The Wolf Man (Universal Studios Classic Monster Collection) [Import]

Sooner or later, every horror film fan returns to the sources of the genre. The Universal Monster movies produced between 1923 and 1936 are among the very best of these. During this period, the Laemmle family still ran Universal Pictures. Under their stewardship, horror films received a certain cachet -- along with big budgets, great directors, great actors and lavish production values -- on par with other A-list pictures of the time. Only a handful of Universal's horror pictures made after this "Golden Age" match the high quality of their famous predecessors. "The Wolf Man" (1941) is one of the very few to succeed.

Prior to watching this film for the first time, I'd only ever seen Lon Chaney Jr. shamble through the low-rent "Mummy" sequels and the rather poor "Son of Dracula." However, his performance in "The Wolf Man" is an utter revelation! Here, his acting isn't subtle and nuanced (although Claude Rains's is), but it is heartfelt (and heart-rending). It's difficult not to like him in this and I found myself genuinely feeling for his plight; hoping-against-hope that he'd find a way to beat the werewolf curse that had been thrust upon him unawares. Alas, by the end of the movie... well, it's a really good ending. So good, in fact, that Universal kept the Wolf Man around for four more movies. Personally, I don't need to see 'em. I'm perfectly happy with this movie right here!

That's a good thing too, since "The Wolf Man" is the only movie you're gonna get if you buy the two-disc Universal Legacy Series edition. Disc one contains the film (in an astonishingly clear transfer) along with an amusing commentary by film historian, Tom Weaver, a poster/still slideshow and a short documentary hosted by An American Werewolf in London (Widescreen) director, John Landis. Disc two contains a short werewolf documentary, a documentary about Universal makeup legend, Jack Pierce, and the surprisingly non-fluffy (and occasionally disturbing) feature-length "Universal Horror" documentary. Owners of the Universal Legacy Series editions of Dracula (75th Anniversary Edition) (Universal Legacy Series) and The Mummy may be tempted to stomp all over this disc since they'll already own one -- or both -- of these last two documentaries, but then they'd be crushing a rather welcome biography of Lon Chaney Jr. exclusive to this release (so far). Otherwise, this is a pretty amazing little set for an essential film in the Universal horror canon.

As far as my Amazon ordering experience went, I am grateful every day that we live in an age where items like this can be easily obtained online. In the wake of the recent remake, I had hoped to snag a copy of this DVD from local retail shops, only to be told that it wasn't in stock; quite a quandary considering Universal are *not* a notoriously small studio and "The Wolf Man" is a fairly major horror classic. Despite promises they could "order it in" for me within four-to-six weeks (at an average cost of $30 Cdn), I opted to order it from Amazon instead. The DVD arrived in my mailbox three days later (and for $10 less than the local retail price).

"Even a man who is pure in heart/And says his prayers by night/May become a wolf/When the wolfbane blooms/And the autumn moon is bright..."

Sure, Dracula gave a face and a mythology to the vampire in the 1800s, but the werewolf didn't get similar treatment for quite some time. It was only with "The Wolfman" that the werewolf got his due, creating the template for lycanthropes everywhere -- a haunting, atmospheric story about a mildly creepy man who (through no fault of his own) turns into an unholy mixture of man and beast.

Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr) returns to his ancestral Welsh home after many years away, to reconcile with his estranged dad who looks nothing like him (Claude Rains). He immediately starts acquainting himself with his old home, including being rather creepy towards a lovely woman named Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers), who is working at her dad's antique store. He even accompanies Gwen and her friend Jenny to a local gypsy camp to have their fortunes told.

But after having her fortune told, Jenny is horribly killed by a wolf; Larry beats it to death with his silver-topped cane, but not before being bitten. You can probably guess what happens next -- the wolf turns out to be the gypsy fortuneteller (Bela Lugosi), and Larry's bite mysteriously heals overnight. And after being warned by an aged gypsy woman (Maria Ouspenskaya) that he has now contracted the curse of the werewolf, Larry finds himself undergoing a terrible transformation at night... and killing.

It's a sign of how good "The Wolfman" is that its dated special effects (hello, lap dissolve!) and prosthetics don't hamper it as a story -- it's an intelligent, slowly-unfolding story about an ordinary man whose good deed backfires in a big way. It's also less "boo! Scary!" horror than psychological horror -- Larry is left wondering if the dead gypsy passed on his horrific curse, or if all the talk of werewolves has given him clinical lycanthropy. In other words -- is he cursed, or is he insane? Not a fun choice.

And George Waggner wraps the movie in suitable atmosphere -- lots of misty forests, quaint rural villages, shadowy chapels and the occasional outbursts of shrieking and offscreen violence. The beginning is a little awkward (enough canned father-son "reunion" conversations!) but kicks into gear when the characters go wandering off to see the gypsies -- and after that, it's a slow bloody build as all the scientifically impossible things come true, and Larry finds himself increasingly trapped.

And while some of the werewolf stuff (including the famous rhyme) was made up for the movie, it adds a note of mythological creepiness, as well as some lovely incantations ("The way you walked was thorny, through no fault of your own...").

And Lon Chaney Jr. did an excellent job bringing a sympathetic edge to the werewolf, turning convincingly from a jovial engineer/aristocrat to a man haunted by his horrific change. The one problem: he isn't very sympathetic at the beginning, since he basically stalks Gwen (looking in her window with a telescope?) and won't get lost when she tells him to. Ankers gives a good performance as a local love interest, and Ouspenskaya gives a spectacular performance as the old gypsy lady -- eerie, sympathetic to Larry's plight, and with a dry sense of humor.

This special edition will be released just in time for the Benecio Del Toro remake, and as such they're also giving it the two-disc treatment. Older features include a feature commentary, Wolf-Man Archives, "Monster By Moonlight", and there's also a disk full of new documentaries -- one of Universal Horror movies, a documentary on the life and movies of Lon Chaney Jr, the life and art of Jack Pierce, and one on werewolf legends throughout history.

Despite a slightly creepy lead character, "The Wolfman" is still an enduring classic -- it's no longer exactly scary, but it is deliciously spooky. Definitely a must-see.

Among the pantheon of classic Universal monsters, only Dracula and Frankenstein's monster stand taller than The Wolf Man. This 1941 classic starring Lon Chaney, Jr., is a must-see for anyone claiming any interest in horror movies. The film has exerted a huge influence on the art of bringing horror to life for over six decades now, thanks to the heralded make-up prowess of Jack Pierce, the tight and powerful script of Curt Siodmak, some impressive photography work, and wonderful performances from a truly stellar cast of actors and actresses.

There is just something different about The Wolf Man; I have a hard time viewing him as a monster Larry Talbot is a thoroughly sympathetic and tragic character. Dracula loves being a vampire, Frankenstein's monster is just an unfortunate victim of circumstance whose various body parts have already lived full lives, but Larry Talbot desperately hates the monster he has become. He's already a sympathetic character, coming home after eighteen years following the death of his older brother, trying to fit in among the folks he said goodbye to long ago. Then, when he hears a fateful howl accompanied by a scream, he races off in heroic fashion, taking on a wolf in order to try and save a woman's life, killing the doggoned creature. And what does he get for his noble, self-less act? First of all, suspicion, because instead of the wolf he described, the authorities find the body of a gypsy fortune teller (played by Bela Lugosi, who gets all of seven lines in the film) clubbed to death by Talbot's cane. Then, tragically, he finds himself inflicted with the curse of the werewolf, thanks to the bite he suffered in the struggle. Chaney's performance also adds to his tragic status. He had a style of acting all his own; at times, I watch him and think the guy just couldn't act his way out of a dark room with a flashlight, but his strange and slightly awkward manner, tempered by a sort of gentle slowness ends up leaving me mesmerized. In most horror movies, I'm always ready to bring the monster on and get the party started, but I never look forwarding to watching Talbot turn into the werewolf.

I think everyone is pretty well acquainted with the story here. Man gets bitten by werewolf, man turns into werewolf, man suffers a tragic fate. The Wolf Man, though, succeeds in becoming much more than just the simple tale of a hairy monster. The inimitable Claude Rains lends the film character and class as Talbot's father. The lovely Evelyn Ankers makes a great leading lady in the form of Gwen Conliffe. Lugosi is of course terrific as the gypsy Bela, but the role is a minor one indeed. Maria Ouspenskaya is masterful as the gypsy woman Maleva who tries to warn Talbot and help him deal with the curse that suddenly consumes his life. Siodmak really provided a tight plot; there would be a number of sequels, but The Wolf Man is a completely self-contained movie of great power and meaning.

There are a number of really interesting things about this movie. For instance, we never actually see Talbot's transformation from man to wolf - we see the legs change, but that is it. There is a scene toward the end where we witness the transformation from wolf to man, but you won't see any time-lapse treatment of the change from man to monster. Of much more interest to me is the fact that you don't hear a single reference to the moon in the entire film. Apparently, the transformation happens nightly to Talbot; there is nothing to indicate that a full moon plays any part at all. Thus, some of the core Wolf Man assumptions do not trace themselves back to the original movie.

The commentary by film historian Tom Weaver, included on the DVD, is just superb. It's one of the most engaging commentaries I've heard. This guy is loaded to the gills with facts and trivia, and he barely pauses over the course of the film's 70 minutes, delivering one gem after another. He also asks some of the questions I ask when I watch the movie, and I love that. This isn't a commentary by some stuffy "expert." Weaver is indeed an expert, but at the same time he is one of us, a true fan of classic horror movies.