Customer Rating: 
Summary: The Wolf Man!
Comment: Ok, this is another Universal monster movie, but an excellent one! The money spent on this production was pretty hefty. Claude Rains, Ralph Bellamy, Lon Chaney Jr. and others. Wow! Poor Lon Chaney Jr. loves a girl but gets attacked by a wolf. Poor guy, he ends up having some really sleepless nights when a full moon appears. What to do? Maybe Bela Legosi as a gypsy can help? Or that lady gypsy, does she know anything?
Customer Rating:
Summary: Classic of the genre
Comment: When it comes to the horror genre you'll be hard pressed to find a studio with a greater legacy than Universal. Without Universal who knows where our beloved genre would be. While Universal has produced many classics it really is their Monster movies they'll always be remembered for. The Wolf Man proved to be yet another winner for the studio. While not the first werewolf movie, The Wolf Man is the granddaddy of them all and has influenced just about every werewolf movie that followed.
Lon Chaney Jr. despite having a solid career also had it tough it's not easy when your father is screen legend "Man of a 1000 Faces" Lon Chaney Sr. I'm sure the name helped him get his start, but living up to the standards of Lon Chaney Sr. isn't a very easy thing to do, but as great as Chaney Sr. was I always preferred Jr., but that's just me. Lon Chaney Jr. stars as Larry Talbot who by night becomes The Wolf Man and it was yet another Iconic Monster in the legacy of Universal studios.
The Wolf Man in my opinion still holds up pretty well, while obviously the movie is dated seeing as it was made in 1941 and quality of life and filmmaking has changed a whole lot since 1941, but I'd go as far to say this one holds up better than most of the Monster movies. While Bride of Frankenstein is still my all time favorite Monster flick I think The Wolf Man holds up slightly better.
The screenplay by Curt Siodmak is terrific; while the characters aren't the best developed they are all interesting and entertaining and this script is as good as you'll find in the horror genre. Like many movies of its era The Wolf Man is as much a drama as it is a horror movie. And the script by Siodmak works well and the characters are great.
Director George Waggner creates a masterpiece with this one. The pacing is solid and there's never really a slow moment, each scene moves the movie forward and The Wolf Man also has a really great eerie feel that even by today's standards holds up. While obviously The Wolf Man isn't scary anymore it still has a great sense of dread and an excellent eerie feel through out.
As much as I love horror flicks of the 30s and 40s my only complaint sometimes is the acting. Some of the best acted horror movies of all time came from the 30s and 40s, but they also had a lot of over the top acting, which really isn't the case in The Wolf Man. Bela Lugosi is solid in a cameo and Claude Rains steals the show as Sir John Talbot. Claude Rains gives a brilliant performance and was the strongest link in the cast.
Lon Chaney Jr. gives the best performance of his career as Larry Talbot. Like the Frankenstein Monster, Talbot is a sympathetic character. Once Larry turns into the Wolf Man he cannot help himself and he's very much a tortured soul. Characters like Larry Talbot were done a lot in the classic era of the genre and here it works well again.
The final act to The Wolf Man is quite suspenseful and quite tragic and is one of the best final acts you'll find in this genre. The Wolf Man is a classic of the genre and one of the most important horror movies ever made and was yet another winner from Universal Studios.
Customer Rating:
Summary: More Complex Than We Might Think
Comment: I would like to dedicate this review to my friend Patricia who often enjoyed these horror movies with werewolves. I often like to follow Claude Rains's "Invisible Man" with this movie. Lon Chaney Jr. has just returned to England from America. His older brother has died tragically, and he goes to be with his father Claude Rains. (Somehow we get the impression that Claude Rains is a widower.) We do see that there was some tension between Rains and Chaney, but they seem to make their peace. Lon Chaney Jr then meets Gwen. (Through chance, he gets a story about werewolves out of her.) He finds her attractive, and even though she tries to brush him off, he sees it as a challenge that could be fun: "No!" "Fine. I'll see you at 8." Deciding it wouldn't hurt much, Gwen and her friend Jenny go with Chaney to a fair with gypsies. And anyone who knows the movie knows what happens. Jenny is killed by a wolf, and Chaney gets bitten as he tries to save her. From here Chaney finds himself under investigation for killing a man, when he thinks he just killed a wolf. (Things are obvious to us, the audience what happened.) We know he will eventually turn into a wolf, but there are some interesting transitional moments. For one thing, he starts growing shorter and more angry. One example is when he threatens a group of women. (The werewolf is probably a literary symbol for the sudden loss of control of feelings we try to repress.) Another interesting thing is that Chaney is confronted with what he will become by the Gypsy. This is an interesting element of fear in that he is allowed to be frightened of himself, or what he will become. From here, he turns into the title character and kills a man. We are permitted generous amounts of sympathy in knowing that Chaney is NOT doing this of his own free will. He wants help, but is too frightened to tell anyone the truth. (Another great element of horror.) He grabs even more of our sympathy as he tries to go to Gwen for help, but realizes he may kill her next. Despite his current status as a werewolf, he still has a conscience. GREAT! In one of the most poignant moments of this film, Chaney (knowing a silver cane can kill him) asks his father to keep it with him for protection. From here, there is a memorable climax with a tragic irony. This truly is a masterpiece of horror. If you like Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot (later the Werewolf), be sure to see him as the Devil in "The Devil's Messenger."
Customer Rating: 
Summary: The Original Wolf Man...
Comment: 1941's "The Wolf Man" introduced the classic werewolf to the big screen. Lon Chaney Jr. plays the monster of the title, in what would be his signature role.
As the movie begins, Lawrence Talbot (Chaney) returns to his father's (Claude Rains) ancestral estate in Wales, a damp, misty pile of stones with gypsy neighbors. One night, Talbot escorts two lady friends to see a gypsy fortune-teller. On the way back, Talbot is attacked by a strange wolf-like figure (Bela Lugosi in a cameo). Talbot survives the attack but is bitten.
In the days that follow, Talbot suffers from strange black-outs and periods of time he cannot account for, while a strange wolf-like creature terrorizes the area. To Talbot's dawning horror, the gypsy fortune-teller informs him of his connection with the killings. As the movie plays out to its tragic conclusion, Talbot will try desperately to avoid his fate.
"The Wolf Man" featured then state-of-the-art makeup and special effects for Talbot's transformation from man to wolf man and back. Chaney is especially effective portraying the pathos of a man trapped in a nightmare he could not have imagined and cannot escape except through death. A chilling musical score and lots of dark, mist-filled woods add to the atmospherics. This movie is highly recommended as a classic horror movie.
Customer Rating:
Summary: "A man who is pure of heart...."
Comment: "The Wolf Man" is my favorite of the Universal BIG 4 (Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, The Wolf Man). Made ten years after the other three, The Wolf Man exhibits a higher production value. Like The Bride of Frankenstein, the Wolf Man has a splendid score. Dracula and Frankenstein suffer, in my opinion, by comparison from a minimalist score. Watch the new DVD release of the 1931 Dracula with the new score by Phillip Glass (played by the Kronos Quartet) and hear the difference.
Mood, Mood, Mood - The Wolf Man has it. Also the acting in The Wolf Man is in general quite good in comparison to other Universal Horror films of the time. Sure, the Wolf Man, isn't particularly scary to viewers in the 21st Century, but taken for what it was in 1941, it's a COOL movie!
This DVD version (and the Legacy Collection) has some cool extras: Documentary (really good), theatrical trailer, theatre posters and original art, and feature commentary.
Solid 4.5 stars, buy it or rent, but watch it over and over!
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