NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Arrow Blu-ray (September 2021): Arrow have transferred Fred F. Sears's The Werewolf to Blu-ray. This is only available from Arrow, at present, as part of their Cold War Creatures: Four Films from Sam Katzman which includes Creature with the Atom Brain, The Werewolf, Zombies of Mora Tau and The Giant Claw.

The improved resolution advances upon the green-ish DVDs. It can appear a modest bump in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio but the 1080P is really a significant increase in terms of more layered contrast, better grain texture support and non-existent artifacts. This looks very consistent and relatively clean with only a film-level restoration or UHD bump advancing it further. Neither are likely to come anytime soon.  

NOTE: We have added 50 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Arrow use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. The Werewolf has few aggressive growls and gunshots that export modest depth the score is an amalgamation of stock music uncredited - by the likes of film composers Mischa Bakaleinikoff (The Lineup, New Orleans Uncensored, The Crooked Web, Cell 2455 Death Row, Comanche Station, It Came from Beneath the Sea, The Giant Claw, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, The 27th Day, 20 Million Miles to Earth, Lady for a Day,) Daniele Amfitheatrof's (Major Dundee, The Last Hunt, I'll Be Seeing You, Edge of Eternity, The Lost Moment, The Desperate Hours, Human Desire, Letter From An Unknown Woman, An Act of Murder), George Duning (Two Rode Together, The Eddy Duchin Story, 3:10 to Yuma, Jeanne Eagels, The Shadow on the Window, My Sister Eileen, The Mob, Affair in Trinidad, Tight Spot, Johnny O'Clock, The Dark Past, Convicted, and Between Midnight and Dawn etc.) and Leith Stevens (Larceny, The Time Tunnel, Hercules and the Captive Women, I Married a Monster From Outer Space, Great Day in the Morning, The Gun Runners, Syncopation, World Without End, The Night of the Grizzly, 20 Million Miles to Earth, When Worlds Collide) and conducted by Mischa Bakaleinikoff. The flat soundstage is faithfully represented by the uncompressed transfer. Arrow offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Arrow Blu-ray offers a new commentary by by critic Lee Gambin (author of The Howling: Studies in the Horror Film.) Lee focuses on the werewolf as examined in film history, the mythological animal and lycanthropy as the subject of many movies. He references many horror films and makes some interesting analysis and astute observations. He appears to be reading from prepared notes and it does sound a bit dry but the quality of information is excellent. Arrow include a brand-new 24-minute visual essay exploring the oft-overlooked role of women in the films of Sam Katzman by historian and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (author of 1000 Women In Horror, 1895-2018.) It is entitled Beyond Window Dressing. There is also another condensed, low quality, Super 8mm version of The Werewolf, produced for home cinema viewing. That runs about 8-minutes. I enjoyed the 14-minute introduction by Kim Newman where he talks about director Fred F. Sears; working in various genres including westerns and his more notable films the Bill Haley musicals Rock Around the Clock and Don't Knock the Rock. He also talks about 1950's 'monster movies' adding an atomic edge to them. There is also a theatrical trailer and image gallery. As part of the Cold War Creatures: Four Films from Sam Katzman is a fully illustrated 60-page collector’s book featuring extensive new writing by Laura Drazin Boyes, Neil Mitchell, Barry Forshaw, Jon Towlson and Jackson Cooper as well as an 80-page collector’s art book featuring reproduction stills and artwork from each film and new writing by historian and critic Stephen R. Bissette, 2 double-sided posters featuring newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin and reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork for each film by Matt Griffin.     

Fred F. Sears' The Werewolf is another spin-off that started with Universal's 1941 The Wolf Man series that includes She-Wolf of London , Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man and later - I Was a Teenage Werewolf with Michael Landon, Hammer Studio's The Curse of the Werewolf, Jack Nicholson taking a turn in the 90s with the abbreviated title Wolf and Stephen King's Silver Bullet way back in the 80s plus plenty more. Horror fans love this sub-genre. 1956's The Werewolf takes an atomic turn with our amnesiac wanderer injected with "irradiated wolf serum" by unscrupulous doctors - not the usual infected bite deal-ie. The doctors believe that the serum, when isolated, will allow a select minority - not surprisingly chosen by them - to survive the inevitable nuclear holocaust imminently on the horizon. The Werewolf played on a double bill with Earth vs. the Flying Saucers or in the UK with Creature with the Atom Brain. While it lacks subtleties and subtext - it has the small town (updated Gothic village) location and resident fear and banding together to defeat the sub-human foe - yes with torches too! I love stuff like this and am very happy with the Arrow Blu-ray - so glad they have escalated these four fantasy, sci-fi, horror efforts to the superior resolution with extensive extras, commentaries and booklets. Nostalgia value is through the roof! It's too easy to critique these imperfect gems - just love their innocence and creative retelling while drinking deep from the fountain of Katzman... or not at all.

Gary Tooze