(Streamed via Digital Drive-In)
Dick Bannister (George Chesebro, who also co-directed) is appointed the new foreman of a logging company. He meets Edith Ford (Marguerite Clayton), the owner of the operation, and the two instantly become smitten, despite the fact that she is engaged to a fledgling doctor named Eugene (Ray Hanford). When Dick catches Deveroux (Roy Watson), the company’s biggest competitor, trying to construct an illegal dam, there is a confrontation, and Dick is badly wounded. Eugene is forced to save his life via blood transfusion, but when the only acceptable donor refuses to lend a hand, he is forced to complete the transfusion with wolf’s blood. Before long, word gets out that Dick has the blood of a wolf flowing through his veins, and the loggers soon shun him, thinking he’s some kind of freak. When Deveroux is found with his throat tore out, Dick starts to suspect he might be turning into a wolf.
Made in 1925 (ten years before Universal’s Werewolf of London), Wolfblood is one of the earliest attempts at a werewolf movie. It doesn’t really lean into the horror elements until the last ten minutes, and even then, it’s all kind of halfhearted. The make-up is a lot more subtle than you’d expect (Chesebro only has a five o’clock shadow), but the scene where he follows his wolf brethren through the forest for a midnight run is atmospheric. Most of the “horror” though comes from his life being ruined by cheap gossip.
The last ten minutes are kind of fun, especially if you are a student of werewolf cinema and want to see the humble origins. Till then, you have to sit through a lot of lumberjack melodrama and ho-hum love triangle shit. If you’re a fan of silent horror films, that shouldn’t be too much of a chore as it’s only 67 minutes long. Less patient viewers will probably find Wolfblood rather anemic.
AKA: Wolfsblood. AKA: Wolfblood: A Tale of the Forest.
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