The Wolf Man (1941)
Letterboxd’s Thirteenth Annual Hoop-Tober: Film Three.
His hideous howl a dirge of death!
The Wolf Man (1941) will be celebrating its 85th anniversary later this year, and although this picture is not a personal favorite of the Universal Studios Monster films it certainly feels nice to check it off the classic horror movie list.
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One would argue that Lon Chaney Jr.’s Wolf Man is one of the earliest anti-heroes to elicit sympathy from theater-goers, and it is easy to see why. It is hard to imagine other horror icons, including Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, eliciting the same empathy for the doomed lead that Chaney does. His discomfort is visible, even palpable at times, which is surprising for the time period in which this film was shot. While he (Chaney’s Larry Talbot) is by no means a perfect man his panic, his aim for redemption, and his unfortunate outcome differs in tone from other Universal monsters like Count Dracula and The Invisible Man, who instead relish their diabolical influence.
Would I consider this a must-see film? Not entirely. The depiction of Roma people is questionable at best, and the special effects makeup could have been treated with more care and attention when it came to its quality. Did it walk (or stumble) so other werewolves could run? Yes, absolutely, and I look forward to screening its descendants soon.
Three out of five stars.
The Wolf Man is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, and could be available on DVD at your local library. This article was originally published on https://substack.com/@oliviakt07.
