Halloween season
simply isn’t Halloween season without a regular dose of golden age Universal
horror (1923-1963). Every day this October, I’ll be giving you a steady IV drip
of it by counting down Psychobabble’s
31 Favorite Universal Horrors!
#9. The Wolf Man
(1941- dir. George Waggner)
Having exhausted literary sources during the first phase of
its Golden Age of monsters, Universal managed an original creation to really
bring its next phase into focus. More rooted in the practical/tragic human issues
of turning into a snarling beast beneath the moon than Werewolf of London had been, The
Wolf Man finally got the werewolf picture right. The originality of its
story is not the only thing that sets The
Wolf Man apart from Universal’s earlier horrors: it also eschews a Gothic,
period setting in favor of a contemporary, fairy tale milieu. Yet the new
monster was such an instant smash that he was deemed an acceptable playmate for
Frank and Drac. Lon Chaney, Jr., gets to do what he does best as he grimaces and
wrings his hands as Larry Talbot. Jack Pierce gets to do what he does best as
he covers Chaney’s face in yak fur, fashioning his final memorable monster. The Wolf Man also stands out from most
of the earlier Frankenstein and Dracula pictures because of its
consistently interesting cast. Dracula
was a touch of a drag whenever Bela or Dwight Frye wasn’t on screen, but you
never feel as though The Wolf Man is
wasting your time as long as Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers, the unforgettable Maria
Ouspenskaya, and yes, Bela, are on screen.
