Werewolf of Washington

Synopsis: A young up and coming newspaperman (played by Dean Stockwell) asks for a transfer to Bulgaria to get away from the presidents daughter, with whom he has been having an affair. While in Bulgaria he is attacked by a werewolf. Soon he is summoned back to Washington by the president to become his press secretary. Not long after returning to Washington the enemies of the president begin dying under mysterious circumstances.

The Good: Okay I was really surprised by this film. It is a low budget horror film that was made for the drive in market. It’s lack of production values gives that away fairly quickly. What I did not expect at all was the intelligence of the script. This plays very much as a political satire of the Nixon administration. I really enjoyed this aspect of the script, and was very surprised to find it buried under a fairly forgettable horror film. I also have to mention the job that Dean Stockwell does in the film. Now the rest of the actors do a passable job, but Stockwell as the lead really has to carry the film. He does a great job, which makes the rest of the movie work.

The Bad: Werewolf films are difficult to make, especially the werewolf makeup. What they have done here is sort of a throwback to the 40’s look of the Universal Wolfman. Even at that they manage to fail. The werewolf isn’t scary, in fact I laughed when they finally revealed it. The movie also falls into the one of the low budget traps, poor lighting. Some of the scenes are so poorly light that you can’t even see what is happening.

The Score: 3 out of 4

If you are a fan of werewolf movies you may not like this film. But if you enjoy an intelligent script and a bit of political satire I think you will love this film as much as I do. This is going on my list of buried treasures that I’ve discovered.

Feel free to contact me at horrorfanreview@aol.com