Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'

The last of the classic "Universal" horror characters - The Wolf Man - is detailed and chronicled.

It's interesting to note that originally, Boris Karloff was meant to have starred in a version of the same title from 1932.

However, this never materialised which was a bit of a shame.

I was fascinated to learn about how Jack Pierce devised the look for Lon Chaney Jnr.'s make-up.

Very good documentary detailing the history of Universal's most famous werewolf--The Wolf Man portrayed by Lon Chaney and also covers the general history of werewolf lore; both the literary folklore and the Hollywood werewolf legends created not only in "The Wolf Man", but also the first Universal werewolf film, 1935's "Werewolf of London."

"Werewolf of London" introduced us to the idea of the wolf transformations occurring during the full moon. And while WOL was a good movie, it obviously didn't catch fire with the public the way "The Wolf Man" did. Many critics and fans--such as myself--have speculated that perhaps the reason for that was the lead played by Henry Hull--who was hardly the affable guy Larry Talbot was.

Most of what else we know about Hollywood werewolves came courtesy of the fertile mind of Curt Siodmak & of course, Lon's stirring portrayal of the cursed lycanthrope resonated very much with wartime audiences and the Wolf Man was revived for many a sequel.

The only thing I might dock a point from this documentary is the fact that David J. Skal--who wrote and produced it--seems to be under the erroneous impression that Lon Chaney made the "Ghost of Frankenstein" picture before making "The Wolf Man." Of course, we know that's not true-- but it's only a minor quibble against an otherwise excellent half hour feature.

Overall, if you're a werewolf fan--or just a fan of classic monsters in general--then definitely give this documentary a look (if you have not already).

Ever wondered how long it took to apply Lon Chaney Jr's "Wolf Man" makeup? Or what metaphor Curt Siodmak had in mind while writing the screenplay? How about the original premise for the unproduced 1930's "Wolf Man" project that was to star Boris Karloff? This wonderful documentary, available on the classic Universal horror DVD sets, answers all of these questions and more. It delves into the various areas of the original movie, including the writing of the screenplay, the evolution of the project at the studio, the classic soundtrack and Jack Pierce's werewolf makeup. It then proceeds to go through the other Wolf Man projects that the studio put out, from "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" right up to "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein", also referencing the other Universal movies that strongly inspired and influenced it's production.

Our host is John Landis (writer/director of An American Werewolf in London, duh) and interviewees include Rick Baker and Curt Siodmak. All of those featured revere the movie as a classic of the horror genre, and it all seems very well researched. We are told the back stories of Lon Chaney Jr, Jack Pierce and Curt Siodmak, and all of this leads to a deeper understanding of the "Wolf Man" movies -- where they came from and what they mean. The parallels between the mythological horror of this movie and the real-life horror of Nazism never even occurred to me before Siodmak himself points it out in this documentary.

There are some documentaries that focus on werewolves which are poorly researched and executed, simply cashing in on the fascination that people have with this mythology. However, "Monster by Moonlight" is not one of them. It is a fascinating piece of work if you're even in the least bit interested in the creation and influence Universal's "Wolf Man" saga. Any serious fan of werewolf movies should definitely check this out.

I suppose there are worse ways to spend about a half hour or so learning a little bit about the classic Universal monster movie "The Wolf Man" (1941). "Monster by Moonlight!" covers the prior 1935 Universal film "Werewolf in London" (1935) and mentions its influences from the "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" story, as well as James White's film "The Invisible Man" (1933). It gives an overview of the careers of actor Lon Chaney Jr., makeup artist Jack Pierce and screenwriter Curt Siodmak, including his escape from Nazi Germany. The score for "The Wolf Man" and the monster rally sequels to the film are also mentioned. This bonus feature on home video collections of "The Wolf Man" will probably be better appreciated by those with a more casual interest in the film and Universal monster movies. For those who've already seen other documentaries and read about it, you probably won't learn much of anything. I didn't.

This documentary is far from perfect and I think you really have to be a mega fan in order to love it.

I have to be honest and say I found the documentary boring and overall uninteresting.

The documentary covers the history of Universal's monster the wolfman and explains everything from his origin to some of his movie aperances.

There is not much to say about it overall. It covers a lot of interesting topics but never frame them in an interesting way. The best part is hearing about the origin, the makeup, the actor and see some of the movie aperances but that's about it.

I have a hard time recormending this unless you are a classic Universal ultra fan that wants to learn more.