SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Scarecrow-88 "Marian, will you leave my chains alone!"Some films boggle the mind. WEREWOLF OF WASHINGTON is such a movie. Okay, Dean Stockwell (in a zombie-like performance) is a White House press secretary bitten by a gypsy werewolf in Budapest, which curses him with the mark of the beast. So the film seems to be a political satire but veers into moments of sheer bizarreness that you just have to see it to believe it. Stockwell has these instances where the werewolf begins to emerge, and he must move his teeth, pretending that the transformation is taking over, which is rather corny. The transformations take forever—I mean, we're talking minutes here, folks. The werewolf in a suit routine (hearkening back to RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE) is rather hilarious, as well as, the grey hair which Stockwell sprouts when he turns into a lycanthrope. Lots of exteriors of Washington used to fool us into believing that the characters are actually operating business in the White House. Stockwell's Jack Whittier remains with a mostly frozen expression of aloofness for most of the film until the end when he is allowed to explode into hysterics while chained to a chair. Then there's this out-of-nowhere, what-the-hell scene which has to have derived from some sort of acid trip where Jack the Werewolf prowls into the inner bowels of what I guess is the White House (it looks like the inside of a nuclear building) and comes across a midget mad scientist with a Frankenstein monster—you think that is strange wait until you witness Jack the Werewolf licking the midget's face! Wow, that was unexpected and random! Oh, the midget returns briefly to meet with the President of the United States in the bathroom! I can't make this up people. I guess this is supposed to be a comedy because it has all these absurd scenes such as a representative of Communist China meeting with the President in Air Force One as Jack transforms into his grey-fur werewolf, and this erupts into a full scale attack—now imagine this for a minute, a werewolf in combat with the President of the United States, and there are no secret service agents who charge the beast, nope. Hell, the President even uses his coat as if he was a matador and the werewolf a bull. This is the kind of movie typical of the drive-in schlock one was accustomed to back in the 70s. It certainly is the appropriate sort of cinematic slop that would indeed wind up on a show hosted by Elvira. Fans of rancid cinema might eat this up, but for most WEREWOLF OF WASHINGTON will be considered a hunk of excrement .

MartinHafer 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.

Anthony Pittore III (Shattered_Wake) With some added enjoyment of Elvira on her "Movie Macabre," "The Werewolf of Washington" looked to be the typical dumb cheese that the Mistress of the Dark liked to show. And, while it may be dumb cheese at times, at its roots, this flick is actually quite a fun and interesting little political satire. . .In an opening narration, we meet Jack Whittier (Dean Stockwell), one of the "best and brightest" (his words) young journalists in Washington. After having an affair with the president's daughter, he's reassigned to Hungary. This only lasts a short while, because he is bitten by a werewolf (or a German Shepherd) and transfers BACK to D.C. where he, you guessed it, starts to work for the president again. Soon after his return, again you guessed it, dead bodies start turning up around the nation's capital and Whittier must find a way to cease his curse and end the murders.If you haven't yet noticed by the title or plot or that it was on Elvira's show, "The Werewolf of Washington" isn't a film that's meant to be taken very seriously. In fact, it's actually much more a satirical comedy poking fun at our central government with a wry sense of humour (even though it contains about equal parts intentional and unintentional comedy here) than a horror film. For example:"He possessed the sign of the pentagram.""Ah! The Pentagon is behind all this!"Too funny.The entire film is full of great one-liners (or two-liner, here, I guess?) like this, along with a big dose of heavy satire (most notably the apparent Nixon-wannabe as president and the hints at Watergate). And, if you can watch a film for elements like that, well, you'll have to for this one. Why? Because there isn't another good element about it. The direction & cinematography (which occasionally try to be artsy or creative) but just ends up being silly for the most part. This unrestored copy's terrible audio and video make it nearly unwatchable at points. I found myself cranking the volume just to ear a single line of dialogue, then having my eardrums blasted out when the sound returned to workable. The acting is painful and, as Elvira pointed out, it seemed that some of the actors were occasionally forgetting their lines (especially the funny little Gypsy woman). The majority of violence is exchanged for random people just screaming and looking scared, though there is a good bit of blood & gore on occasion. Luckily, a flick like this doesn't need strong film-making. It has a werewolf. In Washington. And that's enough.It's a hard time trying to rate a film like this, however, as it can barely score a 1 as a real film. . . but it can easily grab a 10 just for the endless fun. So, we'll even it out to a. . .Final Verdict: 5/10 You know just from the title whether or not this movie is for you.-AP3-

William Giesin 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!