The Undying Monster

Helga Hammond (Heather Angel) and her brother Oliver Hammond (John Howard) live in an isolated mansion with their staff. There is a legend of a curse in the Hammond family but Helga does not believe it is true. When a woman is murdered and Oliver is attacked in a frozen night, Scotland Yard Detective Robert Curtis (James Ellison) and his assistant Christy (Heather Thatcher) are assigned to investigate the case. Dr. Jeff Colbert (Bramwell Fletcher), who is the Hammond doctor and friend, becomes the prime suspect of Robert since he does not give any support to the investigation. What is the secret of the Hammond monster?

"The Undying Monster" is an enjoyable but predictable werewolf film. Christy is an annoying character but the film is a pleasant surprise. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Segredo do Monstro" ("The Secret of the Monster")

A curse has been killing the men of Hammond Hall for centuries on cold nights. In 1900, Helga Hammond (Heather Angel) tells the butler that curses don't exist. There are screams from outside the mansion. Helga orders a carriage to be brought round for her while the servants wring their hands and worry. So begins this low budget film from 20th-Century Fox that moves at breakneck speed trying to get in all the plot in just over an hour's running time.

The movie is filled with behind-the-scenes talent that was two years away from peaking. Director John Brahm would hit his stride in 1944-45, when he directed "Guest In The House, "The Lodger (both 1944) and "Hangover Square" (1945) consecutively. Composer David Raksin, best known for the "Theme from "Laura" (1944) scored one of his first films here. Lucien Ballard, who did the atmospheric, skewed photography that plays with the viewers' sense of proportion and reminded me of "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1919), filmed both "Laura" and "The Lodger" (both 1944). The sets were designed by Richard Day and Lewis Creber.

"The Undying Monster" is an marvelous "B" movie that should be better known.

The Undying Monster is a screenplay of a mystery novel about the legend concerning a particular old English family (the Hammonds), and as such, is an excellent outing. The Sherlock Holmes mystery adventure,'The Hound of the Baskervilles' received great acclaim even though at the conclusion, the legend proved to be a hoax, whereas in 'The Undying Monster' the legend was based on the 'real deal'. The unique story (with it's unexplained incidents throughout the family history, the unanswered questions, the hints,clues,innuendos,insinuations, and so on) plus the production values essential for an effective suspense atmosphere (the sets, musical score,sound effects, and a pace that was kept fresh by diversionary light humored relief which is necessary to keep the viewer engulfed in an old english mystery story and not losing them through drama fatigue) are all there.

The basic plot: The Curse of the Hammond family takes place on hilly english Moors and a detective comes to investigate the occurences.

The Praise: Eerie atmosphere,sets,werewolf jingle and excellent photography are sprinkled with shadows and good soundtrack effects(muffled bells,dogs barking ,wind rustling).The complex sets are cavernous ,gothic and lined with stained glass.Efficient acting ,strong beginning help. More of a taut little thriller than a horror film. Very rarely shown . The flaws:The very short running time is ridden with too much corny comic relief and talky padding ,as is the case in many horror flicks of the 40s. You also hardly see the werewolf.

With a little over an hour's running time, this film is one of a number of very short,second features that were made in abundance during the forties. Always in black and white, they starred familiar faces that never really made it to the "A" list (with a few exceptions). They also featured players on their way down. Heather Angel, who was the female support in the classic "The Informer", was reduced to starring in programmers like this one. Be that as it may, this film is a step above most second features. The cinematography is good......eerie and fog shrouded (maybe to hide lack of sets). The actors all rise to the occasion and are generally quite good. There is a little too much forced humor which is out of place in the context of the story. I never knew why they insisted on doing that......many a good "B" picture was ruined by injecting unfunny schtick in otherwise dramatic stories. No guts and gore here....just a compact, tight storyline about a family curse which appears to be coming true. It won't keep you guessing but it will keep you interested throughout and is one to watch on a rainy Saturday afternoon. I think you'll enjoy it.