The Wolf Man

Year of Release:  1941
Director:  George Waggner
Screenplay:  Curt Siodmak
Starring:  Lon Chaney Jr., Claude Rains, Warren Williams, Ralph Bellamy, Maria Ouspenskaya, Evelyn Ankers, Patric Knowles, Bela Lugosi
Running Time:  70 minutes
Genre:  Horror

Larry Talbot (Chaney Jr.), the prodigal son of Sir John Talbot (Rains), returns to his ancestral home to reconcile with his estranged father.  He soon befriends Gwen Conliffe (Ankers), the daughter of a local antiques dealer.  One night in the woods, Larry attempts to save Gwen's friend Jenny (Fay Helm) from an attack by a large wolf.  Jenny is killed and Larry is bitten, but he does seemingly succeed in killing the wolf, but the corpse  is not a wolf but a man (Lugosi).  Larry's wounds miraculously heal by the next day, and he becomes increasingly obsessed with the village's local legend of a werewolf (a human who turns into a wolf at "certain times of year").

This is not the first werewolf movie, but it is one of the most influential, and one of the best films in  the "Universal Monster" cycle.  It benefits from a  poetic, literate script from writer Curt Siodmak, and striking photography with evocative, shadowy, mist-shrouded forests and iconic make-up from Jack Pierce (who created the look of Frankenstein's Monster in Frankenstein (1931)).  Lon Chaney Jr. turns in a great performance as the tortured Larry Talbot, both in his guilt-ridden human form and  monster form, he brings a powerful physicality and agility to the role.  He creates a sympathetic, tragic character.  Claude Rains is also a standout as the unbelieving Sir John, who refuses even to entertain the idea that his son might have anything wrong with him, either physical or mental as the bodycount rises.  The film is almost more of a psychological drama at times than a monster movie, Chaney only appears in the full "Wolf Man" makeup fairly late in the film, and only quite briefly.  His doctor, naturally enough, is convinced that Talbot is mentally ill, and there is a lot of discussion about psychology and folklore. 
While the movie has aged a lot better than many of the other films of it's time, it still shows it's age.  Evelyn Ankers has very little to do except be rescued, and a lot of the supposedly Welsh or English  characters are obviously Americans, the transformation sequences (which focus on Talbot's feet) are not particularly impressive  and the famous werewolf poem is recited no less than three times throughout the short film.  By the way, some people believe that it is a traditional old poem, but it was written by Curt Siodmak
However it retains it's power and, despite it's flaws is one of horror cinema's finest moments.  It's been followed by several sequels and was remade in 2010 with Anthony Hopkins and Benecio del Toro.

"Even a man who is pure at heart
And says his prayers by night
May become a wolf
When the wolfsbane blooms
And the Autumn moon is bright."

Things are getting hairy for Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot in The Wolf Man


      

An American Werewolf in London

Year:  1981
Director:  John Landis
Screenplay:  John Landis
Starring:  David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne, John Woodvine
Running Time:  97 minutes
Genre:  Horror, comedy, monster, werewolf

This blend of comedy and horror has become one of the best-loved cult films of the 1980s.  Two Amercian backpackers, David Kessler (Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Dunne), are travelling through the Yorkshire moors when they stop off at a small pub called The Slaughtered Lamb.  There they are disturbed by the strange and unwelcoming attitude of the locals, and quickly set back on their way after stern warnings to stay on the road and stay off the moors.  However, before long they do wander off the road and are attacked by a savage wolf-like creature which kills Jack and wounds David.  Three weeks later and David is recuperating in a hospital in London where he is disturbed by strange and violent dreams as well as visits from his progressively decomposing friend, Jack who informs David that they were attacked by a werewolf and that he, Jack, is one of the "undead" and must remain in limbo until the werewolf's bloodline is severed which means that David must kill himself before the next full moon or he too will become a wolf and kill others.

This was one of a number of werewolf movies that were released during the early to mid 1980s when there seemed to be something of a boom in werewolf films.  The other popular cult werewolf picture that was released in 1981 was The Howling.   The film benefits from a strong and engaging cast, with Jenny Agutter particularly memorable as the nurse who falls for the inured David.  The dialogue is witty and frequently laugh out loud funny.  The film is probably best known for it's, at the time, ground-breaking special effects which won an Oscar for makeup artist Rick Baker.  Most memorable is the film's centrepiece transformation sequence which even today, and even while it is inevitably showing it's age, still looks bone-crunchingly painful.  Part of what makes the film so successful is that in the midst of all the supernatural shenanigans there is a real feel for the reality of life in London in the early 1980s:  Punks on buses, only three channels on television and budget cuts.  However, the problem that the film has is that, as gruesome and as funny as it is, it really isn't very scary, although there are some impressive jumps and shocks.

Fans of British comedy may recognise a young Rik Mayall (star of The Young Ones (1982-1984) and Bottom (1991-1995)) as one of the chess players in the pub at the beginning of the film. 

A sequel, An American Werewolf in Paris was released in 1997 to very poor reviews. 

David Naughton finds himself in need of a good shave and a really good dentist in An American Werewolf in London   

The Wolfman

Year: 2010
Director: Joe Johnston
Screenplay: Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self, from an original screenplay by Curt Siodmak
Stars: Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving
Running Time: 103 minutes theatrical version and 119 minutes extended version
Genre: Horror, supernatural, thriller, monsters

Summary: In 1891, Lawrence Talbot (del Toro) is a successful Shakesperean actor on the London stage, until he is contacted by Gwen Conliffe (Blunt), his brother's fiancee, who informs him that his brother has been missing for a month. Reluctantly Lawrence returns to the family home of Talbot Hall in the village of Blackmoor, and to his estranged father, Sir John Talbot (Hopkins). On arrival Lawrence learns that his brother has been brutally killed and decides to stay until he can find out what happened to him. Treated by suspicion by the superstitious villagers, Talbot turns his investigation to the local gypsy camp when it is attacked by a vicious and powerful creature which severely wounds Lawrence. The wound heals surprisingly quickly. However at the next full moon, Lawrence undergoes a horrific transformation.

Opinions: This film is a loose remake of the 1941 movie The Wolf Man which is remembered as one of the best of the "Universal Horror" cycle released by Universal Studios during the 1930s and 1940s and produced such classics as Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) before being reduced to farce in a series of movies usually featuring Abbott and Costello. This movie is not as effective as the original, but it does stand up well in it's own right. It has an atmospheric, gothic quality about it, which it maintains throughout even when it becomes a riot of CGI effects. Of course it features all the usual hallmarks of the werewolf movie, including a gruesome transformation scene (which still isn't a patch on the one in An American Werewolf in London (1981)) and plenty of annoying villagers played by the usual cast of vaguely recognisable British character actors who are so irritating that you're kind of rooting for the Wolfman to turn them into Puppy Chow. The central cast are effective, especially del Toro as the tormented Lawrence Talbot and Emily Blunt who does well with an underwritten part. Anthony Hopkins hams it up well as the creepy Sir John Talbot. The thing that the movie does lack is any kind of subtlety piling on gore, bizarre nightmare sequences and CGI creatures. It also takes it's time getting going. Interesting the movie was released in a 103 minute long version in cinemas but is also available in an extended 119 minute version. In the extended version there is an early scene which was not in the theatrical version where Gwen visits Lawrence backstage at the theatre, which creates a continuity error later on in the movie when there are repeated references to Gwen writing a letter to Lawrence instead of visiting him. The extended version also features an uncredited cameo by Max Von Sydow.
This is an enjoyable movie, and it is nice to see a real werewolf movie without vampires, for a change.