“We’d better get him to a hospital.” “I’m afraid it’s a bit late for that. He’s a gonner.”
Phyllis Allenby (June Lockhart) is going to be married to Barry Lanfield (Don Porter). She lives in London in the Allenby mansion. Living with her is her aunt Martha Winthrop (Sara Haden), her cousin Carol Winthrop (Jan Wiley) and the servant Hannah (Elly Malyon).
There have been a number of murders in the local park recently. Ghastly, horrible murders. People are being discovered with their throats ripped out. The police are swarming all over the place. Some of the detectives at Scotland Yard are talking werewolves. Police have seen it. And it’s a woman. Inspector Pierce (Dennis Hoey) doesn’t think so. He thinks that something strange is going on but it’s not a werewolf.
Phyllis is aware of the family legend. It’s a curse actually. The “Curse of the Allenbys”. She believes that the murders are being committed by a werewolf. And that she is that werewolf. When she wakes up in the morning her slippers are dirty, her robe is damp and her hands are stained with blood. Her Aunt Martha tries to reassure her. She tells her that the legend is ridiculous. Nevertheless Phyllis is having doubts about getting married. She begins to pull away from Barry. Whenever he visits she has Aunt Martha tell him she is ill.
Constable Hobbs (Frederick Worlock) is hanging around. He is murdered soon after he visits the mansion in the same way the other victims were killed. Barry begins believing that something else is going on beside the so-called "Werewolf murders". He makes his own investigations both of the park and the mansion.
“She-Wolf of London” AKA “Curse of the Allenbys” was released in 1946 and was directed by Jean Yarbrough. The movie is just 61 minutes long and is a crime/horror and a film noir. “She-Wolf of London” is a little different than your normal werewolf movie. The film noir aspect makes it more of a melodrama or a psychological thriller than a horror movie. The film concentrates more on the mystery aspect of the story instead of the monster.
I liked it. However, a lot of people are not fans of the movie. There are different reasons for this. Some were expect a basic horror movie similar to “The Wolf Man”. Some expected to see something paranormal similar to “Cat People”. It’s not either of those. What it is is a straight up mystery. The other aspects are tantalizing and, to me, add a little extra something. Some found it boring with no action. The title is misleading. If you look at it as a straight up melodrama you’ll be more in line with the type of movie it really is.