I'd be the first one to admit that this isn't the greatest werewolf movie that's ever been made. In a lot of ways, it's pretty standard, B- movie stuff. In the action and the chills there really isn't much here that you won't see in other werewolf movies from the era. The cast isn't especially well known (it is a low-budget, B-movie after all, so it doesn't have anyone even approaching the status of a "star") although the performances are fine. The "transformation" scenes are pretty standard for the era; the makeup is OK. What really made this work, though, was the premise. The relatively mundane title suggests a lack of creativity; in fact, this was a rather unique way of approaching the genre.
It's a pretty good way of blending a 1940's "horror" type theme (werewolves) with a 1950's theme (radiation, and the fear of nuclear war and the fallout from it.) Essentially, the werewolf in this is an even more sympathetic figure than usual. After suffering a minor injury in a car accident, Duncan (Steven Ritch) is experimented on by two doctors who want to find out what would happen if people were exposed to large doses of radiation, so that they can be prepared to deal with (and survive) the aftermath of an atomic war. What they discover is that the radiation turns Duncan into a bloodthirsty, werewolf-type beast who goes on a killing spree in a small town and in the woods surrounding it. So there's no full moon in this, no animal bite. The guy is just the victim of the experiments of a couple of unsavoury scientists.
It fits perfectly with the 1950's, Cold War era. People were afraid of nuclear war; they were afraid of radiation and what it might do as the weapons got progressively more and more powerful. So this, as a horror movie, would have managed to do what any decent horror movie tries to do - it would have played on the very real fears of every day people; a point the movie itself makes toward the end, in a scene when it's mentioned that people are afraid because now that they know it can happen to anyone, they also know there's a chance it could happen to them. This is a decent movie. (6/10)
It's a pretty good way of blending a 1940's "horror" type theme (werewolves) with a 1950's theme (radiation, and the fear of nuclear war and the fallout from it.) Essentially, the werewolf in this is an even more sympathetic figure than usual. After suffering a minor injury in a car accident, Duncan (Steven Ritch) is experimented on by two doctors who want to find out what would happen if people were exposed to large doses of radiation, so that they can be prepared to deal with (and survive) the aftermath of an atomic war. What they discover is that the radiation turns Duncan into a bloodthirsty, werewolf-type beast who goes on a killing spree in a small town and in the woods surrounding it. So there's no full moon in this, no animal bite. The guy is just the victim of the experiments of a couple of unsavoury scientists.
It fits perfectly with the 1950's, Cold War era. People were afraid of nuclear war; they were afraid of radiation and what it might do as the weapons got progressively more and more powerful. So this, as a horror movie, would have managed to do what any decent horror movie tries to do - it would have played on the very real fears of every day people; a point the movie itself makes toward the end, in a scene when it's mentioned that people are afraid because now that they know it can happen to anyone, they also know there's a chance it could happen to them. This is a decent movie. (6/10)