The Wolf Man (1941)

Go ahead and discredit Universal for failing miserably with their 'Dark Universe' after the horrendous disaster that was their reboot of 'The Mummy'. Universal had this in the bag during the thirties and forties of the previous century, you hipsterkids that only know Marvel or DC.

Does that make me sound like an old coot? Yes?

Good.

There was a time when Universal went all in for their horroricons and gave us a series of memorable and excellent pictures, of which 'The Wolf Man' is one. Practically all the lore everyone knows nowadays? Comes from this little gem. The iconic look, even though it is a little outdated now? Still present in pretty much every werewolf film. Except for those more influenced by 'An American Werewolf in London', which in its turn also owes a great deal to this one.

The story is simple, what was to be expected from a film that is just about sixty minutes long. Larry Talbot returns home after eighteen years abroad. He tries to save a woman from an attack by a wolf, gets bitten and consequently turns into a werewolf. The make-up was once again revolutionary for its time and Lon Chaney Jr was - just like his father before him - a master of adapting to such challenges. He also breathes life into the character of the werewolf, giving it distinct mannerisms, while staying rather downbeat as a human. But like was to be expected of a film this old, it's not really about the monster, it's about the anguish of a man who realizes he is turning into a beast and is completely helpless to do anything about it. That really comes into play after his first transformation and attack. Somewhere, Larry realizes he is to blame and wants to stop himself, but in the end he can't.

This focus on character is what makes the film so good, even though Larry is a little unlikeable at first. No surprise, seeing as screenwriter Curt Siodmak made this with a focus on the psychological, especially because he tried to capture what it was like for the people in nazi-Germany, how common, decent people could so easily turn into monsters. At first, the werewolf was to be suggested and not overtly shown, but the studio didn't want any part of that and decided to go for the jugular by showing the beast. It gave us one of the more memorable filmmonsters of all time. One that was recycyled for the re-envisioning a few years ago. Even though that one boasted better effects, the story was lacklustre and that film bored people to death.

This is a film where you can't help but sympathize with the man behind the beast. Like the gypsy Maleva says: "The way you walked was thorny, through no fault of your own..."

Words that linger.