Classic horror movie, released by
Universal Studios in 1935. It was directed by
Stuart Walker and written by
John Colton, based on a story by
Robert Harris.
Makeup effects were provided by
Jack Pierce. It starred
Henry Hull as Dr. Wilfred Glendon,
Warner Oland as Dr. Yogami,
Valerie Hobson as Lisa Glendon, and
Lawrence Grant as Paul Ames.
Basic plot: Dr. Glendon is a
botanist visiting
Tibet to look for a
rare flower, the
marifasa, which only
blooms in
moonlight. But almost as soon as he finds it, he is
attacked by some sort of
creature! (Is it a cat? Is it a rat? Is it a kangaroo? What's the title of this movie again?) Though Glendon is able to get away, he gets some
scratches on his arm. Upon returning to
London, Glendon starts studying his new find, secretly growing a bit
jealous as his
wife starts spending more time with one of her old
boyfriends. Glendon also meets up with Dr. Yogami, a
mysterious Oriental gentleman with an
obsessive interest in the marifasa. Yogami tells Glendon that the marifasa can be used to combat
lycanthropy! "
Pish posh!" Glendon thinks. "Men of science don't believe in such
rubbish! I say, what's with these fangs, excess hair growth, and
bloodlust?"
Made six years before 1941's "
The Wolf Man," this
film is a bit of a
mixed bag. On the one hand, it suffers from the
clunkiness that seemed to
plague most
horror movies in the 1930s, with far too much time devoted to
melodrama and completely unnecessary
comic relief. But on the other paw, the
transformation scenes are as good as the ones in "The Wolf Man," and Pierce's
subtler makeup is actually more
effective than the work he'd later do on the Lon Chaney, Jr. picture. Warner Oland, already
typecast as an
Asian, thanks to the
Charlie Chan movies, is tolerable as the
ominous Dr. Yogami, and Hull, who spent most of his time as a
character actor, does a good job as a man simultaneously
dignified,
desperate, and
savage.
All in all, provided you can get through some of the dated
dialogue, it's worth a
rental.
Some research from the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com)