The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973)

Another on my list of films whose titles and plot synopses intrigued me in my youth, but that I was never able to see, The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973), with which I have finally caught up, has several points of interest, beyond the catchy title.  Notably, it reunites star Kerwin Matthews with director Nathan Juran, who had previously worked together on Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and Jack the Giant Killer (1962).  It is also a Universal production, so follows in the footsteps of its previous lycanthrope films, such as Werewolf of London (1935), The Wolfman (1941) and Hammer's Curse of the Werewolf (1961), which Universal distributed.  Unlike those earlier films, this movie doesn't explore the whole lore of the lycanthrope and try to place its furry protagonist in any kind of cultural or historical context, with its title monster subsequently feeling a rather generic werewolf, sitting outside of any particular folk tradition.  The plot of Boy Who Cried Werewolf is straightforward enough, with a boy realising that his father has become a werewolf, after being bitten by another lycanthrope during a trip to the mountains.  But, of course, nobody believes him, with the local law and media instead thinking that either a madman or some kind of wild beast is responsible for the ensuing series of killings.  The father himself, has no recollection of turning into a werewolf every full moon or of the depravities he commits, although he increasingly begins to realise that something is wrong.  Matthews actually handles the role of the increasingly troubled father well - there is the added complication of his separation from his wife, with whom the boy lives - conveying his growing self-doubt quite convincingly as he grows ever more ill at ease with himself, especially as the full moon approaches.  

His hairy alter ego, though, is another matter entirely.  To be absolutely fair, the make up used makes it impossible to tell whether it actually is Kerwin Matthews playing these scenes, although no other actor is credited, but whoever portrays the werewolf, they clearly have no idea of how to play the part, with over-exaggerated gestures, unconvincing snarling and a propensity for jumping around a lot.  It doesn't help that the facial make up for the beast makes him look more like Lassie than a wolf.  To top it all, he does some very un-werewolf like things - at one point the boy spies him using a spade to dig a hole in which to conceal some grisly trophies: the heads of a couple of his victims.  Regardless of his demeanour, the werewolf is, at least, allowed to conduct a fair number of killings, which include causing a rather well staged car crash, when his presence in the road distracts a truck driver, (who he proceeds to attack in the wreckage before killing the occupants of a car also involved in the conflagration).  He also gets to attack and kill a sympathetic couple who have helped his son, sending their bodies over a cliff in their caravan.  Despite the frequency and ferocity of the killings, the film is actually devoid of any real blood and gore - we're only told that victims have been decapitated, for instance, the camera cuts away before the deed and we never see the severed heads.  This, combined with much of the story being told from a child's perspective, leave one wondering whether the film was originally intended for a younger audience - a family friendly werewolf film?   

The direction from Juran, (whose last film this was- he came out of retirement to direct it), is as professional and efficient as you'd expect from a director with his experience in fantasy subjects, decently paced with well-staged set pieces, although he never gives the impression that he has any real interest in directing a real horror film.  The film, instead, veers more toward fantasy, a darker version of the sorts of films he's previously made with Matthews.  Consequently, The Boy Who Cried Werewolf tends to lack any real atmosphere of menace or sense of suspense.  It doesn't help that it was clearly made on a limited budget, which often makes it look more like a TV movie than a feature.  Still, it is quite entertaining and has some nice touches - this being the early seventies, there is inevitably a group of hippies on hand, camping in the woods and getting harassed by the sheriff.  But in a twist, these turn out not be the usual Satanist hippies who tend to turn up in seventies horror films, but are instead a bunch of evangelical Bible bashers!  Bob Homel gives an amusing turn as their leader, shocked to find that there really is a supernatural devil beast on the loose near the encampment.  But this, in itself is problematic, as the comic relief provided by the hippies is somewhat incongruous in the context of what is meant to be a horror film, underlining the problems the film seemingly has in establishing a consistent tone throughout.  The hippies do, at least, eventually serve a purpose, plot-wise, as it is their huge crucifix that the werewolf is eventually impaled upon as he flees a combined mob of lawmen, locals and hippies combing the woods for him.  Overall, The Boy Who Cried Werewolf is a reasonably effective film that never quite seems to know exactly what genre it falls into or, indeed, who its target audience is meant to be.