Werewolf movies have been a part of the horror film pantheon since 1935, When Universal released "The Werewolf of London." Since then, lycanthropy has appeared on the silver screen countless times, and been presented in many different ways.
Werewolves in movies usually deal with themes of the bestial nature of man being freed to its most dangerous extent, with a person afflicted by the curse grappling with the consequences of that murderous rage being unleashed.
Since Halloween is around the corner, I thought it might be nice to look closer at a few of the more interesting werewolf films ever made.
4. "The Wolfman" (1941)
Although "The Werewolf of London" is the real grand-daddy of werewolf films, it was not hugely popular, possibly because it seemed too similar to "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," which preceded it in 1931. No, when most people think of early werewolf movies, it's "The Wolfman" that comes to mind. Lon Chaney Jr. plays Larry Talbot, an American who returns to his ancestral home in Wales to try to reconcile a strained relationship with his father, a member of the local gentry.
While visiting, Talbot meets a local woman named Gwen, who he promptly develops romantic feelings for. She works at a local antique shop and sells him a silver wolf tipped cane, that she claims represents a werewolf.
The subject of werewolves comes up a lot in conversation with various villagers throughout the film, and many of them recite the same poem:
"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."
Catchy. I was always amused at the movie's suggestion that lycanthropy seems to be a seasonal affliction, striking victims during the Fall.
Soon after all of this, Talbot is (wouldn't you know it) bitten by a wolf while trying to intervene in an attack on a female friend of Gwen's. He kills the creature with his walking stick, and a gypsy fortune teller named Maleva reveals to him that it was really her son, a werewolf. She not-so-conveniently lets Talbot know that he will also become a werewolf since he was bitten.
And so it goes. Talbot does indeed transform into the Wolfman and stalks the village, killing as he goes. Understandably, his new status as a cursed lycanthrop wears heavily on the guy. He fortunately doesn't have to worry about it too long, since he attacks Gwen in his Wolf form, and is then beaten to death by his own father with his own werewolf cane. Talbot Sr. then watches in horror as the dead Wolfman changes back into his son before his eyes.
"The Wolfman" is slow in parts, like a lot of the very old horror films tend to be, but it's the first really important werewolf film, and the one that so many subsequent ones used as a template. It also established a lot of the "rules" that werewolf films continue to use.
It's got a few strange elements that don't really work for me - I never understood why the werewolf that bites Talbot is in the form of an actual wolf, but Talbot himself transforms into the iconic Wolfman - standing on two legs, looking a bit goofy as a particularly hirsute guy with a dog nose. And for a Welsh guy returning home, Larry Talbot sure seems fully American, as do several other people in the film. But "The Wolfman" has some great scenes and atmosphere, something the early Universal horror films were good at - the foggy forest looks great, and the gypsy village scenes are very cool.