S.James Fleet delivers some amiable madness and delightful silliness in this British comedy-horror romp: he plays Oliver Lawrence. Oliver Lawrence is a stage and film actor of a certain age who once played a vampire in the series Subhammer Shocker. Now that these movies are so big in East Asia, our sophisticated actor has managed to reprise his cheesy fanged demon in a new low-budget film.
However, the old manor house rented by the producers for filming turned out to be intimidated by real werewolves. I love to entertain various perplexed crew members with the anecdote that I played Shakespeare. “The critics loved it, of course… but then there’s always the threat of rain.” The director confides in him that these films “bought me a new boiler.” “They paid for my waist,” Oliver replied thoughtfully. .
Wolf Manor is not an American werewolf in London. I wish John Henshaw did more as the stricken innkeeper who tries to warn people about the terrifying creatures roaming the dark forest. But it’s both hilarious and silly. Fleet should play his lead comedy more often.
