Review of The Wolf Man (1941) by Dan H — 31 Oct 2014

The definitive werewolf film. There are several really strong performances here. Evelyn Ankers makes for a fine romantic interest as Gwen. She is mighty pretty, and her character is a strong and interesting one.

Claude Rains is great as Sir John Talbot. He is a firm skeptic, and while he may seem a bit cold he still cares very much about his son Lawrence. I really liked his character. naturally, we can't talk about The Wolf Man without talking about Lon Chaney Jr, son of "The Man Of A Million Faces" Lon Chaney.

Here, he plays Lawrence Talbot who is the unfortunate protagonist of our tale. He puts on a multi-layered performance as a very good man who, try as he might, cannot prevent himself from doing very bad things when the wolfsbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright (that's right, originally wolfsbane, a plant, played a large role in the myth of the werewolf).

Lon Chaney Jr's Lawrence Talbot is very likable and sympathetic, and when he turns it's almost like a different actor is playing him. He disappears into the role of both Lawrence and The Wolf Man, it's kind of incredible.

The atmosphere here is also rich and moody. Fog often overwhelms the camera (in a good way), and the woods is a haunting, memorable location. The Wolf Man is one of the great screen tragedies, and the material here is actually fairly powerful stuff.

I couldn't help but be a bit moved by the iconic finale. The Wolf Man would go on to define the werewolf genre, influencing many other films that would come after (like An American Werewolf In London, that pays homage to this c,asdic and even name checks it a few times).

There's no doubt about it, The Wolf Man earns its status as an iconic horror film.