I've watched this one a couple of days ago and I've got some mixed feelings.
I liked the overall atmosphere of the film, but I think the first 15 minutes are the best of the entire film. There's this kind of eerie atmosphere to the moors and that village where David and Jack end up. When they're finally attacked by the werewolf, that was a definite scare for me.
The following storyline (Jack being an undead until David, who is now a werewolf, kills himself) that emerged I thought was ok. I didn't think it was anything special, but enough to keep me interested. When he finally transforms into a werewolf, I thought the transformation was impressive, especially considering the time when this film was made.
I liked the tone of the horror scenes, i.e. when David is actually the werewolf. They didn't scare me, but I really liked how they were build up, rather suggesting the presence of the wolf than actually showing it, except on a few occassions and even then, only for a brief moment. The suggestion of something being there is always scarier than actually showing it.
I'm also a fan of the subtle humor. The comical moments didn't crack me up, but I did appreciate them thoroughly. I liked how Jack described his funeral; David snatching a kid's balloons and that inspector and his strange assistant.
So far the things I liked. What I did not like is the relationship between Alex and David and how that was built up. It felt
very forced to me. David just kisses her and the next thing you know Alex asks him if he has a place to stay in London. Come on, that's just so forced and unnatural that it really bothered me.
Also, I'm confused as to what the Nazi ghouls had to add to the story. Did I miss something there? To me, it seems like that scene doesn't add anything to the story and is thus superfluous.
Finally, I have to add that I was a bit dissapointed as to the scare factor of the film. I only had 2 scare moments, namely when the wolf first attacks Jack and David and when the Nazi ghouls attack David and his family. Though I have to add that this dissapointment was compensated by the way in which the later horror scenes were built up. Like I said, although they didn't scare me, I thought they were very well set up.
I rate this one
.
@ Mark: I don't think Alex invited David to attack her in that final scene. She screamed that she could help him if he let her. Those policemen would've shot the wolf anyway, whether Alex intervened or not. Also, unlike you, I couldn't read any emotion on the werewolf's face, except anger (but its face always looked like that, so...). I think that at that point, David was just an animal that couldn't think anymore. Much like a predator, he just saw food instead of a human being.