Very well executed

That was an excellent one.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Well you learn something new every day. I never even considered that there was another 'wolf man' type picture before Lon Chaney's take in the 1941 classic. So imagine my surprise when I come across this 1935 film claiming it's title as the very first werewolf flick. Not only that, but it's not a bad little story built around a potential cure for 'werewolfery', a term I never heard before, but coming from Warner Oland as Chinese Professor, Dr. Yogami, it sort of sounded like there should actually be such a word. I got the biggest kick out of that.So the 'cure' turns out to be a rare flower called the mariphasa lupina lumina, and because it only blooms by moonlight, it goes by the name of the phosphorescent moon flower. Actually, as explained by Dr. Yogami, it's not really a cure, but an antidote for the werewolf afflicted for only a matter of hours. I had to do a double take when I heard the description of the plant in Dr.Glendon's (Henry Hull) book on lycantrophy - "Unless the rare flower is used, the werewolf must kill at least one human being each night of the full moon or become permanently afflicted." But wait a minute - wouldn't killing a person each night of the full moon be the very definition of permanently afflicted? Still scratching my head over that one.You know, I never understood the phrase 'going on the wagon' as it refers to someone who's an alcoholic trying to quit. But this picture clarified it for me right out of the blue when one of the characters stated that one needed to 'go on the WATER wagon'. Now that makes perfect sense, seeing as how water wagons were quite commonly used for delivery, and would have provided the necessary relief in place of booze. So this picture turned out to be educational as well. Anyway, I thought this was a fairy entertaining story that even threw in some comic relief with a couple of bickering spinsters going by the names of Mrs. Whack (Ethel Griffies) and Moncaster (Zeffie Tilbury). It was most likely their banter that contributed to the 'on the wagon' scenario, but I just can't place it for certain. I also found Dr. Yogami's contention interesting that there were two werewolves in London at the time he arrived. All the time one wonders who the second one might have been, right up until Yogami himself takes a hit of the old moon flower remedy. That was a clever way to bring the story around full circle.

For the next several days, I plan to review various movies about werewolves that I manage to find on YouTube, starting with this-the first mainstream one about them. Henry Hull travels to Tibet in search of a certain flower. While there, a creature bites into his arm. When he arrives home to England, he meets Warner Oland who claims to have met him previously in Tibet. Hull also has to deal with his wife and her friendship with an old friend who still fancies her. I'll stop there and just say this was quite a thrilling horror movie from the studio that glories in the genre: Universal. So on that note, Werewolf of London is highly recommended.

Universal's first try at a werewolf picture. British botanist Wilfred Glendon (Henry Hull) is in Tibet searching for a certain moon flower. He finds it but is attacked by a werewolf and survives. Back in Britain he's fascinated by the flower but ignores his young lovely wife Lisa (Valerie Hobson). He's also visited by mysterious Dr. Yogami (Warner Oland) who is actually the werewolf who attacked him in Tibet. He wants the flower because its blossoms are an antidote to werewolfrey (as the script puts it). Wilfred refuses to part with it but Yogami steals it...and there's a full moon that night.This movie has been bashed over the years. It's flatly directed, there's very little werewolf action and Hull HATED making the movie (and it shows in his acting). Also Oland and Hobson are terrible in their roles. Still it's short (only 75 minutes), is never really dull and the werewolf makeup (while minimal) is effective. Also it does provoke a few pleasurable chills here and there. It's not as good as "The Wolf Man" made 6 years later but it's not a bad little horror film. A better lead and better director would have helped.

Botanist Dr. Wilfred Glendon (Henry Hull) treks into the Himalayas in search of a rare flower that only blooms in the moonlight. He finds it, only to be attacked and bitten by a werewolf. He returns to England and meets Dr. Yogami (Warner Oland), who tells him that the flower can temporarily prevent a werewolf from transforming during the full moon. Soon, Dr. Glendon discovers that he has become a werewolf himself and stalks the streets of London.The first true werewolf movie is an entertaining, if at times frustrating, piece of work. I liked all of the "A" plot dealing with lycanthropy, Dr. Yogami, and the marifisa lupina lumina. I thought Hull was good, as was Warner Oland. It was nice to see him take a break from the Charlie Chan films to do something like this. The werewolf makeup and the transformation was well-done for the time. I have no complaints about this part of the film. The movie's only real problem for me is that I didn't like the subplot involving Glendon's wife (Valerie Hobson), her old boyfriend (Lester Matthews), and a meddlesome woman (Spring Byington) out to break up Glendon's marriage. I believe our sympathies were supposed to lie with Hobson but mine were not. I found her character unlikable, Matthews' character unbearable, and Byington's character downright villainous. Still, putting this tacky part of the movie aside, the rest of it is good fun that should please any fan of Universal horror films. And no, there is absolutely no mention of a place called Lee Ho Fook's!