Werewolf of London (1935)

(On Blu-Ray, November 2021) Considering the large number of werewolf movies in Hollywood history, titles such as Werewolf of London (which predates Lon Chaney Jr.’s classic The Wolfman by six years) are often better appreciated for their specific quirks than their overall stories — there are only so many ways a werewolf origin story can go, after all. In this specific case, the distinction is one of geography and similarity — after a Tibetan-set prologue, much of the action movies to London, lending the film an atmosphere that is perhaps less similar to other rural-set werewolf films and owes more to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as an obvious touch point. (This is even more pronounced here considering the impact that the Fredrick March version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, released two years earlier, could have had on director Stuart Walker.)  As for the effectiveness of the film, well, it depends on whether you’re in the mood for a werewolf origin story set in early-twentieth-century London — with the caveat that you may want to consider whether you’ve had your fill of Jekyll/Hyde stories as well. By today’s standards, Werewolf of London’s plot will feel basic — placing even more emphasis on atmosphere as the reason to see the film.