today that deal with werewolves, it all comes down to budget or special effects limitations. Even though I prefer something more like Universal's idea of a werewolf, I don't hate this kind so it doesn't keep me from enjoying the movie.
Look, it's barely over an hour so it's not going to kill you to try it out. A lot of the complaints seem to be directed either at the lack of a person in werewolf makeup or at how the movie doesn't adhere to the so-called rules of werewolf movies. The former I've already addressed but to the latter I will just say "Are you serious?" Most of those rules didn't even exist until the 1941 Wolf Man movie made at a different studio so it's not surprising Columbia didn't try to make their movie fit that mold. If anything, they should be commended for trying to do something different instead of just ripping off what Universal did.
There's essentially two kinds of werewolf movies. The ones where the person transforms into a half-human/half-wolf creature and the ones where the person transforms into an actual wolf. Like most people, I prefer the Wolf Man type of werewolf. This one does the other, simpler version of just having Foch change into a wolf. Just like movies and shows today that deal with werewolves, it all comes down to budget or special effects limitations. Even though I prefer something more like Universal's idea of a werewolf, I don't hate this kind so it doesn't keep me from enjoying the movie.
Look, it's barely over an hour so it's not going to kill you to try it out. A lot of the complaints seem to be directed either at the lack of a person in werewolf makeup or at how the movie doesn't adhere to the so-called rules of werewolf movies. The former I've already addressed but to the latter I will just say "Are you serious?" Most of those rules didn't even exist until the 1941 Wolf Man movie made at a different studio so it's not surprising Columbia didn't try to make their movie fit that mold. If anything, they should be commended for trying to do something different instead of just ripping off what Universal did.