The Werewolf Of Washington

Year releasted: 1973

by Nathan Rabin
September 6th, 2006

Plot: After getting bitten by a lycanthrope in Hungary, Dean Stockwell returns to America to serve as the president's assistant press secretary. But when the full moon strikes, Stockwell turns into a creature resembling a giant feral teddy bear in an ill-fitting suit, and leaves a trail of carnage throughout Washington D.C. Stockwell outs himself as a murderous man-beast at every turn, but no one believes him. When will werewolf-movie skeptics ever learn?

Key scenes: Stockwell begins the film with portentous narration explaining how he got the press-secretary position after the president heard that he was considered "too pro-administration." (If nothing else, that helps explain how Tony Snow ended up with his current gig.) When a well-fed Cracker-American tries to pin one of Stockwell's murders on a black man, an African-American witness angrily says, "It was a werewolf, you racist pig!" Later, in a scene that somehow failed to make it into the annals of horror history, Stockwell has difficulty bowling with the president once his fingers swell up in anticipation of a full moon.

Can easily be distinguished by: Its unique, regrettable combination of labored social commentary, political commentary, and Z-grade horror. Also, it's that movie where the crimes of a werewolf/assistant press secretary are blamed on the Black Panthers.

Sign that it was made in 1973: References to the Black Panthers and Vietnam abound, and Stockwell's character lives at the Watergate.

Timeless message: If someone tells you he's a bloodthirsty werewolf who should be locked up before he kills again, believe him. Actually, that's the timeless message of pretty much every werewolf movie.

Memorable quotes: Stockwell smooth-talks the President's foxy daughter by telling her, "I think your father's a cross between Abraham Lincoln and Jesus Christ."

[Available on DVD Sept. 19 as part of the "Elvira's Movie Macabre" series.]