The Wolf Man (1941)

Hoping to rejuvenate a sagging monster franchise, Universal Studios introduced Lon Chaney Jr. in the role of their newest cinematic nasty, the wolf man. Chaney plays Larry Talbot, returning home to a small European village after 18 years away in the states to settle differences with his father and lay claim to the family estate. Both men decide to let the past lie, agreeing to make up for lost time and re-establish their relationship. With this accomplished, Larry wastes no time in falling for a young village girl named Gwen. After much persistence Larry nabs a date with the lovely Gwen and one of Gwen’s friends, escorting the two young ladies to a nearby gypsy camp to have their fortunes read. While Gwen’s friend is having her fortune told by gypsy man Bela (Lugosi in a minor role), Larry and Gwen sneak off into the woods to utter melodramatic lines and make goo goo eyes at each other. Soon the screams of Gwen’s friend pierce the night as she is attacked by a wolf, and Talbot is off to the rescue, bashing the wolf with his handy silver tipped cane, but not before he himself is bitten by the beast. But wait!! Despite Larry’s claims that it was a wolf he killed, the locals find nothing but the body of a dead and bashed Bela. Soon after, various folks are turning up with their throats torn out, apparent victims of a wild beast. Larry is now falling under scrutiny by the police, and he finds himself putting stock in the local legend of the werewolf. With the help of an old gypsy woman, Larry discovers the truth about himself and his bestial ways, but is it in time to save the pentagram marked Gwen, a sure sign she’s next on the werewolf’s hit list?

Though it is at times a tad cheesy and melodramatic, especially by today’s standards, this one is regardless a damn fine monster movie. The acting is quite good from all involved, and all actors seem to have shied away from that bugaboo of the earlier Universal monster flicks, the overemphasized body and facial movements which tended to hamper “Dracula”, “Frankenstein”, etc. Lon Chaney Jr. creates a fairly sympathetic character in the lycanthropic plagued Larry, and the relationship between Larry and his father was fairly believable. Good chemistry there. The atmospheric shots of the gypsy camp and the fog-enshrouded woods were excellent and helped set the mood for some werewolf mayhem. Perennial Universal makeup man Jack Pierce’s work is again terrific, slapping yak hair aplenty onto Chaney’s meaty mug to create a timeless visage recognized by both fans and non-fans alike. The only drawback was that at times things got a little to melodramatic, as if I was watching “Days of Our Lives” with a werewolf thrown onto the set. I know these old flicks love their romance angles, but jeez…enough, you know? My only other little peeve was just what the hell was that gypsy lady doing in the woods all by her self, night after night? I thought the gypsies all fled the werewolf curse or something? Screw you Rabid Ryan (I now talk to myself on the computer as well as real life), these little inconsistencies detract nothing from the movie. At over sixty years of age, “The Wolf Man” will still be making you think twice about venturing down that wooded path on the night of a full moon. Classic.