143. The Wolf Man (1941)

Running Time: 71 minutes
Directed By: George Waggner
Written By: Curt Siodmak
Main Cast: Lon Chaney Jr., Claude Rains, Ralph Bellamy, Evelyn Ankers, Bela Lugosi

"EVEN A MAN WHO IS PURE OF HEART AND SAYS HIS PRAYERS BY NIGHT, MAY BECOME A WOLF WHEN THE WOLFBANE BLOOMS"

At a running time of only a little over an hour, I was able to squeeze in "The Wolf Man" when I got off work tonight. I had mixed feelings about this one, despite the fantastic cast. Let's get down to business, shall we.

Lon Chaney Jr. plays Larry Talbot, son of Sir John Talbot, who returns home from America to his home Wales, to reconnect with his father. Almost as soon as he arrives, so does his father's new telescope and as Larry helps him assemble it, he accidentally catches a glimpse of the neighboring residence and the girl that lives there, Gwen Conliffe. Gwen's parents own an antique store next door to the Talbot estate, and later that day, Larry goes over to meet Gwen and during the visit purchases a silver headed walking stick, decorated with the head of a wolf. Upon purchasing the walking stick, Larry is told all about the myth of the werewolf by Gwen. As he leaves the shop, Larry insists on a date with Gwen, despite her many refusals, she still agrees to go with Larry to the fortune teller, later that night.

During the trip to the fortune teller, accompanied by Gwen's friend Jenny, Bela the fortune teller sees a pentagram on the hand of Jenny. It turns out that Bela is actually a werewolf and seeing a pentagram on the palm is a sign that you're the werewolf's next victim. As Jenny leaves is forced to leave the fortune teller's shop, she is soon after attacked by a wolf. When Larry tries to rescue her he is bitten, but succeeds in killing the wolf with the walking stick that he purchased from Gwen. Later that night, Larry tells his father what happened and investigators are sent out to find the body of Jenny. When they arrive, they not only find Jenny, but also Bela, as it seems Bela was actually the werewolf and Larry apparently murdered him. An old gypsy woman eventually tells Larry that anyone bitten by a werewolf can become a werewolf themselves. It turns out she's not lying as Larry transforms into the Wolf Man and furthermore has the entire town tracking him down.

While I watched this film on a Tuesday night sitting in a recliner with the air conditioning on, I have a good feeling that this movie would be a lot of fun to watch, huddled under a blanket with your significant other, during a Saturday night monster movie-thon. In fact, it would probably also be a very effective movie to watch on Halloween, however it just seems like a real mood movie, meaning you really have to be in the mood to find the really good qualities that this movie has to offer. A lot of the movie is really corny, or at least it is to me, as Chaney's Wolf Man is more laughable than spooky. Honestly he really just resembles a guy who's angry because he's having a really bad hair day. The cast was superb, in fact the cast was a little too good for this movie. Claude Rains was excellent as the level-headed one, who spoke for the realists. Ralph Bellamy is always good, and it was nice to see him not getting upstaged by Cary Grant for once. Lon Chaney Jr. was also good, and really showed off some sophisticated acting chops for someone who was normally typecast into horror flicks. I should also mention Evelyn Ankers real quick, as she played a fine damsel in distress who also played hard to get. Add a quick cameo by the master of horror himself, Bela Lugosi and you really can't ask for more, when it comes to casting.

RATING: 5.5/10 Pretty much an average movie, that would be a lot of fun during those times when you're in need of a horror flick.

NEXT UP: The Maltese Falcon...Saw this one YEARS ago, but really don't remember it at all...Kind of excited to see it again.

July 14, 2010 1:18am