tavm After looking at the list of werewolf movies on Wikipedia, I remembered this particular one was on YouTube so after watching Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man on YT, I decided to watch this one there since it was next in my chronological list of werewolf movies to watch list. Nina Foch-who I mainly remember from An American in Paris-is quite compelling as the title character as she tries to keep people outside of her gypsy family from finding out about her secret. The setting is New Orleans, Louisiana, which is a two-hour drive from my current residence of Baton Rouge but I'm guessing that this was shot on the Columbia backlot. Perhaps part of me was confused by some of the details in the story but for the most part, I was enthralled at Cry of the Werewolf. So, yes, that's a recommendation!

MartinHafer In the 1940s, Columbia Pictures decided to try to cash in on Universal's horror films by creating a few of their own (such as RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE and this film)--with generally poor results. The biggest reason was that although the atmosphere and acting were pretty good in these films, the adherence to the lore surrounding the monsters was mostly ignored--leaving the audiences confused and irritated--especially in the case of CRY OF THE WEREWOLF.Here is just a partial list of the inconsistencies that completely violated accepted notions of werewolf films. First, no one actually becomes a part-person/part-wolf in this film. The leading lady is either a lady or a wolf--nothing in between. Also, there's NOTHING about a full moon and instead the lady can change herself at will. And this wolf is easy to kill as would be the lady--just shoot it with ordinary bullets! And finally, instead of the nice and kind gypsy played by Maria Ouspenskaya and her tortured son played by Bela Lugosi in the original WOLF MAN (1941), here the gypsies are evil Devil-cult members!! Now if you ignore the fact that this film bears NO RESEMBLANCE to prior wolf-man films like WEREWOLF OF London (1935) and WOLF MAN (1941), then perhaps you'll find this film enjoyable. But, since I am a rabid fan (get it?) of the films, I felt this one had contempt for the audience and wonder if any of the writers had even seen a werewolf film before writing this silly film.

bbowman-7 I can't believe these User Comments! Sheesh! This one has GOT to be one of the worst travesties and wastes of time in my book! What's up with Stephen Crane? Terrible actor! He's attacked by the werewolf and then stands up calmly, brushes himself off and says: "Yeah..I'm okay..." This is the best that Lana Turner could do? The whole piece of garbage looked like it was made for about twenty bucks. Nina Foch must have gone home a gotten drunk every night. The "wolf" was the only natural actor in the movie! Fritz Leiber's wooden performance brings new meaning to the expression "bad actor"! And Osa Massen? I couldn't get Inga from Young Frankenstein out of my mind!

Neil Doyle CRY OF THE WEREWOLF is on the level of an Ed Wood film, a surprisingly bad little programmer from Columbia with NINA FOCH heading the cast. Her transition from human to werewolf is so poorly staged with shadows that it's laughable.The script is dull, full of exposition for the first half-hour, and populated by some hardly competent actors. Worst of all is STEPHEN CRANE (he was Lana Turner's husband--twice), whose performance has to rank among the worst in recent memory for one who has been watching Halloween films on TCM. OSA MASSEN isn't much better but at least tries to convey her part with more feeling than Crane is able to muster.Nina Foch plays Marie LaTour, a woman in a travelling gypsy wagon who is actually a werewolf, killing to keep her secret from others. Maybe someone like Val Lewton could have pulled this thing together, but Henry Levin's direction is no help at all and the script is a mess.Summing up: A trite tale, poorly written and acted, not worth your time and a vehicle certainly unworthy of Miss Foch's talent. Trivia: Inexplicably, the two best performances in the film are uncredited--JOHN ABBOTT as Peter and FRITZ LEIBER as Dr. Morris.