The Wolf Man 1941
This is the last of six Universal horror classics I got in a box set. This is a better made movie than the others for the most part, with stronger characters. Lon Chaney, Jr. plays Larry Talbot as well as the wolf man, a nice enough guy whose bravery in fighting off another wolf man gives him the same affliction. It is nice that Bela Lugosi (from Dracula) and Claude Rains (from The Invisible Man) also appear. Like the others, the movie is pretty short and so it jumps right into the story and things happen pretty quickly. Rains, as Chaney’s father, has a nice role as someone who doesn’t believe in the legend of the wolf man, but sees it purely as a mental illness where the person thinks he is a wolf man. Sadly, that intellectual approach doesn’t work in this particular movie, but it makes for a great and tragic conclusion. Chaney isn’t a great actor, but he portrays his everyday Joe character pretty well. I probably need to watch The Phantom of the Opera next (another Claude Rains movie) and then will probably leave these old monster movies alone for a while.
Written: 21 Oct 2023
Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital