Main Feature Synopsis ­ The Wolf Man
Larry Talbot returns to Wales in order to live on his father's estate. While trying to save a local woman from a vicious wolf attack, Talbot is bitten and is soon saddled with the curse of the werewolf  Upon the rise of each full moon, he changes into a wolf and seeks to kill the people he loves. This classic Universal monster movie features state of the art effects and a fantastic cast, including Lon Chaney Jr. and Claude Rains.

Cary's Impressions
Amazingly enough, when it comes to the Universal horror movies of the 1930s ­ 1950s, my favorites aren't Frankenstein or Dracula.  Technically, Frankenstein is the best of the franchises. Historically, Dracula is arguably the most enduring. However, I would pass up either of those for a chance to watch The Wolf Man for the 4,724^th time. It is my second favorite of the Universal horror films (the first being The Creature From The Black Lagoon).  

Why?  

Good question. The acting in Frankenstein is marginally better. The menace of Dracula is greater. The story for both is more established and better developed than The Wolf Man.  

I guess it boils down to location and character. While The Wolf Man was set in Europe, the scenery was mostly mist covered forest and the main character had an American accent. I lived in South Florida which was full of oak forests and plenty of early morning mist. While there were no wolves to speak of, there were plenty of bobcats and other dangerous things in those woods, so the creepiness factor was high.  

Walking home from a friend's house late at night, I couldn't begin to imagine the Frankenstein monster or a vampire popping out to get me from behind a tree, but I damn sure could imagine a werewolf doing it. and I prayed that it would actually happen. I wanted the curse to pass on to me!  

There is nothing I wanted more from the age of eight until the present than to be a werewolf. Just think about it! You get to run around, tearing shit up, howling and marking your territory. Sure, you may kill a loved one periodically, but I think I could work around that and still have a loving and active family life.

To this day I still think Universal's 1941 movie The Wolf Man starring Lon Chaney, Jr. holds its own against all of the other Universal movies. Chaney may not have been the actor Lugosi or Karloff were, but this role was perfectly suited for him.  When he first starts pursuing Evelyn Ankers (as Gwen, the girl in the antique store whom he's fallen for), his mannerisms are actually wolfish in the "womanizer" sense of the word. His confusion and introspective manner after his transformation work perfectly in this film (in later films he would overplay the Larry Talbot character in a way that was annoying as hell). Chaney was also an average looking guy. He didn't have the dark, brooding facial features of Karloff and Lugosi.  He was likeable from the outset.

Of course, his supporting cast is as strong as he is. Claude Rains is very strong as Chaney's father (even though it's completely unbelievable that Rains could actually be Chaney's father). He plays his scenes very naturally and his performance is possibly the strongest in the film. Bela Lugosi makes an appearance (unfortunately very small) as the man who passes along the curse to Chaney. His scene reading Fay Helm's palm (she plays Gwen's ill-fated friend Jenny Williams) is extremely fun.

The best performance in the entire movie, though, has to go to Maria Ouspenskaya as the gypsy woman Maleva. I'm not sure how much of a stretch it was for her, but I can tell you now that there hasn't been a more convincing gypsy woman on screen since her appearances in this film and its sequel (Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man). She is mysterious, vulnerable and foreboding all at the same time. Every time she's on the screen your eyes are drawn to her.

Is the script as strong as Frankenstein or Dracula? No, but those movies had very good novels to draw from. The Wolf Man is a creation unto itself, and you have to give Curt Siodmak credit for that.  Here's a guy who created an original script that gives you the feeling there is history and tradition behind the legend of the werewolf, where in reality, most of what is in the script is completely from Siodmak's head. That's something that most screenwriters never achieve. The stories of wolfsbane blooming under a full moon, the pentagram scar and the poem about "Even a man who is pure at heart." all sprang from Siodmak's brain. These are brilliant pieces of "folklore" that became gospel in other werewolf movies for years to come.

There are better werewolf movies out there. The Howling and An American Werewolf in London being two I can name right off the top of my head, but neither would have come about without The Wolf Man. The movie stands the test of time rather well, and even the transformation effects still hold up to scrutiny sixty five years later.  

On my personal list of favorite horror films this ranks soundly in the top ten. I highly recommend it.

Shawn's Impressions
Out of all the classic monsters Universal Studios has given us, I don't think any of them affected me quite so much as a child as The Wolf Man. Every one of the other "monsters" was just that. Dracula was a vampire, Frankenstein's monster was made up of corpses, and The Mummy was a really friggin' old Egyptian. I couldn't relate so I wouldn't be scared by them. The Wolf Man is a different beast altogether, though. Lawrence Talbot wasn't always a monster, and he didn't even realize at first that he became one. The viewer couldn't become any of the other monsters, but they could be the Wolf Man. That's some scary shit.

That said, I don't think The Wolf Man holds up quite as well today. It didn't "age" in the traditional manner, but that's not the problem. I aged, and that's the problem. I've seen far too many werewolf movies since that blow The Wolf Man out of the water. It isn't a bad film, but there are a myriad of ideas going through its script that never really get fleshed out. Observe.

For whatever reason, the Talbot family only allows the first son to inherit anything. Sir John Talbot, Lawrence's father, makes a big deal about this to Lawrence when he returns after his brother's death. No explanation is offered from Sir John as to why they hold this tradition, and even less of an explanation is offered as to why Lawrence would be so forgiving. When you take into account how Lawrence made himself whatever he is today and then see how forward he is in approaching an engaged woman soon afterwards, admitting to her that he first saw her while playing Peeping Tom, you tend to think this guy has some serious balls.

With such a ballsy lead, destined to soon become a feral werewolf, you might expect him to have at least some degree of ferocity upon learning that he was one. Instead, Lawrence turns into a suicidal bleeding heart, and continues that way through every sequel. Larry please, the silver bullet goes in the gun, gun goes in the mouth ­ past the teeth. It's not hard. 

There are some other half-assed things about the film. First, the werewolf that bites Talbot is played by Bela Lugosi, and the characters name is. Bela. Seriously folks, that's stupid. But at least it isn't as stupid as the fact that Bela turns into the historical style werewolf ­ the four-legged variety. Therefore, why Talbot would turn into a two-legged beast with a less shaggy Benicio Del Toro haircut is unexplained. Fun ideas are brought up, but undeveloped. Wolfsbane is mentioned, but its use as a catalyst of lycanthropy isn't mentioned. The werewolf sees a pentagram on its next victim before he turns, yet it is also used as a protection when worn. Hell, you don't even see the moon in the entire running time (a fact I never realized until listening to the commentary.)

The Wolf Man had some great potential, but unfortunately is kind of the bastard child of all the Universal monsters. This is a shame really, since Chaney is rather good in it and its sequels, and the monster is incredibly menacing in fight sequences. Sadly, this is better shown in the sequels than the original. 

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