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

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.

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).

Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man' (1999)

**** (out of 4)

John Landis hosts this documentary that takes a look at the various werewolf tales released by Universal back in their Golden Age of horror films. The majority of this documentary takes a look at the 1941 masterpiece THE WOLF MAN that launch Lon Chaney, Jr. as a star but we also get the production history of WEREWOLF OF London and then the sequels to that 1941 film. Overall I think this is one of the best documentaries produced for the original monster movies from the studio. The film does a terrific job at telling the history of werewolves and it's always fascinating to learn how the majority of myths out there about wolves comes from the 1941 film. It's funny to think that a movie could leave such an impact on history where its made up stories are what most people believe as the truth. Screenwriter Curt Siodmak is interviewed about how he came up with the story and he also mentions the original treatment by Robert Florey. Florey was originally set to film this with Boris Karloff before the project fell apart and sat on a shelf for several years. Rick Baker discusses the make up methods used for WEREWOLF OF London and THE WOLFMAN. He also talks about Jack Piece's eventual downfall and how the make up worlds was changing. The sequels to THE WOLF MAN are also discussed and we get some nice stuff about Chaney, Jr. in his most famous role. Fans of the Universal films are going to love all the information here and this comes highly recommended.

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.

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.