The Undying Monster (1942)

You won't be disappointed!

Better Late Then Never

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

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

The Hammond family has been living with some unsavoury history for a long time. The male members most often seem to suffer some horrible fate. One night, Oliver Hammond (John Howard) is on his way home when he and a nurse, Kate O'Malley, are attacked by something that may be man or animal. Soon Scotland Yard detectives Robert Curtis (James Ellison) and his wacky sidekick Christy (Heather Thatcher) are assigned to the case, and Curtis determines to use scientific methods to work the clues.While ultimately fairly average and unmemorable, this is still a reasonably enjoyable B genre picture from 20th Century Fox, a studio not ordinarily associated with B level horror. It *is* competently made from beginning to end, with efficient direction by John Brahm ("The Mad Magician", "Hangover Square", "The Lodger"), an expert in Victorian era melodramas. The atmosphere is wonderfully palpable, with striking use of light and darkness by cinematographer Lucien Ballard. Scripted by Lillie Hayward and Michael Jacoby, from the novel by Jessie Douglas Kerruish, it tells a fairly snappy story that clocks in at a mere 64 minutes.Some hardcore horror fans may not be terribly satisfied, as horror elements don't really come into play that often. The running time is largely dedicated to the investigation of the incident, with an amusingly loopy Thatcher supplying all of the comedy relief. It's not until the final seven minutes when we finally get to see some werewolf action.The cast is very good. Ellisons' bright, charming presence helps quite a bit. The pretty Heather Angel leaves a strong impression as the skeptical and level headed Helga Hammond. Supporting actors Bramwell Fletcher, Aubrey Mather, Halliwell Hobbes, Holmes Herbert, and Eily Malyon all do well. Hollywood tough guy Charles McGraw makes his film debut as the character Strudwick.This should provide some adequate entertainment for fans of 1930s and 1940s horror.Six out of 10.

"The Undying Monster" is basically a very routine and derivative '40s horror flick, but there are a couple of aspects that undeniably bring this film to a much higher league. The delightfully sinister title, for one, but more importantly - of course - the skillful directing talents of John Brahm and a couple of extremely progressive footnotes in the script! This was one of 20th Century Fox' first attempts to imitate the tremendously successful horror movies from Universal and it more specifically became a combination between a typical old-dark-house chiller and a classic monster fable. For centuries already, the rich aristocratic Hammond family is plagued by a curse and far too many ancestors died in the claws of a hideous lycanthrope monster. The horror returns to the final heirs, siblings Helga and Oliver, when a young girl is found ripped to pieces on the large Hammond estate. The plot, set-up and particularly the denouement may be clichéd and predictable, but the power of "The Undying Monster" lies in minor plot details and stylistic highlights. The opening sequence, for example, is brilliantly misleading as the camera soberly ventures through the dark interior of the mansion and passes next to a seemingly lifeless dog and motionless female hand. But then the doorbell rings and both the dog and the female rudely awake. What an incredibly imaginative and unexpected scene to feature in a routine horror low-budgeter like this! John Brahm, a director who emigrated from Germany before WWII, here demonstrates a lot of his visionary talents and he would later make a couple of shamefully underrated horror classics like "The Lodger", "Hangover Square" (both starring George Sanders and Laird Cregar) and "The Mad Magician (starring the almighty Vincent Price). Little moments of brilliance in the script include some very progressive theories about lycanthropy AND a very early but powerful manifestation of girl-power and feminism! Female lead Helga Hammond is one feisty lady, to say the least. When she hears fearful screams from within the dark woods surrounding her estate, she unhesitatingly jumps into a carriage and forays into the night to investigate. What a woman! Helga is depicted by an actress named Heather Angel, which is an artist name that would only be chosen by adult film stars nowadays. "The Undying Monster" definitely isn't fundamental viewing, but warmly recommended to fans of spooky black- and-white horror. With a running time of barely 63 minutes, it won't even cost you too much precious time.

This was the worst of the 3 movies that Hans Brahm directed for 20th-Century Fox. Unlike The Lodger and Hangover Square, this one looks like one of the cheap quickies that Republic and Monogram Studios used to churn out in the '40's.Casting for this movie was getting look-alikes of more famous stars-the guy who played Oliver was a dead ringer for Lon Chaney, Jr. And Christy looked suspiciously like Cornelia Otis Skinner with a dye job, right down to the hair-do and the rubber faced facial mugging, right out of The Uninvited. The worst part of the movie was the ending-the way they sped up the monster's running scenes on camera looked pretty silly, and the transformation from wolf to man was some really sloppy camera work.

At the turn of the century Oliver Hammond and his companion are attacked by a wild beast . Scotland Yard are called an investigation led by Robert Curtis is carried out . Curtis finds out that the Hammond family has been cursed for centuries . Is there any truth to this or is there a natural explanation ? I caught this film on youtube and despite being called THE HAMMOND MYSTERY on the IMDb youtube calls it THE UNDYING MONSTER . There was something else . The person who posted it described it as " a werewolf classic " which ruined the film to a degree because if you're going to call a film THE HAMMOND MYSTERY then the efficacious word in the title is Mystery . If you know there's a werewolf in there somewhere then the film is spoiled to a degree What this movie does very well is build up an air of mystery to the proceedings . Okay it's nothing more than a horror B movie a fact reflected by its running time and non star cast . What it does do very well is build up an air of mystery and suspense . No one spells out that the Hammond family have been cursed by lycanthropy , though there are some clues , and as Curtis of the Yard investigates all options both natural and supernatural are left open . Once you know it's a werewolf movie it's pretty obvious who the werewolf is which is like watching a whodunit when you know who the murderer is . That will teach me to watch films on youtube