Day 7: The Wolf Man

7. The Wolf Man (1941)
Dir: George Waggner
Cast: Lon Chaney Jr, Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers, Maria Ouspenskaya, Bela Lugosi

Skipping ahead to 1941 I'd like to acknowledge a few other horror films of the 30s and 40s.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1931)
The Mummy (1932)
The Invisible Man (1933)
The Black Cat (1934))
Werewolf of London (1935)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Son of Frankenstein (1939)

On to the subject of today's spooktacular post we have The Wolf Man another fine entry into the prestigious collection of Universal Monster movies. Starring the son of Legendary Horror star Lon Chaney, Creighton Chaney better known in his film career as Lon Chaney Jr. made his mark in film history as the doomed Lawrence Talbot who after being bitten by a werewolf became the victim of quite a monstrous curse. Also starring four time oscar nominee Claude Rains as Sir John Talbot, Evelyn Ankers as Gwen Conliffe and even an appearance by Bela Lugosi as a cursed gypsy appropriately named "Bela" The Wolf Man is not only one of Universal's most entertaining creature features but probably one of the finest werewolf movies ever made.

Just coming off of the success of his acclaimed role as Lenny in the Oscar nominated 1939 picture Of Mice and Men Lon Chaney Jr. had already become popular with audiences for his goofy kind of innocence but it wasn't until this flick that he forever became a horror movie legend. Now with that said this probably isn't the darkest piece of horror. As a matter of the character of Lawrence Talbot is more of comedic relief than anything with his endless worrying and fretting while Claude Rains is a nice touch of class.


The story here is a classic monster movie set up. Lawrence returning to his home country, hearing of an evil gypsy curse and then becoming the unfortunate victim of the dreaded curse. The atmosphere is a vintage horror feeling and Jack Pierce's makeup is excellent as usual.

Though as big a hit this was for Lon, it was also somewhat of his curse. Becoming typecast in the Wolf Man role, Lon would finish off the 40s constantly playing the role. He enjoyed some minor success in the 50s with supporting roles in a handful of notable pictures such as; High Noon (1952), Not as a Stranger (1955) and The Defiant Ones (1958) but would afterwards fall back into a collection of some less than stellar low budget productions. But that never hurt his horror movie icon status including; merchandise and even his image on a set of U.S. stamps in the 2003 Universal Monsters set, now that's an honor.

P.S. A remakes due out in April 2009 with Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins I saw a bootleg clip online and man it looks pretty cool, could it surpass the original? Hmmm, well only time can tell, see ya during the next full moon.

Fright Fact: Originally created as vehicle for Boris Karloff until Lon Chaney Jr was offered the part.

Horror Highlight: John Talbot Vs. The Wolf Man