SCREAM OF THE WOLF (1974)
Article 5051 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 1-16-2016
Directed by Dan Curtis
Featuring Peter Graves, Clint Walker, Jo Ann Pflug
Country: USA
What it is: TV-Movie horror mystery

A wild beast is killing people in a small town. Could it be a werewolf?

Dan Curtis and screenwriter Richard Matheson had both worked together in THE NIGHT STALKER, in which no one but the hero believes that a real vampire is on the loose. In some ways, this movie is the opposite; most people in this one believe the killer is a werewolf, but the hero isn’t so sure. To its credit, the movie works up to an interesting climax; it has a solid, memorable ending. It’s the long stretch leading up to the climax that is less than enchanting; quite frankly, most of the movie comes across as tired and predictable, and there’s a shortage of interesting characters. The one exception is a major one; Clint Walker’s hunter character easily steals the movie and if the movie works at all, it’s to his credit. Graves’ performance isn’t bad, but for the most part it’s business as usual with him, though the ending does give him a nice character moment as well. This is one of Dan Curtis’s lesser TV-movies, but the patient viewer won’t walk away empty-handed.