The Wolf Man (1941)

Director: George Waggner
Starring: Lon Chaney Jr., Claude Rains, Warren William

Synopsis:
A man returns home and starts to woo a local girl when he is bitten by a werewolf and cursed to become one himself.

Impressions:
So far, this is my favorite of the big Universal Horror films. The writing, characterization and acting are all a cut above. Part of it is no doubt the fact that the movie started as a pure psychological thriller. Elements of that remain, and if you're willing to pretend what you see isn't what you're seeing, you can still say that there's no werewolf at all. Lon Chaney Jr. shows a fair bit of a range as the main character and I particularly liked Claude Rains as Sir John, Warren William as Dr. Lloyd, and Maria Ouspenskaya as the Gypsy woman Maleva. Though his appearance is brief, Bela Lugosi also demonstrates a fairly different sort of character than what you usually associate with him. It really is amazing how much gets packed into the runtime without feeling crowded. Definitely give this one a watch.

Rating:
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