Silent Screams: Wolf Blood (1925)

Over here at the Cinema Head Cheese offices we are concerned with the decay of the horror film industry. Every day in this country, a child is born that will never know the true terror of Nosferatu or feel the creepy crawlies from Dr. Caligari... the very beginnings of our industry. The farther we get away from our roots, our history, the better off the world will be (at least our world). So, as a public service, our resident horror film historian and researcher, David C. Hayes, will be posting the films that influenced the men and women that influenced the men and women that influenced us as culled from across the internet. These films can be obscure but they are important for, without them, there would be no now... no us... no horror industry.

Let us begin with what many people believe is the first werewolf film (or, more appropriately, lycanthrope film). 1925's Wolf Blood tells the morbid tale of a logging camp foreman that, after an 'injury' is transfused with the blood of a wolf. This, of course, makes him believe that he is turning into a wolf. The film is directed by and starring George Chesboro (who went on to co-star in the 1950s Lone Ranger series as Doc). The script was written based off of a story by Bennett Cohen (who began his screenwriting career in 1915 and finished in 1953) and Cliff Hill.



By today's modern standards these films are down right cheesy and maybe a little boring... but don't rely on the standards of today's Hollywood to gauge these masterpieces. After all, Michael Bay is a multi-millionaire and he couldn't hold George Chesboro's jock as a filmmaker.

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy, in its entirety, the original lycanthropic thriller. Without Wolf Blood would we have Lon Chaney, Jr.'s iconic turn in The Wolf Man or John Landis' An American Werewolf in London or our personal favorite, The Howling?