Horror 2023 Countdown: The Mad Monster (1942)

The Mad Monster (1942), dir. Sam Field, Producers Releasing Corporation 

Moving into the 1940s, and we see actual proper werewolves making a proper splash. The Werewolf of London had come out a few years earlier, but Universal's the Wolf Man the year prior had been such a hit, the boys on Poverty Row figured why not do a wolf pic on their own?

A shack deep in the swamp is the scene of a bizarre experiment. Dr. Cameron (George Zucco) is pumping his gardener Pedro (Glen Strange) full of wolf blood and wow, by the magic of 1940's science-his gardener has taken on attributes of the donor animal!

Now for revenge! Yeah, for some reason Dr. Cameron's theories were not accepted by his peers. Now that he's proven them real, he's going to send Pedro off to kill and prove he's not crazy! The doc's daughter, Lenora (Anne Nagal) is still in the dark about his work, and so's her boyfriend Tim (Johnny Downs). 

The doc needs some tests. Wouldn't do to send a werewolf off to kill without getting the kinks out first, right? And those meddlesome swamp folk are right there...

Several grizzly murders later, Tim has managed to track down Lenora and her father. By now, however, Pedro doesn't need the formula to transform anymore...

Well, at least they have an actual werewolf at least, plus I'm not sure if I've seen a film where a mad scientist opts to create werewolves for revenge and for a War Dept. contract. Still, if you have to see this, I'd suggest the one with Joel and the bots.