The 'B-feature' on a dollar tree 'Elviras Movie Macarbre' double feature I grabbed recently 'The Werewolf of Washington' doesnt really do anything *too* new or original with the 'wolf man' subgenre...But its a somewhat robust (if not a tad slow) watch that kept me hanging around till the end.
The plot follows a congressman by the name of Jack who's having an affair with the presidents daughter who, while trying to find help after his car experiences difficulties, finds himself cursed to the 'Wolfman' life. Seemingly this doesnt effect him too much to begin with, but eventually he claims his first victim, causing the feds in DC to go into high alert thinking a serial killer may be on the loose. Jack is semi aware of whats going on and the rest of the plot is basically him trying to find a cure to his lycan habits while trying to hold down a day to day government office job AND keep his murdering down to a bare minimum.
And...its a bit of a frustrating watch really, because in my mind with a pitch like 'The Werewolf of Washington' I was envisioning a kind of 'Troma by way of Mark Pirro' with a wolfman running for office and murdering the competiton...or something to that effect.
Instead? this is actually just a kind of pedestrian speed 'wolfman' movie that just so HAPPENS to be taking place around government officials...Which...y'know...thats FIIINE. it means the film does what is says on the tin...But in terms of creative asperations, its pretty lacking.
The scripts a bit of a crawl at around 85 minutes. its act structuring is a bit sluggish, it hangs in one gear and pace through the whole runtime and its act shifts arnt particularly clear. most of the film is pretty repetative, its spent following Jack to conferences, business meetings and date nights, with only the occasional mercy break for the audience where he'll transform and kill a couple of people in fairly over the top ways...
tonally, its a bit all over the place as well, its a horror comedy predominantly. But i'd say the mix was 75-25 horror to comedy...which isnt a great balance because it left me wondering just how much of the comedy was planned from the start, and how much was from Dean Stockwell realizing this was a VERY dry script without at least a couple improved zingers. its humour really is more from a lightened tone than actually penned jokes. Stockwell manages to rework some deliveries to help aid that, and I feel it does help give the film a bit more character than it was originally intended to. Without the humour, this would have been an INTERMINABLY dry watch.
The dialogue is lengthy, dull and trudging, this is a film that is VERY much into telling rather than showing. and while I do think they give the characters just about enough depth to make me care about them, I cant honestly say they left much of a lasting impression.
As for the direction, its...fine too. it (mostly) follows the traditional rules of studio grade direction, shots mostly felt like they had some thought put into them, considerations were clearly made for B-roll footage and the transformation sequences for Jack and the wolfman, while VERY dated, were at least clearly considered and well handled.
Direction of the cast too was fine. I do wish there'd been a bit more physicality in this thing, at times it feels like a wake. But its clear that the cast were well informed about how sequences were to play out, and it seems they were encouraged to experiment with the set and props at hand...which is always a nice thing to see.
The cine is a bit beige honestly, while planning for the sequence structure was clearly a consideration, the film really struggles to 'wow' me outside of the wolf man 'hunt' sequences...and even then, that didnt 'thrill' me, it just stood out more than the many MANY office, and living room seqences in this thing.
The edit seemed a little rushed too, im not sure if its because it was the 'Elvira' version and they had to make cuts to fit into the TV schedule, but there were some noticable cuts where the scene was cut either WAY too early or WAY too late. Composition is acceptable, though again, outside of the transformation sequence and a couple of the wolfmans 'hunt' scenes...its all a bit drab and lifeless. just wides and mid wides occasionally cut into with no really passion behind the eyes.
As for the cast? Honestly, Dean Stockwell is about as good as it gets. he's giving a belivable and fairly grounded performance, but he's surrounded by cast members who clearly just wanted the paycheck and a go at the craft service. He's great. Everyone else? dead eyed deliveries, dry dialogue performances and physicality thats comparable to rigamortis.
I cant recommend 'The Werewolf of Washington' its not bad, its just *too* average to really be worth your time. If your a sucker for wolfman movies and havent seen this one, MAYBE give it a go...But if your not totally enthralled by the genre, you really can do better elsewhere. This is fine...but FAR from 'great'...or even really 'good.'
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-werewolf-of-washington/
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