The Werewolf of Washington (USA, 1973) 90 min color DIR-SCR: Milton Moses Ginsberg. PROD: Nina Schulman. MUSIC: Arnold Freed. DOP: Robert M. Baldwin. CAST: Dean Stockwell, Biff McGuire, Thayer David, Clifton James, Michael Dunn, James Tolkan. (Diplomat Pictures)
It is mildly amusing to see former counterculture movie star Dean Stockwell, with his hair cut short, working for the White House, as reporter Jack Whittier, who fled to Hungary after having a fling with the President’s daughter. However, when the commander in chief summons him back to Washington to be his press assistant, naturally the media whore accepts the offer. On the way to the airport, he is bitten by a werewolf, and when he gets back on Capitol Hill, bodies start piling up whenever the moon is full.
On the surface, is a curious follow-up for the writer-director of the taboo-breaking underground cult film, Coming Apart. And yet, this oddball offering really has an axe to grind. The low budget really hurts the movie’s credibility (the opening, all done in dry ice and black backgrounds, is light years from Hungary; and the president’s office looks like your Dad’s den in the basement), however it is compelling in its takes on the government. For instance, when the first victim is killed, the attack scene ends with jump cuts to close-ups of government buildings. It is to say that we need to look past the juvenile dime-store horrors of these silly Saturday night movies: the real monster is sitting behind a desk in the White House!
This film is so crass as to have a scene shot right outside the famous Watergate hotel, and to include a moment when the werewolf bites the President! The movie ends on an ambiguous note, as we hear a voiceover of America’s leader during a shot of a full moon, thus presaging that more evil is to come (and a Watergate-era audience would have no trouble accepting this).
The President (played by Biff McGuire) looks nothing like Nixon, but instead resembles one of those nerdy-looking guys in Grade 4 science films who explain photosynthesis. And yet, beneath that wholesome everyman look, we see how diabolical the leader really is. The movie ends as all werewolf movies should: Jack meets his demise in a hail of gunfire (I guess D.C. police all have silver bullets), but in his dying breath, he mimics Tricky Dicky: “You won’t have Jack Whittier to kick around any more”! Now that’s crass! After all that, we see the president planning to cover up any information about his friend.
Don’t be fooled by the title. The tawdry production and juvenile tone may betray its cleverness, but this is actually a thought-provoking little time-killer. Who would think?
Originally presented in Vol. #1, Issue #14, (“Back to the 70s”), as part of the article, “The Paranoia Machine”. UPDATE: I had written this review after seeing the film broadcast on WKBW’s late night program, Off Beat Cinema. The film is widely available online and on physical media because it has lapsed in the public domain. However, if you’re going to get one copy of it, I recommend picking up the edition of Elvira’s Movie Macabre, released by Shout! Factory.
Greg Woods
Greg Woods has been a film enthusiast since his teens, and began his writing "career" at the same time- prolific in capsule reviews of everything he had watched, first on index cards, then those hardcover dollar store black journals, then an old Mac IIsi. He founded The Eclectic Screening Room in 2001, as a portal to share his film love with the world, and find some like-minded enthusiasts along the way. In addition to having worked in the film industry for over two decades, he has been a co-programmer of films at Trash Palace, and a programmer/co-founder of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate. He has also written for Broken Pencil, CU-Confidential, Micro-Film, and is currently working on his first novel. His secret desire is for someone to interview him for a podcast or a DVD extra.