FLASHBACK 2011: Oct. 23. Movie of the night: The Wolf Man, 1941. As I have said numerous times this month the werewolf has always been my favorite horror monster. This film, while not the original werewolf film, is the film that originates many of the standard werewolf legends. The werewolf is one of the three Universal monsters that did not have a literary source for the filmmakers to take plot elements from, so much of the werewolf myth that we know today is actually invented by Hollywood. The film revolves around Larry Talbot returning home to Talbot Castle after having lived in America for 18 years. He reunites with his father, Sir John Talbot (played by Claude Rains, the Invisible Man) who is a cold, detached man who throughout the movie does show affection for his son, but as the movie points out, is more focused on the family name and keeping up appearances. Larry, attempting to woo the local antique shop worker, Gwen, takes her and her friend Jenny to have their fortune read at the gypsy caravan that has just come into town. Soon Jenny is attacked and killed by a massive wolf and Larry attacks it and beats it to death with his silver cane, but not before being bitten. I enjoyed the movie but sadly I found it to be one of the weaker Universal classics. No where near as good as Frankenstein, but it is also definitely not the Mummy. The score is great and the sets for the moors of Talbot estate are especially creepy with their gnarled trees and ever constant fog. As for the monster itself I thought they could have done more with it. As in Frankenstein a lot of the make up was done to accent features that the actor had, which I felt could have been done in this film, rather than cover him in fur, giving the appearance of a wolf-like neanderthal.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 00:45:04 +0000
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