Horror Double Feature: Werewolf of London & The Haunted Strangler

In today’s very impressive Shocktober Double Feature, we will be regaled by the mariphasa flower, modern-day lycanthropy, Boris Karloff, and the always delectable Vera Day! It’s Werewolf of London and The Haunted Strangler!

WEREWOLF OF LONDON (1935)

A full six years before returning Welshman Lawrence Talbot ever heard the dire prediction that “Even a man who is pure in heart, and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms, and the autumn moon is bright,” English botanist Wilfred Glendon was having problems of his own, in this, the original werewolf movie, Werewolf of London (1935). Whilst in Tibet, you see, in search of the superrare mariphasa flower, Glendon (Henry Hull) had been attacked and bitten by a werewolf, and now, back in London, while attempting to coax his lunar bloomer to grow, he himself sprouts hair and fangs and begins his own nocturnal depredations… This picture, though a tad creaky at times, is nonetheless another fine example of Universal horror, with fine atmosphere, solid acting by Hull and competing botanist Warner Oland, convincing transformations, and a pretty effective makeup job on the monster by Jack “Frankenstein” Pierce. The antics of two drunken Cockney women, Mrs. Moncaster and Mrs. Whack (the latter played by Ethel Griffies, who most of us will probably recall as the aged ornithologist in Hitchcock’s The Birds), are a bit silly but fortunately don’t slow things down too much. The film has many neat touches – such as that hissing cat, Glendon’s miniature TV device, a scary glimpse of the monster through a keyhole, that opening shot of the Tibetan valley bathed by the full moon – and packs quite a bit into its 75-minute running time. I found that I appreciated this one even more on a second viewing, with the English subtitles on; I’d missed a good bit of Cockney gibberish the first time around. The DVD that I recently watched also features an excellent documentary, Monster By Moonlight, that should certainly be of interest to all horror-film buffs.

THE HAUNTED STRANGLER (1958)

I am still kicking myself in the buttocks repeatedly for having missed the double feature of Boris Karloff’s The Haunted Strangler (1958) and Targets (1968) at NYC’s Film Forum a little while back. Thus, seeing a nice, crisp-looking DVD version of …Strangler the other day came as a very nice consolation prize for me. In this one, Karloff plays a writer and social reformer living in London in 1880. He is investigating what he believes to be the wrongful execution of a man 20 years earlier; a man who had been accused of being the notorious Haymarket Strangler. Unfortunately, as Boris proceeds with this Victorian “cold case,” all leads come back to … himself, and before long, he begins to act just a wee bit homicidal. As his Hyde-like nature emerges, Boris bites his underlip, sticks his teeth out, closes one eye and sweats a lot; still, it’s a fairly impressive-looking transformation. Karloff was 71 when he essayed this role, but he still manages to exude a great deal of energy and enthusiasm (just watch him try to rip himself out of that straitjacket!). Perhaps being back in England again to make a film was somewhat responsible for this boost. And speaking of energy boosts, I must say that a neat surprise concerning Boris’ character comes halfway through that really does shake things up. The Haunted Strangler also offers some interesting supporting characters, including cancan dancer Vera Day (who, with her bullet bra, made such a double impression on me in the following year’s Womaneater … see Double Feature #4 in this current Shocktober series) and Scotland Yard agent Anthony Dawson (who, come to think of it, attempted a bit of strangulation himself in 1954’s Dial M For Murder). Bottom line: This Karloff pic really ain’t half bad!

COMING ATTRACTIONS: Geriatric devil devotees! Ahna Capri! Undead bikers! Frog worshippers! It’s The Brotherhood of Satan and Psychomania, in the Shocktober Double Feature #13…