Watch The Werewolf of Washington For Free

Very Cool!!!

Sadly Over-hyped

A Masterpiece!

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Veteran actor Dean Stockwell has grown up from that little MGM child star to a fairly handsome man, but most of that is hidden behind a costume that looks like something out of a cheap production of "Alice in Wonderland". This cheaply made horror film is cast with mostly New York theater and soap actors who take the script seriously as if it was Shakespeare, but it's really rather amateurish at times and often unintentionally funny.The story surrounds a reporter who ends up being bitten by a werewolf while in Hungary and the effects it has when he returns to Washington D.C. Several prominent citizens are viciously attacked and mutilated, and eventually, the President himself (Biff McGuire) becomes a target. One of the scarier scenes occurs when Stanton attacks a black man on steps of the Lincoln memorial as Hus girlfriend screams inside a phone booth absurdly placed at the foot of the stairs. He then pushes the booth over and tries to attack her, no glass having been shattered. A chatty society matron is attacked while stumbling home drunk from a function, while a female reporter gets it too while trying to get into a closed gas station. This isn't terrible, but it's far from successful in its attempts to become a retelling of the classic horror tale.

My copy of this film may have been so worn and old it may well have been discovered in a cave next to the Dead Sea Scrolls, but I enjoyed this freaky horror comedy, mainly down to the acting talents of the always great Dean Stockwell (and some nifty werewolf makeup).Dean's a young press aide, self-exiled to Hungary after having an affair with the President's daughter. While there, he gets attacked and bitten by a werewolf, but as you would imagine he ignores the pleas of a gypsy woman and is recalled back to Washington to help out the President. It's not long before he's becoming as hirsute as Robin Williams and chomping down on various people.It's more comedy than horror, this film, but it still has its moments. Stockwell hams up the werewolf angle, panting like a dog, chewing up his room. The guy playing the President was good too, and the whole piece is played rather broadly and ends on a pretty good gag. It all looks to have been made for about six dollars but I found it to be pretty entertaining stuff.

God-awful is the best way to describe this 'film'. Imagine making a horror film but not putting any money into the budget for decent costumes or special effects--that is the major problem with "The Werewolf of Washington". If that isn't enough, the writing is pretty awful as well--at least most of the writing.Dean Stockwell plays a reporter who seems to be half asleep during the film. He has absolutely no energy or enthusiasm for the role--and often seems more like a zombie than a werewolf! He is recalled from his Hungarian assignment about the same time he's bitten by a werewolf and now as the president's assistant press secretary, he has an ample supply of annoying people to maul--and his first victim is especially annoying. Oddly, whenever Stockwell looks into the palm of a person's hand, he sees a pentagram when this person is to soon be one of his victims. And, when he kills them the film sometimes begins to play in slow-motion--though considering how sluggish the film is, it's hard to tell it's happening! As I said in the first paragraph, this is pretty awful stuff. However, the film wavers from terrible to rather clever at times--at least when it comes to scenes with the President and some of his cabinet. It was pretty funny how they made fun of President Nixon. While the actor playing this character didn't look like Nixon, his love of bowling, team sports and the way he prattled was pretty funny...and spot on the mark. I also liked the social commentary when the racist general who just started blaming a rash of savage killings done by the werewolf on a convenient black man as a scapegoat. But then, there are just too many bizarre moments that make you wonder if the folks making this film were on LSD--such as the tiny scientist (Michael Dunn) who can somehow calm the beast, the weird bathroom scene as well as the basic concept of the movie. After all, why would they want to make a movie like this in the first place--even with the political satire?! The bottom line is that the film wasn't scary at all and was high on the cheese factor. But, it also wasn't funny enough to be a good parody (such as "Love At First Bite").By the way, you may recognize Dunn from his appearances from "Star Trek" and "Wild, Wild West". If you have a chance, read his IMDb biography--it's pretty interesting though sad as well.

My son recently surprised me with a gift that game in the form of "Tales Of Terror" (A 50 DVD Movie Pack). This collection of "horror films that most people have never heard of" included "The Werewolf of Washington" which featured actor Dean Stockwell as a "political lycanthrope". It might surprise you to know that Stockwell was nominated for one Oscar, four Emmy Awards, and won two out of his six Golden Globe Nominations. The thing that I remember most about him was the fact that he looked a lot like the late great James Dean, and for a time there was a lot of talk about him playing Dean in "The James Dean Story". Warner Brothers later decided to make the film into a documentary. I have often wondered what an actor of Stockwell's talent could have done with that role. Having said that... I now can fully appreciate Stockwell's sense of "professionalism" if not his talent after viewing "The Werewolf of Washington". Stockwell puts forth his best effort in this comedy spoof type of rip off of the old Universal Studio version of "The Wolfman". The script seems to have a mind of it's own as it wanders around aimlessly in numerous directions trying to find itself. Actor Stockwell finds himself in a quandary as to whether to play the scene "straight" or as some kind of "comedic foil" and who could possibly blame him? I think what really transpires in this film is a series of disconnected "comedic skits" that range from the lead getting his fingers stuck in bowling ball to a President trying to break into a locked bathroom stall to a midget mad scientist (Michael Dunn)advising the President while standing next to what appears to be the Frankenstein Monster. Maybe Dean Stockwell should have received some kind of special award for just appearing in this film!