Wolfblood

This was a film that I discovered when compiling my master list for 1925 for my Centennial Club on Journey with a Cinephile. What is interesting is that this film is streaming on Tubi so that makes it easy to find. There was a slight issue with the version I watched there, but I'll come back to that. This had a cool title so I was intrigued to see what we'd get here.

Synopsis: after a blood transfusion, a man thinks that he is turning into a beast.

We start this off by getting the lay of the land. This is in the Canadian wilderness. There is the Ford Logging Company that is managed by Dick Bannister (George Chesebro). On the outskirts of their territory is the bigger and richer, Consolidated Lumber Company. This rival is run by Jules Deveroux (Roy Watson). They don't mind violating laws and cutting corners. From my understanding, Jules is having his men shoot members of the other company. Not to kill them, but just injure and hold up work.

Dick puts in a request to the current owner that he needs help. This includes needing a surgeon. The owner is Edith (Marguerite Clayton) who inherited the company. She is a socialite, liking to put in time with her peers. She is engaged to Dr. Eugene Horton (Ray Hanford), who doesn't enjoy the social scene as much. Interestingly, he's a surgeon so he agrees to accompany Edith to check on the camp.

It is here that Dick falls in love with Edith. He learns she's engaged so he distances himself. She is fond of him, torn between her commitment to Eugene and her true feelings. Things take a turn though when Dick sees that Jules' company has dammed the water, which is illegal. He confronts him and this results in a tussle. Dick is knocked out and left for dead. Eugene finds and saves him. Dick needs a blood transfusion. A local bootlegger, Jacques Lebeq (Milburn Morante) is here, but refuses to help. He does have a she-wolf that he'd allow Eugene to use. The doctor tries to get Jacques to swear to secrecy as to what he's doing.

This becomes problematic though when Dick wakes up. He is more aggressive and the men around camp avoid him, believing him cursed. When there's a murder nearby, he becomes the prime suspect. There is more to what is going on here that needs to be revealed before the truth can be ascertained.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that by looking at the title, it made me wonder if this was going to be an early take on the werewolf mythos. On Tubi, they had this listed as a drama so I went to the Internet Movie Database to confirm that this was in genre and it was there that they listed body horror. That had me excited to see what we'd do with this idea this early into film history.

Now that I've set that up, I like the set up that we have. It is deep in the wilderness of Canada. There are two logging camps that are close enough to have interactions. What is good there is that everyone is on the honor system. We see that Jules will do whatever he can to stay ahead, truly embracing capitalism. Dick does the right thing and wants everyone to follow the same code. It is the wild west though, where there aren't authorities to keep everyone in line. With how far out here it is, if you get hurt, it will take time for someone to get there to help which adds tension.

I will say though, this is a drama first. When Edith and Eugene come to this camp, it becomes a love triangle. Dick brings her flowers, then gets nervous telling her that it was 'Pop' Hadley (Frank Clark) who is the camp's security guard. Pop tells her the truth, making her fall even more for Dick. She is torn though. She feels for Eugene, but she's in love with Dick. Eugene hides shady information, because he doesn't want to lose her. This is more of the focus of the film which doesn't work as well for me.

Then the last part of the story would be the horror elements. The premise is that Dick needs a blood transfusion after he's left for dead. Jacques refuses to help him after getting kicked out of the camp for providing alcohol to Pop. The premise here is that a she-wolf's blood is used. In the world of the movie, it is possible. These men in the camp are superstitious so they think he's now part beast or that he's a werewolf. I like this idea. There is even a term brought up, Loup Garou, which is the werewolf of the north. This all works for me. I don't love the direction that it goes in the end, but it is fitting for the realism aspect.

Let me then shift this over to discuss the acting performances. Coming into this, I expect them to be over the top due to being a silent film. There are big reactions to things but still solid. Chesebro has the best portrayal since after his transfusion he is more aggressive. That fits what is needed for this role. Watson is good as this villainous manager. I like that Morante is a bootlegger. He is in his rights to not provide his blood to help Dick. He also spreads rumors. He's definitely a grey character. Clark works in his role. Clayton is good at complicating the camp dynamics upon arriving. Hanford also works as the doctor. Jack Cosgrave and the rest of the cast were fine for what was needed.

All that is left then is filmmaking. I thought that the cinematography was good to capture the wilderness. It makes it seem like we're at the camp. Coupling that with the shots in town helps as well. There are limited effects, but this is also early into cinema. I did like the shots of wolves that are edited in. The biggest gripe that I have with the version I watched is that there was no music synced up. This makes it difficult for me to watch at night.

In conclusion, this is an interesting early take on werewolf mythos. It doesn't follow any of the lore we're accustomed to. This is more of a scientific approach. The setting is good, being isolated at a camp like it is. Now this does fall more into being a melodrama, a term I've seen in a few different reviews. That is spot on. The acting was good for the era. Chesebro leads the way there with the rest of the cast pushing things to where they end up. A solid effort for this early into the history of horror.

My Rating: 6 out of 10.

Somewhere in a Canadian forest there are two competing lumber camps - one good, one evil - the owner of the latter hires thugs to attack folks from the former to try and put them out of business. This course of action results in one such victim being given an emergency transfusion of wolf's blood leading him to believe he is a wolf, including hallucinations of phantom wolves.

The above synopsis probably makes Wolf Blood seem a lot more interesting than it actually is. Unfortunately, despite how it is marketed nowadays, it's not a werewolf film. It isn't even a horror movie at all. Instead it's a melodrama with a little bit of fantasy elements added towards the end. Sadly, the narrative is somewhat dull and the wolf material is only introduced three quarters of the way in. It's here where the film has some potential but it's too little too late. And so, despite some great location photography, the result is one of the most lacking silents I have seen.

Half the film involves trees falling down and the same stock footage of the lumber industry. There are two warring camps. One is sending men to shoot the workers in the other camp. It is getting ugly. There are so many injuries that the foreman (a sort of Nelson Eddy kind of guy) gets in touch with the owner (who happens to be a rich flapper, engaged to a surgeon). She goes to the camp with her fiancé. He will do the doctoring while she assesses the situation. There is no reason for her to be there other than to advance the plot and get her to fall in love with the handsome foreman. At some point, the guy (who acts before thinking) finds that the opposing camp is about to dam up the river and ruin their business. After a confrontation with a couple of lumberjacks, he is knocked unconscious and thrown in a ravine. He is later found by the surgeon who is put in a position of using wolf blood to save his life. Of course, he now begins to act wolf-like. Some say this was the first werewolf movie. There are some fun moments, but, over all, it is just quite moronic.

A nascent werewolf picture which, despite its promising premise, carefully avoids a descent into lycanthropy, this "tale of the forest" will disappoint most horror fans. However, it does have other points of interest including its attractively tinted location photography and its fascinating cast headed by the famous silent star, the charming Marguerite Clayton, here nearing the end of her 180-movies career!

Doubtless for reasons of economy, George Chesebro was handed the reins to direct many of his own scenes. Unfortunately, he opted to adopt the clownish make-up he sported in the 1920 serial, "The Lost City", and he looks a real sight with his ghost-white face, black-rimmed eyes and painted smile. And this is before he thinks he might turn into a werewolf!

Chesebro is joined by his sidekick pal from "The Lost City", Frank Clark, but it's prolific character actor Milburn Morante who easily steals this picture from both of them.

The scenes directed by Bruce Mitchell are much smoother and far more natural than the Chesebro footage. And in his delightfully foot-tapping, jazz party sequence, the beautifully tinted images often give the lustrous impression of early two-strip Technicolor.

Despite the title, this isn't a horror film at all; the werewolf elements are only introduced three-quarters of the way in – which are, in any case, merely suggested through the lead character's hallucinations – but these obviously constitute the film's highlight (though rugged, pasty-faced star and co-director Chesebro isn't exactly Lon Chaney Jr.); still, the transformation-by-transfusion is an interesting concept, one which I don't think has been done in subsequent films. However, while the forest locations are certainly nice, the unexciting main narrative involving rival logging companies and the unavoidable love triangle really drown the interest; a subplot involves a villainous moonshiner who's a dead ringer for Walter Brennan – and, for the record, there's even an interminable "Jazz Age" party sequence towards the beginning! The soundtrack accompanying the print I watched features a classical piece which was also used – to much greater effect – in Luis Bunuel's L'AGE D'OR (1930).