Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

Ok, this is another Universal monster movie, but an excellent one! The money spent on this production was pretty hefty. Claude Rains, Ralph Bellamy, Lon Chaney Jr. and others. Wow! Poor Lon Chaney Jr. loves a girl but gets attacked by a wolf. Poor guy, he ends up having some really sleepless nights when a full moon appears. What to do? Maybe Bela Legosi as a gypsy can help? Or that lady gypsy, does she know anything?

When it comes to the horror genre you'll be hard pressed to find a studio with a greater legacy than Universal. Without Universal who knows where our beloved genre would be. While Universal has produced many classics it really is their Monster movies they'll always be remembered for. The Wolf Man proved to be yet another winner for the studio. While not the first werewolf movie, The Wolf Man is the granddaddy of them all and has influenced just about every werewolf movie that followed.

Lon Chaney Jr. despite having a solid career also had it tough it's not easy when your father is screen legend "Man of a 1000 Faces" Lon Chaney Sr. I'm sure the name helped him get his start, but living up to the standards of Lon Chaney Sr. isn't a very easy thing to do, but as great as Chaney Sr. was I always preferred Jr., but that's just me. Lon Chaney Jr. stars as Larry Talbot who by night becomes The Wolf Man and it was yet another Iconic Monster in the legacy of Universal studios.

The Wolf Man in my opinion still holds up pretty well, while obviously the movie is dated seeing as it was made in 1941 and quality of life and filmmaking has changed a whole lot since 1941, but I'd go as far to say this one holds up better than most of the Monster movies. While Bride of Frankenstein is still my all time favorite Monster flick I think The Wolf Man holds up slightly better.

The screenplay by Curt Siodmak is terrific; while the characters aren't the best developed they are all interesting and entertaining and this script is as good as you'll find in the horror genre. Like many movies of its era The Wolf Man is as much a drama as it is a horror movie. And the script by Siodmak works well and the characters are great.

Director George Waggner creates a masterpiece with this one. The pacing is solid and there's never really a slow moment, each scene moves the movie forward and The Wolf Man also has a really great eerie feel that even by today's standards holds up. While obviously The Wolf Man isn't scary anymore it still has a great sense of dread and an excellent eerie feel through out.

As much as I love horror flicks of the 30s and 40s my only complaint sometimes is the acting. Some of the best acted horror movies of all time came from the 30s and 40s, but they also had a lot of over the top acting, which really isn't the case in The Wolf Man. Bela Lugosi is solid in a cameo and Claude Rains steals the show as Sir John Talbot. Claude Rains gives a brilliant performance and was the strongest link in the cast.

Lon Chaney Jr. gives the best performance of his career as Larry Talbot. Like the Frankenstein Monster, Talbot is a sympathetic character. Once Larry turns into the Wolf Man he cannot help himself and he's very much a tortured soul. Characters like Larry Talbot were done a lot in the classic era of the genre and here it works well again.

The final act to The Wolf Man is quite suspenseful and quite tragic and is one of the best final acts you'll find in this genre. The Wolf Man is a classic of the genre and one of the most important horror movies ever made and was yet another winner from Universal Studios.