 Storyline: Upon the death of his brother, Larry Talbot returns from America to his ancestral home in Wales. He visits a gypsy camp with village girl Jenny Williams, who is attacked by Bela, a gypsy who has turned into a werewolf. Larry kills the werewolf but is bitten during the fight. Bela's mother tells him that this will cause him to become a werewolf at each full moon. Larry confesses his plight to his unbelieving father, Sir John, who then joins the villagers in a hunt for the wolf. Larry, transformed by the full moon, heads for the forest and a fateful meeting with both Sir John and Gwen. Written by Doug Sederberg Editor's Note: Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright. The sixth horror classic in the Essentials Collection remains one of the most recognized to this day: director/producer George Waggner's The Wolf Man, starring then-unappreciated talent Lon Chaney, Jr. as Larry Talbot, a man who undergoes startling transformations after being attacked by a werewolf, Claude Rains as his elderly father, Evelyn Ankers as Gwen, the woman who catches his eye but the Wolf Man's appetite, Maria Ouspenskaya as the fortune-teller with a dark secret, and Bela Lugosi as her cursed son. The film is more memorable for Chaney's human performance than his late-in-the-game furry faced antics, rendering The Wolf Man an sometimes uneven curiosity; confident when poor Talbot is feeling anything but, uncertain when the beast is on the prowl. That doesn't mean it detracts from the movie, though, particularly since Waggner and company are far more interested in exploring Talbot's soul-searching and inward turmoil than his turn to the dark side, which doesn't culminate until the last ten minutes of the film. It's ironic that one of Universal's most untamed, vicious beasts has become -- in retrospect, and far removed from the sheer terror I'm sure the creature stirred up in audiences in 1941 -- one of the studio's least scary. Horror lies in the hidden, the unknown, the shadows and, above all, monsters that require more than a swift beating with a silver-tipped cane to go down. Everything the movie relishes in until those closing moments. Blasphemy? No matter. The Wolf Man may be growing long in the tooth, but age can't unseat one of the greats from its throne. I still found it immensely enjoyable, even when I began to realize just how much scarier it would have struck me had I wandered into a theater in the early '40s unaware. Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Kenneth Brown, September 28, 2012 -- Take a moment and imagine what modern horror would be without Universal Pictures. Without founder Carl Laemmle and his vision for the future of cinema, or his son Carl Laemmle Jr., who inherited the keys to the studio kingdom in 1928, when talkies were rapidly displacing silent films and promising groundbreaking new strides in moviemaking and the movie-going experience. Without early horror pioneers like Tod Browning, James Whale, Karl Freund, George Waggner or Jack Arnold. Without iconic creature actors Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Claude Rains, Lon Chaney, Jr., Elsa Lanchester or Ben Chapman. Without Dracula, the indispensable 1931 classic that left a more lasting mark on vampire movies and lore than any other vampire film before or after (save Nosferatu). Or Frankenstein, which pushed boundaries, shocked audiences and has been received with overwhelming enthusiasm ever since. The Mummy, bold in its atmosphere and unforgettable in its tragic romance. The Invisible Man, which features some of the most astonishing special effects and perhaps one of the most unnerving depictions of mounting madness of the era. The Bride of Frankenstein, a complex, wickedly funny, altogether unpredictable sequel that in many regards surpasses its predecessor. The Wolf Man, a once-chilling character drama that examines the frailty of man and the beast within. Phantom of the Opera, though more a twisted love story than a traditional horror picture, a film that nevertheless caused some theaters to stock smelling salts in in the event that a moviegoer fainted upon the removal of the Phantom's mask. Or Creature from the Black Lagoon, which frightened audiences above the water and below with a scaly monster unlike any they had seen before. Needless to say, modern horror, and really the genre in whole, would be completely different than what we know. Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright. The sixth horror classic in the Essentials Collection remains one of the most recognized to this day: director/producer George Waggner's The Wolf Man, starring then-unappreciated talent Lon Chaney, Jr. as Larry Talbot, a man who undergoes startling transformations after being attacked by a werewolf, Claude Rains as his elderly father, Evelyn Ankers as Gwen, the woman who catches his eye but the Wolf Man's appetite, Maria Ouspenskaya as the fortune-teller with a dark secret, and Bela Lugosi as her cursed son. The film is more memorable for Chaney's human performance than his late-in-the-game furry faced antics, rendering The Wolf Man an sometimes uneven curiosity; confident when poor Talbot is feeling anything but, uncertain when the beast is on the prowl. That doesn't mean it detracts from the movie, though, particularly since Waggner and company are far more interested in exploring Talbot's soul-searching and inward turmoil than his turn to the dark side, which doesn't culminate until the last ten minutes of the film. It's ironic that one of Universal's most untamed, vicious beasts has become -- in retrospect, and far removed from the sheer terror I'm sure the creature stirred up in audiences in 1941 -- one of the studio's least scary. Horror lies in the hidden, the unknown, the shadows and, above all, monsters that require more than a swift beating with a silver-tipped cane to go down. Everything the movie relishes in until those closing moments. Blasphemy? No matter. The Wolf Man may be growing long in the tooth, but age can't unseat one of the greats from its throne. I still found it immensely enjoyable, even when I began to realize just how much scarier it would have struck me had I wandered into a theater in the early '40s unaware. The Wolf Man represents another leap forward in the evolution of the classic Universal horror canon. It isn't as essential as some of the studio's earlier efforts, as ahead of its time as The Bride of Frankenstein, or as strong when it comes to the creature makeup and effects (The Mummy and The Invisible Man being the respective highlights in the collection). But as one of Universal's Big Three Horror Icons -- the other two being Dracula and Frankenstein -- it still delivers, thanks especially to Lon Chaney, Jr.'s performance. The Blu-ray edition delivers too, with a commendable restoration and video transfer, a capable DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix and a solid selection of special features (even if one documentary is a carryover from The Mummy disc). The Essentials Collection is worth the price of admission from almost every angle, but if you choose to wait for individual releases, you won't have to worry when it comes to The Wolf Man. Cast Notes: Lon Chaney Jr. (The Wolf Man [as Lon Chaney]), Claude Rains (Sir John Talbot), Ralph Bellamy (Col. Montford), Warren William (Dr. Lloyd), Patric Knowles (Frank Andrews), Bela Lugosi (Bela), Maria Ouspenskaya (Maleva), Evelyn Ankers (Gwen Conliffe), Fay Helm (Jenny Williams), J.M. Kerrigan (Charles Conliffe), Forrester Harvey (Twiddle). IMDb Rating (07/25/14): 8.8/10 from 589,728 users Top 250: #12 IMDb Rating (04/12/12): 8.8/10 from 377,187 users Top 250: #11
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