Face of the Screaming Werewolf

According to various sources, the hour long version of Face Of The Screaming Werewolf that I have just suffered through was cobbled together from two unrelated Mexican films, La Casa del Terror (1959) and La Momia Azteca (1957), with added footage from director Jerry Warren; this goes a long way to explain why it is a complete and utter mess from start to finish—although I have a sneaking suspicion that neither of the original Mexican films are all that great either (I'm sure I'll find out one day, being the movie masochist that I am).

It's always a tough job to summarise any film that is such a complete dog's dinner, but here goes…

Under hypnosis, Ann Taylor (Rosita Arenas) recalls a previous life where she took part in a ceremony in a pyramid in the Yucatan. Keen to investigate further, Ann accompanies a team of scientists to the ancient Mexican monument where they discover two mummies, one really old, the other more recent. Both are taken to the scientists' laboratory/wax museum (?!?!) for examination, where they come to life and wreak havoc, with the most recent specimen (played by Lon Chaney Jr.) also proving to be a werewolf. Ann is abducted by the ancient mummy and is killed, while the werewolf mummy goes on the rampage in the city before being cornered in the lab and set on fire.

In addition to the terrible editing, nonsensical story and poor acting, Face Of The Screaming Werewolf also suffers from plenty of padding, most notably the native ritual at the beginning of the film that seems to go on forever. Just think how (mercifully) short the film would have been had the editors been a bit more judicious with the scissors for that scene.

I'm sorry, but I have a totally different opinion on this movie - if you can name it a "movie". If you want to see Lon Chaney Jr in his last Wolf Man theatrical appearance, it's better for you to catch the original version of this film, LA CASA DEL TERROR, Mexico 1959, directed by Gilberto Martinez Solares. As usual, Mr. Warren totally destroyed an excellent film in cutting about one-third, mixing it with elements of a Rafael Portillo mummy film totally unrelated with the other, and (always as usual) putting his name on a film made by others. Not only the original LA CASA DEL TERROR is an excellent film, but the comic elements (with Tin Tan) are well integrated with the horror segments, as it was the case in ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, also with Chaney...

If you read Rudolph Grey's excellent "nightmare in ecstasy", you will find a passage that refers to Edward D. Wood Jnr. directing Lon Chaney Jr. as a wolfman climbing up the outside of a building for promotional reasons. Is this a previously uncredited entry in the Wood CV?

A bad movie can be fun--especially if the film doesn't take itself seriously or is so over the top that you cannot believe they'd make such a monstrosity. However, many times they're just bad--devoid of fun in any way. Into which category would I put "Face of the Screaming Werewolf"? Read on...

Some scientists head to Mexico for archaeological doings. There, a group of Aztecs (???) dance about in long, boring choreographed production numbers. The scientists discover a couple mummies and take them back home. For kicks, they revive one of them and it turns out he's ALSO a werewolf!! Then, after ripping off one of their friend's faces, he faints--exhausted from all that face- ripping. So what do they do? Work harder to revive the monster! And, wouldn't you know it, the other mummy wakes up and has a really bad attitude as well.

Does ANY Of this make the least bit of sense? Not at all--which isn't surprising considering the film's pedigree. Jerry Warren Productions took two Mexican films (one of which I saw and it was the god-awful original "Aztec Mummy" film--the other "House of Terror") and chopped them to pieces and added a bit of new material with a very faded American star, Lon Chaney Jr.--who at this point was a rather sad alcoholic. The film is just as awful as you'd expect given the circumstances under which it was made! And, as a result it's rather random and incomprehensible at times.

So is this one bad enough to enjoy? Yes and no. Yes, you and your friends could watch it together and laugh at how incompetent the mess of a film is. However, I also say no because it's even more fun to watch original film "The Aztec Mummy" because it's unintentionally hilarious--as are the follow-up films (especially "The Aztec Mummy Against the Humanoid Robot"!).

This movie presents about eight minutes of scenes with Lon Chaney Jr. and the rest its a long mexican movie pasted with another werewolf movie... and, what about the logic, and the continuity? The best scene of this stuff its at the beginning, the scientist and the mesmerized woman. But, I strongly recommend this movie to all Chaney Jr. fans!