The Wolf Man (1941) (Movie Review)

   “Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms, and the autumn moon is bright.” That’s the movies famous line, and our motion picture for today is “The Wolf Man” from 1941. This monster is so famous, he’s often regarded as one of the three most legendary movie monsters of all time alongside Dracula and the Frankenstein monster. Even though this film is very tame by today’s standards, it’s arguably the most frightening, eerie, and suspenseful of the Universal monster catalog, and one of my favorites.

    Our story unfolds like this, Larry Talbot has returned to his home town in Wales to meet with his father, and offer his support after the passing of this brother. While exploring an antique shop, he falls in love with a village woman named Gwen, who compels him to stay for a while, and gives him a mysterious silver cane with the silver head of a wolf on the end. One night while the two are having a romantic walk through the woods, Larry fights off a sudden wolf attack, and gets injured. Soon, Larry finds himself losing his mind, and every night he transforms into a furious monster with an extreme impulse to kill. He seeks the aid of a gypsy woman who confirms that Larry is suffering from the curse of a werewolf. Now, Larry fights to battle the beast within before he kills any of his family, friends or the love of his life.    

   right off the bat, I love how different this conflict is from the other Universal monsters. Unlike Dracula or The Mummy, The Wolf Man isn’t an evil villain, and instead is a tragic victim, with an animal inside him that he can't control. I think that's why werewolves are so appealing, as there freighting monsters, but there’s so much tragedy that goes into their back story. Unlike Zombies or Vampires, werewolves revert back to their human form, then the human side has to live with the terrible knowledge that they've taken innocent lives, and that they’ll continue to kill with no way to control the beast within. I also like that this movie addresses the difference between a regular werewolf and the wolf man. In the beginning, we see Larry fight a werewolf which looks like a regular wolf on four legs, but when Larry transforms, he maintains his human body, just with a harry wolf appearance, that’s why he’s named The Wolf Man.

   Lon Chaney Jr. is our star, and is fantastic in both roles. As Larry Talbot, he really plays to our sympathy, and conveys an emotional performance full of turmoil, and nervous energy. As The Wolf Man, he displays a terrifying body movement, impressive stunts, and still manages to convey a lot, even through his impressive monster makeup. In fact, he’s the only actor to continue to play his iconic monster throughout all the sequels and spinoffs that followed. As expected, Lon Chaney Jr. became a very popular monster star, and acted in several other Universal horror movies. In a sense, he followed in the footsteps of his father Lon Chaney senior, who was the biggest horror star of the silent area of films in the 1920’s. 

    The best thing about this movie is its scary scenery, and haunting atmosphere. The foggy streets and creepy woods are great spectacles, which really highlight the experience. The musical score is also fantastic. At times it’s quiet and subtle, which adds to the chilling atmosphere, and other times the music is exciting and classy. My favorite scene in the film and personally my favorite moment of the entire Universal monster movie collection is this one scene in which Larry rests against a tree, and falls into some kind of strange hypnotic dream. It’s just a really cool montage of scary images, eerie music, and it just makes the movie feel so much more haunting. None of the other monster movies featured scenes as awesome as this. One thing that may annoy some people is that we don’t see as many popular conventions that you’d usually see in a werewolf movie. For example, there isn’t a single shot of the full moon throughout the whole movie. There isn’t even a single transformation scene in the film, at least until the monsters death scene, and a single moment when we start to see his feet change into wolf paws.  

      

   The supporting cast is probably the greatest supporting cast to be featured in any of the Universal monster movies. Usually the supporting cast consist of average performers, who’s names aren’t that well known, but this movie is full of stars, most of which already played classic Universal monsters. For example, Bela Lugosi, who originally played Dracula in the 1931 classic, now plays a gypsy in this film named Bela. This gypsy is the one responsible for passing the curse of the werewolf to Larry in the first place, and it’s interesting to note that Bela Lugosi also transformed into a wolf back in “Dracula”, making this one heck of an eerie coincidence. Also Claude Rains, who previously played The Invisible Man in the 1933 classic, and would later play The Phantom of the opera in the 1943 classic, now plays Sir John Talbot, Larry’s father. Honestly, he's once again my favorite talent in the whole film. That's not to slam the other actors, but Claude Rains just has this presence that can't be beat, even in a role as simple as a sympathetic father figure. Then there’s the gypsy woman who’s one of the most memorable characters from the series, and speaks the most classic lines of dialog in the film. 

   Gwen Conliffe is our lead heroin and played by Evelyn Ankers, who basically made a carrier as a reoccurring star in several Universal Horror movies. She has a terrific screen presence, and just works perfectly in a horror setting. While she isn’t that different from the other female leads, she still gets more involved than most of the others, and Evelyn just supplies a really genuine performance that isn’t as hammy as most of the other actresses. Sense she’s established as the wolf Mans girl friend, you’d think this film would end with her getting carried away by the beast just like all the others, right. Well, this films actually very clever by making the climax an intense and eerie cat and mouse chase, as Gwen gets lost in the woods looking for Larry Talbot, while The Wolf Man is hunting her down ready to slay her, and Larry’s father John is also hunting down the wolf man, in an effort to free his son from his curse. It’s an exciting finale, with the most heart breaking ending of all the Universal monster films.

   Like I said earlier, Lon Chaney Jr. reprised is signature role of the wolf man in four more movies, however there were never any stand-alone sequels, he only appeared in crossovers with other popular monsters. The first was “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” in 1943, and while it lacked the subtle eerie feel of the first film, it was still pretty entertaining, as were all the other crossover movies. Over the years there have been countless other werewolf movies, and countless Halloween specials featuring the Wolf Man as a main character. The one I personally remember watching the most as a child was “Alvin and the Chipmunks meet the Wolf Man”. In 2010, there was a remake of “The Wolfman”, which really wasn’t that bad, it wasn’t a great movie by any means either, but as far as remakes are concerned, it at least captured the same look and feel of the original, with creepy scenery, an exciting montage of frightening clips, and some great music.

   To this day, the 1941 motion picture “The Wolf Man” still holds up as an exciting and fun horror film. It never once comes off as slow or boring, the atmosphere is great, the performances are strong, and the imagery still sticks with me after all these years. I'd probably rank this film as my second favorite of Universals monster classics behind "The Invisible Man". The whole story is just told very well, and it’s one black and white movie that I still recommend to this day.

Thanks for reading my review of the 1941 Horror classic “The Wolf Man” ... and treat yourself to one good scare this October! 

NEXT TIME: Keep both ears open for this monster, because you’ll never SEE him coming.       

Dracula (1931) (Movie Review)

   

  1931 was a big year for horror cinema, debuting “Frankenstein”, and proceeding that ... the very first sound horror movie ... "Dracula". Personally, I always felt that 1931's “Dracula” was simply the appetizer before the main course. Regardless, it's a classic that shouldn't go unappreciated. It's adapted from Bram Stoker’s classic Dracula novel, and while this movie makes a number of alterations from the book, the overall story remains the same. A gentleman named Renfield is on an important business trip in the secluded land of Transylvania and is invited to the castle of Count Dracula. At first, the Count seems like a civilized host, but it doesn’t take long for Renfield to learn the truth, his host is in fact a vampire that praise on the lives of living people. Dracula then uses Renfield as a puppet, and travels to London. There, he unleashes his horrors on the unsuspected towns folk and kills a number of women. All the victims soon get the attention of Professor Van Helsing, who is determined to find this rouge vampire, and slay him before he takes another life. It all culminates into a classic confrontation of good versus evil. 

  The best parts of this movie are its first fifteen minutes, because this is the only time the movie is set in Transylvania, while the rest of the movie is set in London. It’s true that things can come off as scarier when there in a more civilized setting, because it’s so close to home, but the overall look and feel of Transylvania creates such an eerie mood, and it looks fantastic. The castle setting is a big spectacle, and I love all the little details like the cobwebs, fogy roads, and lots of animals running around. I especially love the bats, which are obviously fake bats on strings, but there’s something about their simplicity that just adds to the overall charm of the film. I think that of the eight Universal monster movies, this one has some of the richest atmosphere, as watching it from beginning to end is like having a dream that goes through all kinds of haunting twists and turns. 

 Unfortunately, most modern audiences may not give this movie a chance, or they might find it slow and boring. This was an early sound film, so there are a lot of really quiet moments. In fact, aside from the “Swan Lake” music herd during the opening credits, there isn’t a single musicale note herd throughout the rest of the movie, and when characters don’t talk, everything is completely silent. Some may say that it only adds to the films chilling atmosphere, while I can picture just as many people regarding it as dull. In 1999, there was a special edition, which added a musical score composed by Phillip Glass. This may spoil some of the subtlety of the chilling quiet moments, but personally, I prefer the special edition, because the music composed by Phillip Glass is nothing short of awesome! Every time I hear those violins, it just gives me chills, and when matched with the imagery, it’s just making the film feel more like a haunting spectacle. 

  Let’s cut to the chase, the big reason this film stands out as a classic is because of Bela Lugosi’s unforgettable performance in the role of Count Dracula. He has such a foreboding presence, every time he’s on screen he’ll be staring at you with those big scary eyes of his, and his wicked smile is just spot on. I especially love the way he moves his body, as it’s very elegant, but also very sinister, and no one else wears that cape like he does. Lugosi would forever more be immortalized as the most iconic actor to ever play the Count, in fact the rhythm in which he spoke would become a common cliché for most vampires in the pop culture. He actually has a good deal of charm and sophistication, which only highlights the performance more. 

 This movie’s also responsible for introducing most audiences to the lore of vampires, how they don’t cast reflections, their driven away by holly symbols, they transform into bats, they can hypnotize other people, and on a side note, this movie also establishes that vampires transform into wolves. I think one of the most fascinating aspects of Vampires is how deceptive they are, which this movie takes full advantage of. While other creatures like Zombies and Werewolves are just as dangerous, you’d also know to run away from them on site. Vampires on the other hand can come off as humble, everyday people, and you wouldn’t even be aware of the danger until after you’ve invited them into your home. One thing to note is that Dracula never has fangs, it’s implied that he does, because he leaves bite marks in his victims, but we never actually see him baring teeth.  

 Edward Van Sloan is also really good in the role of Dr. Van Helsing, and I like that he’s an older gentleman, whose strength comes from his mind and intellect. My favorite scenes are the interactions between Van Helsing and Dracula. While they never fight, there back and forth conversations are still equally riveting. Most conflicts of good versus evil result with them fighting, and proving who’s stronger, but here it’s all about these two titans outsmarting one another. Then there’s the crazy Renfield played by Dwight Frye, who really hams up this performance, but in an effective and creepy way. Plus, he has one of the most memorable evil laughs ever. 

  

 One common tradition among these eight Universal monster movies is that the lead monster will have some kind of connection to the female lead and do everything in their power to claim her. Our female love interest in this movie is named Mina, who’s kind of one-note, but the actress Helen Chandler is actually quite good in the role. Her best scenes are when she becomes a servant of Dracula, and adopts many of his traits, especially the lustful gleam in her eyes as she succumbs to Dracula’s will. I also like that we usually see her dressed in a bright white night gown, which almost makes her look like a princess, and a perfect offset to all the gothic surroundings. One thing I don’t understand is Dracula’s interest in her, as he meets a number of other girls in this film, and kills them on the spot, but for some reason, Mina stands out to him, and he slowly turns her into some kind of vampire queen. This is especially confusing because we see that Dracula had three brides at the beginning of the movie, aren’t those enough ... and what happened to them anyway, they just disappeared? Oh, and there’s also the obvious boyfriend named John, but he’s hardly in the movie, and is about as generic as boyfriend characters get. 

 The ending is also sub-par, in fact this might just be the most anticlimactic ending of these early horror classics (spoiler alert). Dracula is taking Mina deep into his evil lair, but the sun’s coming up, which means it’s time to take a nap in his coffin. Dr. Van Helsing and the boy friend John aren’t far behind, as they discover Dracula sleeping in his coffin, and put a stake in his heart before he wakes up. Dracula never even gets the chance to fight back, and worse, it all takes place off screen. Mina’s trans is immediately broken, and then the movie ends abruptly, leaving me feel underwhelmed. Even the Mel Brooks comedy “Dracula: dead and loving it” had a more satisfying finale.  

 

 Bela Lugosi only made one last appearance in the role of Dracula, and that was in the 1948 comedy titled “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein”. Other than that, he never appeared in any of the sequels. The following two sequels were “Dracula’s Daughter” in 1936, and “Son of Dracula” in 1943, which obviously only focused on Dracula’s children. In 1945 there was one last sequel titled “House of Dracula”, which brought Dracula back from the dead, and paired him with both the wolf man and Frankenstein’s monster. While this movie lacked the same eerie suspense of the original, and went for a more over the top, comic book style plot, it still made for a genuinely fun monster mash. 

 
  

 Over the years, Dracula has gone through many different changes and reincarnations, in cartoons, comedy’s, remakes and all kinds of fun stuff. In 1958, Hammer Studio launched a Dracula remake that’s often titled “Horror of Dracula”, and stars Christopher Lee in the title role. This is personally my favorite Dracula movie of all time and is often regarded as a superior movie to the original 1931 classic. Lee returned in the title role for six direct sequels, and while his version of Dracula isn’t as subtle, I’d like to make the argument that he’s just as iconic in his own right, and personally, I think he’s even cooler. Another noteworthy remake was the 1992 motion picture titled “Bram Stoker's Dracula”, which stared Gary Oldman in the title role, and was directed by Francis Ford Coppola. While it received mostly positive reviews, I feel like this movie put way too much style over substance and was ultimately very forgettable. 

  Even though there were a number of silent movies that already featured the Count, and Bram Stoker’s classic novel had been well established, it was undeniably the 1931 motion picture that cemented this character as a cultural icon. Every time someone says the word vampire, immediately Dracula comes to mind first, and the way Bela Lugosi portrayed him is what they’d often imitate. Overall, the 1931 “Dracula” is still a good movie, it has great atmosphere, incredible set-pieces, a strong cast of characters, and a landmark performance from Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula. Plus, depending on which version you see, the movie boasts an incredible musical score composed by Philip Glass. Having said all that, I’d honestly be lying if I thought this movie, was a masterpiece. It’s definitely a classic and a benchmark in the history of horror cinema, but it’s also overshadowed by better movies. Even in comparison to most of the other eight Universal monster movies, this film comes off as a tad mediocre. Still, even though I don't enjoy it as much as the others, it’s still worth a viewing, and is a classic all around. 

Thanks for reading my review of the 1931 classic “Dracula” ... and be sure to treat yourself to one good scare this October.   

                

Next Time: Things get harry, as we round-up the last of the big three.    

Frankenstein (1931) (Movie Review)

 

  It’s October again, but this time I’m doing something a little different. For the past three years, I’ve done all kinds of Halloween, horror and monster related posts throughout October, but this year is going to be special. I’m doing eight full movie reviews from one specific horror series. This month, I’m paying tribute to Universals classic horror movie monsters. Now, there are lots of famous movie monsters that have crept their way out of Hollywood, and into the nightmares of many viewers, but Universal has a special collection of timeless monster movies that practically breathed life into the horror genre. These of course are the classics that began in the 1930’s, and introduced modern audiences to iconic horror legends like Dracula, Frankenstein and The Wolf Man. Obviously, Universal has released hundreds of horror movies, but these are the eight that stand out as the great classics, the ones that seemed to define memorable movie monsters, and I feel the best place to start is the 1931 classic "Frankenstein". 

 

 While 1931's “Dracula” was the first sound horror movie, "Frankenstein" was the event that insured the monster genera was here to stay. Between the two, I personally find “Frankenstein” to be superior, and it still holds up as a memorable, unnerving horror masterpiece. Based on Mary Shelley’s classic novel of the same title, “Frankenstein” is a rich warning story about the dangers of science, focusing on that delicate line between a man’s genies, and his madness. This film also takes the Universal movie monsters into a different direction. While some monsters like the Mummy, the Wolf-Man and Dracula have a more mythical background, this creature is based entirely on science. However, it still maintains that same haunting, gothic personality of the others.

  The movie begins with a man stepping out from behind curtains, warning the audience that the movie there about to see might be really frightening, which is hilariously outdated, and even the actor seems to be holding back a laugh. We then segue into one of the best opening title screens of all the Universal monster movies, as the visuals and imagery on display give it a hypnotic, dreamlike quality that always puts me in the right mind-set. A common staple in these movies is that they won’t reveal the name of the actor who plays the monster during the opening credits, just to give it a little more mystery. 

 The overall story goes like this ... Dr. Henry Frankenstein is a scientist determined to go above and beyond the boundaries of ordinary lab work and actually go so far as to create life itself. Not just reviving people that once lived but constructing a being out of the parts of different people and giving it new life. At first, he succeeds in giving a creation life, but unfortunately, an abnormal brain belonging to a mass murderer was put in the creature's head, instead of a healthy, normal brain. As a result, Frankenstein’s creature displays a hostile tendency, kills people without mercy, and after escaping Frankenstein’s castle, the creature terrorizes a local village. 

  Common audiences refer to the monster as Frankenstein, even though that was only the name of the doctor. Regardless, I also like to call the monster Frankenstein, because it’s really hard to separate that name from the creature. For the sake of this review, I’ll just call him the Frankenstein monster. Sense both Vampires and Werewolf’s have Dracula and the Wolf Man as their immortal mascots, I always liked to believe that the Frankenstein monster was the immortal mascot for zombies. Obviously, he doesn’t do the things we normally associate with zombies, but he’s still a reanimated corps, and that’s exactly what a zombie is. For the most part, it behaves like a mindless monster, attacking people and killing others with no regrets. The only time we sympathies with the best is the famous scene at the pond with the little girl. Here, the creature comes off like a curious being that means no real harm, and when he’s responsible for drowning the pore girl, it clearly wasn’t what the monster wanted. In fact, you see in its face how sad he feels about her dying, and it just breaks your heart.

    
  

  The overall design for the monster in this film is so famous, that it’s become a staple in our pop culture. The makeup man is Jack Pierce, who actually designed the look for all the classic Universal monsters. I love the scene when the creature is first reveled, it’s actually one of my all-time favorite monster reveals ever in a motion picture. Of course, the doctor brings him to life in his laboratory, thanks to a bolt of lightning, but we never actually see the creature get off the table. Instead, he’s kept off-screen for a number of scenes, allowing the movie to build on your anticipation for when we finally see him. The doctor is in the middle of a heated argument with a friend, who’s delivering a warning about the monster he’s created, and then it’s suddenly interrupted by the sound of loud footsteps, which keep getting louder and louder. A door slowly opens, the monster turns into frame, and through some slick editing, the film give us a close-up of the monster ... it’s awesome. The creature is played by Boris Karloff, who would go on to become one of the most legendary horror stars of all time and play in more Universal monster movies than any other actor. He just has the perfect face for this creature, and his performance is great. What could have been a one-note performance is given so much dimension, and a captivating screen presence.   

   

  In a rare case, the character who steals the show isn’t the monster, and instead it’s our lead star Colin Clive in the role of Dr. Henry Frankenstein. He commands the screen with an electrifying performance, and I really like that the character isn’t really a bad guy. While he’s misguided, and dose bad things, he certainly isn’t evil. He really has honest intentions and does everything in his power to properly take care of the monster. When he realizes how dangerous the creature is, he doesn’t hesitate to try and destroy it. I also like that he’s mostly respected by the town's folk, whereas most versions would have the villagers turning on him out of hatred.   

  Our girlfriend in this movie is named Elizabeth, who's actually one of the least cliché of the Universal Monster girls. While she does get attacked by the monster on her wedding day, she never gets carried away by the monster like all the others, and it doesn’t have any real interest in her. However, while she comes off as smarter, she really isn’t that memorable either, serviceable about sums her up. Dr. Frankenstein also has a hunchbacked assistant, which is a common cliché now, however, his name isn’t Igor. Instead, it’s Fritz, and isn’t that an odd name? He’s played by Dwight Frye, who also played the crazy Renfield in “Dracula”. Speaking of actors from “Dracula”, this movie once again features Edward Van Sloan, who previously played Van Helsing in that movie. This time he isn’t the lead hero, he’s a supporting character named Waldman, but he still delivers a good performance as he warns Doctor Frankenstein about the monster he’s created.   

  For an old movie from 1931, it’s got a surprisingly epic size and scope. From beginning to end, it’s just incredible to look at. I think this film has the most memorable imagery of all the classic Universal monster movies. There’s the opening scene in the cemetery, the mob of angry villagers, the science lab with all the crazy gizmos, and of cores Dr. Frankenstein shouting “It’s Alive!” The pacing is also really good, everything holds your attention, the mood is strong, and there’s never a dull, quiet moment. Now, there isn’t a whole lot of music, but you hardly notice, thanks to all the sounds of thunder, heavy rain, and angry villagers. 

 

  The climax is also a riveting spectacle, as Dr. Frankenstein faces his creation head on. The monster gains the upper hand at first, and drags him to a windmill, where they have their final fight. The villagers soon ketchup, set the mill on fire, and the monster is presumed dead. This finale may seem a little tame by today’s standards, but it’s actually quite exciting, and back in the 1930’s, it must have had the audience leaping out of their seats. Unlike all the other Universal monster movies, this one actually has an epilogue at the end, as we see that Dr. Frankenstein survived, and that he’ll soon get married to his girlfriend. It may seem a little tacked on, but I find it a breath a fresh air considering most of the other movies end the second the monster dies. 

   

 Overall, “Frankenstein” has held up very well over the years, it’s still engaging to watch, the performances are great, the imagery just pops before your eyes, and Boris Karloff as the monster is just as iconic as ever. It’s just a classic, old school monster movie that doesn’t rely on gore or obvious jump scares, which is really a dying art. The movies only real problem is that it looms in the shadow of its superior sequel, but I’ll talk about that later. Even with that said, this is still one of the best movies of the eight Universal classics, and highly recommendable to old school horror fans. 

Thanks for reading my review of the 1931 classic “Frankenstein” ... and be sure to treat yourself to one good scare this October. 

NEXT TIME: We’ll be traveling to Transylvania to look back at the movie that initially launched Universals monster franchise.