THE WOLF MAN Review

1941's THE WOLF MAN, directed by George Waggner, is the Gold Standard for Werewolf Movies. The film stars Lon Chaney Jr. in the title role, with Bela Lugosi, Claude Rains, Ralph Bellamy, Evelyn Ankers, and Maria Ouspenskaya as Maleva, the best friend a werewolf ever had. The action concerns one Larry Talbot, a poor sap who gets mauled by a werewolf, and finds himself growing claws and fangs, getting hairier and hungrier for human flesh every time there's a full moon.

Larry's monthly mayhem upsets the locals and soon he's not only haunted, but hunted. Hunted down like a dog, a big dog, a really big dog who eats people.

Although this film wasn't the first werewolf movie ever made, it was certainly the most influential. In addition to spawning several sequels, it also inspired a ton of other Wolfman-type flicks.One of the best was Hammer Films' 1961 CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF, with a young Oliver Reed in the title role. There was also 1958's I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF starring Michael Landon, 1971's WEREWOLVES ON WHEELS, about outlaw bikers who turn into wolfmen, and 1974's WEREWOLF OF WASHINGTON, starring Dean Stockwell, which combined political satire with horror and gore. 1981 was a good year for werewolves, as it saw AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, WOLFEN, and THE HOWLING all released that year. in 1985, there was TEEN WOLF, in 1994, Jack Nicholson got the fever in WOLF, and the list goes on. And on.

Chaney first gained fame as Lennie in 1939's OF MICE AND MEN, but found his signature role, whether he liked it or not, in THE WOLF MAN. He would reprise the role in FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN in 1943, HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN in 1944, THE HOUSE OF DRACULA in 1945, ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN in 1948, and again in the Mexican-made cheapie THE FACE OF THE SCREAMING WEREWOLF. He also played the Frankenstein monster in 1942's THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN, then starred as the Mummy in THE MUMMY'S TOMB and THE MUMMY'S GHOST. Lon played the title role in 1943's SON OF DRACULA, becoming the only actor to play all of the major movie monsters.

THE WOLF MAN succeeds on a number of different levels, and features great performances from a number of Hollywood screen veterans. Talbot's existential dilemma seems to be solved at the end of the picture, but it would rear its ugly head in the sequels. As would Chaney.

Available on DVD as part of Universal's THE WOLF MAN COLLECTION.