Censorship cuts and English dubbing prior to its American release make this movie a bit more odd than it would have been to begin with,but it manages to be a reasonably effective fright flick. One thing that stands out SPOILERS AHEAD: is the gruesomeness and explicit detail shown of the werewolf's young female victims, far more graphic than an American or British film from this period. Some of the renaming and dubbing makes the story seem dislocated, i.e., English writing has been put in on a letter of introduction, stating that the new professor at the girls' reformatory came from Boston, and the reform school is somewhere in Massachusetts. There is a character named Sir somebody, who would be unlikely to be found in the U.S. with a title, and one insert shows blackmail money clearly consisting of English pounds. The overall feel of the picture is European, rather than American, and that's actually part of its interest. One wonders why they didn't leave it intact except for the dubbing part. The German origins of the movie are obvious when a little research proves that the character renamed Priscilla in the Americanized version was originally called Brunnhilde. There's an actor who in both face and manner recalls Peter Lorre, playing the lecherous school handyman. In fact, he seems to be basically doing a Lorre impersonation. The other interesting bit is a very familiar voice dubbed for one of the German actors, the police detective investigating the killings at the school. Close attention will reveal to fans of Euro-horror the gravelly, cynical voice of American actor/director Mel Welles, who can also be heard dubbing the grave robber Lynch in Welles' own Lady Frankenstein. The picture has some fairly suspenseful scenes involving the monster stalking his victims, and the mystery is kept effectively hidden until near the end, but its main interest is as a novelty for horror fans. It's not the worst picture ever made, and worth a peek by horror fans at least once.
Review of Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory
