1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die- The Wolf Man

#153: The Wolf Man (1941)
Starring: Lon Chaney, Jr., Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers
Directed by: George Waggner


Plot Summary: After hearing about his brother's death, Larry Talbot returns home to visit his estranged father. While home, Larry becomes romantically involved with Gwen Conliffe, a woman who helps run the local antique shop. After trying to rescue one of Gwen's friends from a wolf attack, Larry is bitten by the creature. Larry learns that the wolf that bit him was actually a werewolf, and that he is now cursed to become a wolf at night.


Closing out my look at the classic Universal Monster films is The Wolf Man. Is it a scary film? No. Does it live up for its time? Not really. Does it have any redeeming qualities to it? Yes, it does actually. While it may not be a "scary" movie anymore, I'm sure it frightened viewers in 1941, and I think there's some good stuff to acknowledge when talking about a film that not only set the standard for werewolf films, but also created a movie monster that is ranked up there with Lugosi as Dracula and Karloff as The Monster.

Lon Chaney, Jr. plays the tragic protagonist, Larry Talbot. Chaney, Jr. is able to give Talbot the right amount of empathy that the audience can identify with. Talbot is also given plenty of relationships to develop throughout the film, from his relationship with his estranged father, played by Claude Rains, to his relationship with Gwen Conliffe, played Evelyn Ankers. No matter the character he's interacting with, because he is made likable, the audience is able to root for Talbot to succeed in whatever he is given as a character, especially hopeful that Talbot can break the curse of being a werewolf.

While Talbot is an important aspect of the film, he's not the main attraction. The effects used to create The Wolf Man are some of the most memorable makeup effects in film history. While the look is iconic, many other werewolf films have created scarier looks and I often felt that Chaney looked more like a dog than a wolf. Obviously due to the technology at the time, the transformation scene only shows Talbot's legs and feet changing into The Wolf Man, but it is still a great effect. It might surprise people, but The Wolf Man also doesn't appear on screen for long periods of time, as the film focuses more on Talbot, which could possibly disappoint first time viewers.

The Wolf Man goes for a traditional form of the Universal Monster films, filling out many cliches that are in the horror genre of the '30s and '40s. What is added to the film that does help it stand out is a story about "the monster within." Talbot's battle with wanting to break his curse of being The Wolf Man echoes many tones of a psychological thriller. I would have preferred if we didn't know until the end of the film if he was actually a werewolf, or if he was insane. The question is solved around the middle of the film, but I feel it would have benefited towards the end, as it would have really helped this Universal Monster film stand out as something really unique and different from films like Dracula and Frankenstein.


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Wolf Man has some very good acting performances, but they aren't memorable in the horror canon, in my opinion. The driving force of the film is Lon Chaney, Jr. as Lawrence Talbot and The Wolf Man. I'll give it a mild recommendation to horror fans wanting to watch a classic Universal Monster movie.

Comment below to share your thoughts on the movie or to discuss a topic that I left out of my review

The Wolf Man and movie images are copyrighted by Universal Pictures