SCREAM OF THE WOLF (1974)

Director: Dan Curtis

Writers: Richard Matheson adapting the novella “The Hunter” by David Case

Producer: Dan Curtis

Cast: Peter Graves, Clint Walker, Jo Ann Pflug, Philip Carey, Don Megowan, Dean Smith, Lee Paul, James Storm, Bonnie Van Dyke, Brian Richards, Randy Kirby, Tom Dever, Vernon Weddle, Bill Baldwin, Orville Sherman, Douglas Bungert, Grant Owens, Chuck Hayward, Ken Stimson 

In Monterey County, California, a series of slayings leave the human victims horribly mutilated. Sheriff Vernon Bell (Philip Carey) asks local author and retired hunter John Weatherby (Peter Graves) to examine the tracks found at the death scenes. Despite his vast hunting experience, Weatherby can’t identify the species responsible for the killings. The path of the footprints seems to change from tracks of a four-legged, wolf-like beast to a bipedal creature before they disappear. The strange creature also has changed its scent. Another hunting authority and past friend of Weatherby’s, Byron Douglas (Clint Walker), is fascinated by the grisly deaths and the panic they instill in the community, but he refuses to offer any assistance tracking down the bloodthirsty creature. 

The Flashback Fanatic movie review 

During the 1970s heyday of the made-for-TV movie, the horror genre was well served. No one primed that bloody pump better than producer-director Dan Curtis. He made a name for himself as the creator of the afternoon Gothic soap opera series for ABC TV, Dark Shadows (1966-71). He then produced the massive ratings winner The Night Stalker (1972) and directed its hit sequel, The Night Strangler (1973). More Curtis-helmed, televised terrors would follow. In 1974 he collaborated again with his Stalker/Strangler scripter, Richard Matheson, to make the overlooked and peculiar Scream of the Wolf. 

At first it seems as though things are off to a frantic and familiar start. People are attacked at night and the police arrive with sirens blaring only to pick up the bloody pieces. However, unlike other contemporary horror films influenced by The Night Stalker, law enforcement, represented by Sheriff Bell, accepts that this is no ordinary series of crimes and admits to not having any idea what is responsible. Bell immediately seeks the help of experienced hunter John Weatherby. The relationship between the sheriff and our hunter hero is cordial. 

Aside from the challenge of trying to track and kill the murderous creature, the main conflict for protagonist John Weatherby is with his old hunting pal, Byron Douglas. They drifted apart when Weatherby settled into a more domesticated lifestyle as a writer. Byron has always been the more extreme of the pair in his hunting mania. Byron’s life philosophy is based on hunting. He thinks that life is never more precious than at the moment of potential death for both hunter and prey. Byron also thinks that society is emasculating, and he implies that this has happened to his old friend John. 

As the killings continue in rapid succession, the rumor is spreading that the killer may be a werewolf. This further amuses Byron and he enjoys the panic spreading throughout the community. Byron thinks that the civilized locals are actually made to feel more alive by their fear. Both John and Sheriff Bell become increasingly irritated with Byron’s lack of concern and refusal to help. 

John’s girlfriend, Sandy Miller (Jo Ann Pflug), has always been creeped out by Byron. She suspects that Byron is involved with the killings. When John tries to explain his old friend’s hunter philosophy, he recounts an old hunting experience that left Byron badly wounded by a killer wolf. This only increases Sandy’s suspicions about John’s old, hunting buddy. 

There is a very intriguing friction between the characters of John, Byron, and Sandy. Former friends John and Byron have gone their separate ways. Initially, we are led to believe it may simply be changing priorities in John’s life as he transitions from avid hunter to author. Sandy’s apprehension about Byron may be more personal than just her distaste with his hunting fanaticism. She fears that Byron may lure John away from the domestic security of their relationship. 

Others have speculated that there is a homoerotic aspect between the characters of John and Byron. Once I was made aware of that speculation, it makes everything about the behavior of those two characters seem much less arbitrary. Also in the context of the times this story takes place, that sexual undercurrent being either indulged or suppressed by those characters informs their behaviors and justifies their conflict. It is a rather edgy concern for a ’70s made-for-TV movie that really adds depth to the attitudes of John, Byron, and Sandy. 

Peter Graves and Jo Ann Pflug were familiar television faces of the era. Graves will always be remembered as espionage operative Jim Phelps in the CBS network television series Mission: Impossible (1966-73), as well as in its ABC network revival series (1988-90). Pflug previously starred in producer-director Dan Curtis’ The Night Strangler. 

Clint Walker was perfectly cast against type as eccentric and unsettling hunter Byron Douglas. Walker had a long history of playing heroes in Western films and as the star of the ABC network television Western series Cheyenne (1955-62). Walker seems to really enjoy himself as Byron. He displays a smug air of superiority and contrariness to all around him. Walker’s Byron likes baiting others with his insight into the local menace while withholding any assistance. Walker’s huge stature and the gleam in his eye when he vents Byron’s passion for hunting make him a very intimidating presence. 

An interesting bit of casting is another towering actor with some horror genre credentials. Don Megowan plays Grant, Byron’s hired hand. Megowan was the Gill-man on land in The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), had starred as the hero of another werewolf-centric movie in The Werewolf (1956), and portrayed the Frankenstein Monster in the 1958 unsold pilot for the proposed television series Tales of Frankenstein. 

As always, director Dan Curtis makes things interesting and energetic with his shot choices and camera moves. He is ably assisted by the music of his frequent composer, Robert Cobert. This results in a film that keeps me just as captivated with the dialogue scenes as with the killings. Its intriguing perspective is that of John Weatherby trying to figure out just what the hell he is dealing with, which is just how anyone would have to approach this bizarre situation in real life. We are not allowed to get ahead of the hero tracking down the menace. With its rapidly rising body count, elusive threat, and unique character dynamics, Scream of the Wolf is one of my favorite TV terrors.

THE WEREWOLF (1956)

Director: Fred F. Sears

Writers: Robert E. Kent, James B. Gordon

Producer: Sam Katzman

Cast: Steven Ritch, Don Megowan, Joyce Holden, Harry Lauter, Ken Christy, George Lynn, S. John Launer, Eleanore Tanin, Kim Charney, Marjorie Stapp, Larry J. Blake, Charles Horvath, James Gavin, Jean Harvey, George Cisar, Jean Charney, Don C. Harvey, Ford Stevens

A stranger (Steven Ritch) with amnesia arrives in the small town of Mountaincrest. When someone (Charles Horvath) tries to mug him, the stranger savagely kills his attacker and runs off into the forested hills. A witness (Jean Harvey) describes the killer as something inhuman, as does the sheriff’s deputy (Harry Lauter) who is later attacked. Soon rumors spread about a werewolf at large. In a nearby town are two doctors (George Lynn and S. John Launer) that experimented on a car crash victim named Duncan Marsh. Marsh is the werewolf killer and the doctors are responsible for his monstrous condition. The doctors head to Mountaincrest to kill Marsh before their secret is exposed.

The Flashback Fanatic movie review  

The Mad Monster (1942) is a much earlier movie that also had mad science create a werewolf, but The Werewolf is a much better film and apparently more influential. It no doubt inspired more sci-fi takes on classic monsters such as I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) and The Vampire (1957). The idea of a man that transforms into a monster when angered or stressed was also probably a key influence for Stan Lee and Jack Kirby when they created the classic '60s Marvel Comics character The Incredible Hulk.

Director Fred F. Sears has made a fine little chiller that uses its winter locations of the little mountain town and its surrounding hills and forests to establish the environments of man and of the beast they are hunting. The opening nighttime shot down a small town street as the lone figure of Duncan Marsh approaches while the voiceover (director Sears) tells us about the worldwide history of lycanthropy is simple, direct, and provocative. A couple of kills are nicely staged suggesting more effectively than showing the grisly details of the werewolf’s violence. It’s hard to believe that this director, also responsible for this movie’s exciting co-feature, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), made the extraterrestrial terror turkey The Giant Claw (1957). Proof positive that the script is the most important element in a film.

The Werewolf is a story as simple and direct as its title. It is only concerned with presenting a scary and tragic situation in a small town. Its novelty lies in the idea that a science experiment, rather than the supernatural, is responsible for this monster. Fortunately, for the sake of horror buffs, the renegade scientists opted to use wolves they exposed to radiation from which to derive their anti-radiation mutation serum. The Wereguinea Pig is a title that just doesn’t grab you.

There are good performances all around. Steven Ritch, as the family man-turned-werewolf Duncan Marsh, earns our sympathy in his very first scene. When his wife (Eleanore Tanin) and kid (Kim Charney) arrive his plight becomes even more miserable. All three of them show the kind of distress this horrible situation would bring to any family. Big Don Megowan, as Sheriff Jack Haines, is just right as the kind of guy that should be in charge. He’s a practical and decent sort that leaves the swagger behind and is open to advice if it makes sense. He cares about trying to do the right thing. His rapport with nurse Amy Standish (Joyce Holden) is nice. They are both already romantically involved and have an easy comfort with each other; we are not going through boy-meets-girl shenanigans that a lot of sci-fi films distract us with.

As a kid, I used to implore my dad to wake me up late Friday nights so I could watch the locally televised horror movies. Many nights I would brush off the prompting by my father, as he tried to get my dead-to-the-world little ass out of bed, and immediately fall back to sleep. Of course, the next morning I would reprimand Dad for not being more persistent trying to rouse me. If memory serves my besotted brain after all these years, The Werewolf was perhaps the first time that he could actually wake me up in time to see a much anticipated midnight fright flick. The movie did not disappoint, and I was well on my way to being a lifelong horror junkie. In another lapse of judgment, Dad also taught me how to make a vodka martini. Because of these two vices, I no longer have any taste or self-control, so you are now dealing with my obsessive outbursts. Like many serial offenders, I’ll just blame it all on the old man.