calvinnme A curse has been killing the men of Hammond Hall for centuries on cold nights. In 1900, Helga Hammond (Heather Angel) tells the butler that curses don't exist. There are screams from outside the mansion. Helga orders a carriage to be brought round for her while the servants wring their hands and worry. So begins this low budget film from 20th-Century Fox that moves at breakneck speed trying to get in all the plot in just over an hour's running time.The movie is filled with behind-the-scenes talent that was two years away from peaking. Director John Brahm would hit his stride in 1944-45, when he directed "Guest In The House, "The Lodger (both 1944) and "Hangover Square" (1945) consecutively. Composer David Raksin, best known for the "Theme from "Laura" (1944) scored one of his first films here. Lucien Ballard, who did the atmospheric, skewed photography that plays with the viewers' sense of proportion and reminded me of "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1919), filmed both "Laura" and "The Lodger" (both 1944). The sets were designed by Richard Day and Lewis Creber."The Undying Monster" is an marvelous "B" movie that should be better known.

Theo Robertson 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

jhammond59 My family, the Hammonds, first saw this movie on Million Dollar Movie on channel 11 KPIX NYC. We were fully alerted when we heard our name called out in the synopsis. We must have seen it ten times back then as the movie was shown for one week, 3 or 4 times daily. It scared us kids while our parent just rolled their eyes when we watched it again and again. It's a very atmospheric mystery/thriller, with outstanding cinematography. The actors are all good although the attempts at comedy were winch-inducing as others have mentioned. A few plot holes and stretched-thin character motivations round out the negatives but that atmosphere still carries the film and I really enjoyed seeing it again . . . and again.

Scarecrow-88 The House of Hammond is burdened by a family history of suicides at the supposed sight of a monster. When a nurse..and Oliver Hammond(John Howard), who now owns the current estate of his family..is attacked at the edge of a sea-side cliff next to the lane traveling to the Hammond estate, Scotland Yard science detectives Curtis(James Ellison)and his unflappable assistant Christy(the delightful Heather Thatcher)are called on to solve the mystery that has shrouded the family for centuries. Also left mangled and torn at the scene of the attack is a dead cocker spaniel dog. The troubling aspect of this crime scene, where it appears as if a savage animal of some sort committed the carnage, is that there are no footprints leaving a trace of what caused such a violent rampage. With the nurse unconscious in a coma and slowly withering away from a severe brain hemorrhage, amazingly Oliver is recuperating well despite some nasty cuts and bruises he supposedly suffered at the hands of whatever caused the attacks. When asked about what committed the attacks, though, Oliver's muddled story leaves little for Curtis and Christy, and the village police, to go by. Ruffling the feathers of the Hammonds and their hired help, it appears that secrets are being held from Curtis and Christy as they pursue the truth behind the deaths that have plagued this family for so long. Also acting suspiciously is the village doctor, Jeff Colbert(Bramwell Fletcher)who seems to be deliberately making things difficult for Curtis such as muffling the footprints left on the floor of a secret locked room, or his taking the Hammond family history book from a library before the detective could retrieve it. And, curiously, why would a renowned brain specialist leave London for a small village position? Would it be that he has designs on marrying Helga Hammond(Heather Angel)who would be sole heir of her family estate if Oliver was out of the way? Curtis and Christy will have to use their scientific methods of spectrum DNA analysis, which has solved cases in the past, if they wish to figure out what monster, or possible human murderer, is behind the death of the nurse who would succumb to her injuries.Before directing "The Lodger", John Brahm does what he was commissioned to do..bring an atmospherically crafted mystery, shooting from all sorts of fantastic angles, with his cunning abilities using the camera, fluidly expressing a sense of style that would later cement his legacy as a quietly underrated genius. You can see how Universal inspired other studios in just how "The Undying Monster" opens. I felt the "bending trees" which populate the surrounding areas of the Hammond estate, and the massive studio sets representing the inside of Hammond castle(..and the mausoleum housing the Hammond ancestry), resemble "Frankenstein" more than "The Wolf Man", the model obviously for the werewolf theme in "The Undying Monster". You can certainly see what skills director Brahm had in the studio system such as the opening shot where the camera eyeballs various Hammond staples in the living room of the castle, and the nurse running for her life down the lane as the camera follows her from a distance. I loved one particular shot where Brahm's camera captures a conversation behind the rising flames of a fireplace. The monster itself, certainly a werewolf style which resembles the iconic Jack Pierce standard, only makes a major appearance at the end..only do we get a good look at it's face, with the director using the usual dissolves from hair to face when we find out who is plagued with lycanthropy. A good portion of this film, though, is the unveiling of a mystery, with Curtis discovering what secrets this family might be hiding, while also utilizing the new methods of investigation to find about about strange evidence in order to find out what caused the attacks that lead to an unfortunate death. The script has the family's past as sordid with supposedly a member selling his soul to the devil. That kind of reputation only fuels the idea of a monster, with the family's name continuously remaining notorious. As each suspect is ruled out, Curtis, a scientist who scoffs at the notion of the supernatural, will discover, through science no less, just who his culprit actually is. Lycanthropy, in this film, is looked at as an affliction of a diseased mind, passed down through the generations. Thanks to Brahm's sure hand, and an interesting script, this film rises above being just a Wolf Man rip-off. But, this was just a stepping stone to greater triumphs, with "The Undying Monster" serving as a template where Brahm would lay the stylistic groundwork for what was to come later.