The Undying Monster

The Undying Monster is a 1942 horror/mystery film, also known as The Hammond Mystery, featuring a werewolf as the primary antagonist. The movie, directed by John Brahm, is based on the 1922 novel by Jessie Douglas Kerruish.

Plot summary
The Hammond family has been cursed since the Crusades, with family members dying or committing suicide under mysterious circumstances. When two people, including Oliver Hammond (John Howard), are attacked by an unknown creature, a Scotland Yard scientist, Robert Curtis (James Ellison), and his sidekick Christy (Heather Thatcher) are dispatched to investigate. Although the local townspeople are convinced that the attacks are the result of the Hammond family curse, Curtis seeks a more scientific explanation.

Curtis' investigation at the Hammond household reveals a number of unusual circumstances, including slamming doors and clanking chains, a recently entered secret room supposedly locked for years, and a statue of a strange dog-like creature in the Hammond family crypt. During his investigation, one of the initial victims of the attack dies (after being in a coma), and the case is sent to an English jury for judgement. Upon hearing testimony from members of the Hammond family and their associates, the jury rules that the victim died at the hand of an unknown person or creature of unknown species.

After the ruling, Curtis looks for evidence upon the victim's body. He finds a hair that he later identifies as a wolf's, but the hair disappears mysteriously soon after he analyzes it. The monster attacks again, this time kidnapping Helga Hammond (Heather Angel), but Curtis and the police chase him down. When shot, the monster transforms into a human being, and we discover that it is actually Oliver Hammond. Afterwards, Dr. Jeff Colbert (Bramwell Fletcher), a friend of the Hammonds, reveals that they have been afflicted with lycanthropy for generations — that is, they are werewolves — and he had been attempting to cure them of the disease.

Cast

 * James Ellison as Robert Curtis
 * Heather Angel as Helga Hammond
 * John Howard as Oliver Hammond
 * Bramwell Fletcher as Dr. Jeff Colbert
 * Heather Thatcher as Christy
 * Aubrey Mather as Inspector Craig
 * Halliwell Hobbes as Walton the butler

Reception
Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film two and a half out of four stars, commending the film's atmospheric photography while also stating that it added nothing new to the genre.