L'uomo lupo

Lon Chaney portrays psychological torment, guilt, and conflict so well in this film. These feelings are so absent in this century. Larry Talbot, in contrast to public officials and corporate executives, wants to do the right thing, and feels remorse at the suffering that he has caused. Chaney also does this in his later Inner Sanctum films. Maria Ouspenskaya is also great as Maleva, the gypsy. And the music is also marvelous. Films as these put contemporary horror films to shame. The former are fun and a pleasure to watch. This one is quite good.

The Wolf Man is a film about a man bitten by a werewolf condemned to live the life of his antagonist. Lon Chaney Jr. does an awfully good job transcending the traditional monster out to get everyone with a humane, sympathetic portrait of the titular lycanthrope. This is Universal Studios at its best with a good old-fashioned horror yarn, excellent acting, particularly by supporting cast members Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers, Bela Lugosi, and the outstanding Maria Ouspenskaya as the old and wise gypsy woman, wonderful sets complete with swirling fog, and special effects that were new and fresh in 1941. This film is fast-paced and deserves its rank as one of the great Universal horror classics.

When I was about 18, my uncle came over and said he had just bought two new movies Frankenstien and the Wolf Man and wanted me to watch them with him. Since I was nursing a broken foot at the time I decided to go watch them. Thank you uncle for a truly memorable night. The Wolf Man is great movie. It spooky atmosphere and creepy music only add to this gem of a flick. As far as Lon Chaney goes; this role was made for him. He is perfect as the tragic Larry Talbot. Horror movie makers of today should watch these classic gems before attempting their movies. God knows they could learn a thing or two about how to make a REAL horror movies. What must Lon, Boris, Bela and Vincent be think as they look down the atrocities that are called horror movies. It's like my uncle has always said: They sure don't make horror movies like they used to.

They sure don't uncle. They sure don't.

The wolf man is the beast or Freudian "Id" in all of us -- the part of us we don't want others to see, the part of us we may not even want to see ourselves.

Lon Chaney, Jr., gives a touching and sympathetic performance depicting his struggle with the monster within him. Some critics were snide, pointing out that he came across too much like Lenny in OF MICE AND MEN, but to say that is to miss the sense of pathos he brings to his part.

The rest of the cast is an interesting mix of character actors, including Bela Lugosi who has a small but important part and Maria Ouspenskaya who recites the werewolf verses with such conviction as to make you think they are true.

This film is a fable about us all. We all have a spilt personality that can overtake us if we are not careful to know ourselves.

Lon Chaney Jr lived under the shadow of his famous father, but in 'The Wolf Man' he helped create a horror icon that has lasted for over sixty years. Chaney had already shown that he could act in 'Of Mice And Men'(1939). In 'The Wolf Man' he gives another excellent performance, but this movie was both a blessing and a curse to his career I think. It forever labeled him a horror actor, and frankly he made a lot of lousy movies after this. Some good ones too, don't get me wrong, but too often he was given b-grade material to work with. Maybe his drinking problem had a lot to do with it, I don't know, but apart from a strong cameo in 'The Defiant Ones'(1958) and a great performance in Jack Hill's cult classic 'Spider Baby'(1964), he rarely was given a role as good as Larry Talbot in this movie. Chaney is surrounded by a very strong supporting cast including horror legends Claude Rains ('The Invisible Man') and Bela Lugosi (sadly only a cameo), Ralph Bellamy ('His Girl Friday'), and frequent costar Evelyn Ankers (she and Chaney made a great on screen couple but apparently hated each other off screen. Such is Hollywood!). Many people complain about the casting of Rains and Chaney as father and son. I agree it's totally unrealistic, but I don't think it hurts the movie at all. The lack of Lugosi is a bigger problem. There was more footage of him but unfortunately it wasn't used in the final cut. It's too bad as more scenes between Lugosi and Chaney would have been a treat. Of course they worked together a few times after this, but mostly in lesser movies. The real scene stealer in 'The Wolf Man' is Maria Ouspenskaya who plays the gypsy woman Maleva. She's just terrific, and gives the most memorable performance after Chaney. 'The Wolf Man' has had an enormous influence on just about every subsequent werewolf movie. Much of the lore seen on screen here isn't in fact traditional, as many people assume, but created by the talented Curt Siodmak ('Donovan's Brain') who subsequently wrote the horror classics 'I Walked With A Zombie'(1943), and 'The Beast With Five Fingers'(1946). 'The Wolf Man' is an undisputed horror classic, and just as entertaining and interesting as it ever was.