She-Wolf of London

London at the turn of the century---The legend of the Allenby Curse was almost forgotten until------

She-Wolf of London is produced by that bastion of classic horror, Universal Pictures. Directed by Jean Yarbrough and starring June Lockhart and Don Porter, the title clearly evokes the earlier Werewolf of London (1935) and conjures up images of either a girlfriend of Larry Talbot or Wilfred Glendon running amok. As history now tells us, She-Wolf of London is more concerned with mystery and suspense than the supernatural themes that ran thru other Universal wolf based movies.

Running at a brisk 61 minutes, She-Wolf feels more like a Sherlock Holmes picture minus that particularly intrepid sleuth actually being in it. Grizzly murders are being committed and it's all pointing to poor Phyllis Allenby, who herself is convinced that she is turning lycanthropic at nights due to the family curse. But is it her? If not her then who? These are the key issues asked as the film evolves amid swirling fog and lamp lighted parks and streets. The production is very good, the set designs adds to the atmosphere and the cast by and large are safe as houses. The ending also has a nice little trick up its sleeve.

It's not a bad picture at all, and being armed with the prior knowledge of its mystery over horror heart will aid any new prospective viewers. Best to view it as a standalone Universal picture rather than a classic horror entry. On reflection if it had been called The Allenby Curse or some other such name then that surely would have helped. But one gets the feeling that someone at Universal sniffed an opportunity to get people into the cinema on the back of its already garnered Wolfie reputation. 6/10