The Wolf Man - Special Edition: DVD Review
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Page 1 of 3 Universal / 1941 / 70 Minutes / Unrated / Street Date: February 2, 2010
Though it sounds like a genuine old wives’ tale, it’s actually something that was invented for The Wolf Man by screenwriter Curt Siodmak. But it’s precisely the type of superstition, folklore or urban legend that we relish passing on to the next generation by the glow of a campfire, or as they sit nestled under the covers preparing for a slumber that might include one or two nightmares. There are many unforgettable classic movie monsters, but one of the most enduring legends and arguably one of the three greatest to come out of the Universal Monsters factory is The Wolf Man who, along with Dracula and Frankenstein, has gone on to become an icon in cinematic lore. Although his fellow fiends have had elaborate makeovers in recent years courtesy of directors Francis Ford Coppola and Kenneth Branagh, respectively, a full-blown remake of The Wolf Man has been slow in coming.
Now, with the pending release of the 2010 reboot starring Benicio Del Toro as the doomed lycanthrope, Universal has rolled out yet another DVD incarnation of its original 1941 classic under its spiffy “Universal Legacy Series” banner. While it’s nice to see a new two-disc “special edition” DVD set of The Wolf Man, I have to wonder whether a high-def BD upgrade wouldn’t have been a lot more compelling and worthy of yet another double-dip at this stage of the game — especially since I still have the original “Classic Monsters Collection” DVD release and the even-better “Legacy Collection” set which also includes the great 1935 classic Werewolf of London. If Universal is at all serious about promoting the Blu-ray format, they really need to start working on their back catalog titles the way Warner and MGM have been doing.
Admittedly, I’ve always had a soft spot for the big, furry lug that is The Wolf Man, especially as he’s portrayed in the 1941 film by Lon Chaney, Jr. — son of the legendary “Man of 1,000 Faces” who also created one of the first great screen monsters with The Phantom of the Opera. Unlike Dracula and Frankenstein, both of whom are introduced in their full-fledged monster incarnations, we first meet “The Wolf Man” as regular guy Larry Talbot, an honest man who happens to hit a streak of bad luck just by trying to do a good deed. It’s always been the humanity of the film’s central protagonist — indeed, the man vs. beast dichotomy at the core of the story — that made the whole werewolf/Wolf Man legend so compelling. As vicious and nasty as the things Talbot does when in his beastly form, we can’t help but empathize with the sad realization that he can’t control the monster he’s become.
Clocking in at just barely 70 minutes, The Wolf Man also remains one of Universal’s leanest and most economical monster movies. It doesn’t waste any time getting down to the nitty-gritty and immediately launches into the lycanthrope legend by citing a passage from an ancient text about the origins of the werewolf myth. For a quick plot synopsis, I defer to DVD File’s original review of the 1999 DVD edition:
“The Wolf Man is one of my favorites of the Universal Horror canon, a tragic drama of one man’s fate, and an inadvertent warning against good samaritanism. When Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) runs to the aid of a young woman who’s being attacked by what Larry believes to be a wolf, he is bitten in the process of killing the creature. He is told by Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya), an old gypsy woman, that what he killed was not a real wolf, but a werewolf: and that whoever is bitten by a werewolf and lives will himself become a werewolf. Much to his horror, he soon finds that her story is not just a “witch’s tale,” but a fact. As he comes to understand that he’s doomed, everyone else — including his stern father, played to perfection by the great Claude Raines — insists that there must be a natural explanation for the killings that are occurring in the village. The Wolf Man is a cut above the average horror film. Besides a heart-rending story that is full of pathos, the film is blessed with a first-rate cast. In addition to Chaney and Raines, there is the beautiful Evelyn Ankers as Talbot’s love interest, Ralph Bellamy, the aforementioned Maria Ouspenskaya as the no-nonsense gypsy woman who is the only person who understands and helps Talbot, and even a cameo from Bela Lugosi, playing the gypsy’s son who, as a werewolf, initially attacked and bit Talbot.”
Like the other Universal Horror greats, The Wolf Man relies on solid performances, a good script, groundbreaking makeup courtesy of Jack Pierce, and a great atmosphere in which to allow the story to unfold. The screenplay would become a breakout success for writer Curt Siodmak (Donovan’s Brain, I Walked With a Zombie) while director George Waggner (The Ghost of Frankenstein) made the most of establishing an eerie setting amidst fog-covered moors (even though obviously shot on a soundstage) and smartly kept things focused on Chaney’s riveting performance. While the lap-dissolve transformation sequence seems a bit hokey today in the aftermath of award-winning efforts like An American Werewolf in London, Pierce’s original “Wolf Man” design is still chillingly clever. But it’s really Chaney and the vastly-underrated Raines who manage to make you care about the characters they portray in the film. Both realize what has to be done to break the cycle of the werewolf and the father-son connection makes Raines’ final sacrifice that much more heartbreaking in the end.
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