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Scream of the Wolf
USA 1974
produced by Dan Curtis, Charles W. Fries (executive) for Metromedia Productions/ABC
directed by Dan Curtis
starring Peter Graves, Clint Walker, Jo Ann Pflug, Philip Carey, Don Megowan, Brian Richards, Lee Paul, Jim Storm, Dean Smith, Randy Kirby, Vernon Weddle, Bill Baldwin, Orville Sherman, Bonnie Van Dyke, Grant Owens, Douglas Bungert, Tom Dever, Chuck Hayward, Ken Stimson
screenplay by Richard Matheson, based on the story The Hunter by David Case, music by Bob Cobert
review by Dale Pierce
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Peter Graves stars as an adventure writer
who investigates a series of regional killings in which an actual werewolf
might be suspected, or at least someone staging an elaborate hoax. Victims are
found mauled to death, with tracks converting from animal pawprints to human
feet, then vanishing.
Graves tries to enlist the help of a big game hunter friend, played by Walker,
who refuses, claiming to be done with that phase of his life. Thus the
writer continues to search for the elusive killer, be he man or beast, until
the end of the film. Walker, by this time, joins the search and in doing so,
reveals what his game plan has been all along.
Walker of course, is staging the killings, which by now becomes predictable.
In his logic, mankind has become placid and pacifistic, without any desire to
survive, fight or live dangerously. In his mind, the killings and the mystery
surrounding them, have instilled primal fear in the general public, bringing
them back in tone with their animal nature and thus, making them tough guys
once more. Well, okay, whatever ? When you use a nutcase for a villain, you can
take the idiotic, such as this concept, and make it work. Walker even makes
his case seem halfway rational, no matter how foolish it sounds. That's the
scariest part of the film.
Well, Walker gets done in, the mystery of the supposed werewolf is explained
and all ends right with the world. God bless us, everyone. Mankind may now
slip back into pacifism and slumber. The elaborate game plan was all for
nothing. People are once again destined to be pussies, until something puts a
scare into them once more and fires up their imaginations.
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