In a sentenceA werewolf is frightening enough without a father insisting it is all in the mind
Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) fears that he is a werewolf. His father, Sir John Talbot (Claude Rains), tries to persuade him that the creature is imaginary, but Larry’s distress resists a reasonable explanation. His attraction to Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers) gives him something beyond his own fear to think about. The forest is thick with fog. Larry needs to understand what is happening to him, while his father offers an explanation that would let them both dismiss his fears.
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George Waggner makes a compact, sympathetic horror film, with Lon Chaney Jr. giving its monster a recognisably human unhappiness. The fog still works; the hurried storytelling and occasionally heavy acting need more indulgence.
The Wolf Man is a good, sympathetic horror film, though its frightened man is more affecting than its monster is frightening. George Waggner keeps the story compact and takes Larry Talbot’s unhappiness seriously, without quite giving it enough time to develop. The attraction is easy to understand: we are asked to care about someone who fears what he may become. Its 70 minutes go quickly, sometimes too quickly.
Lon Chaney Jr. is persuasive when simple bewilderment is enough. His performance can become heavy when the anguish has to carry a whole scene, and the film does not always give him much else to play. Yet there is something touching about his lack of composure; Larry cannot make his distress look dignified or manageable. Evelyn Ankers, as Gwen Conliffe, gives the romance enough warmth to make his ordinary life worth caring about, although their attachment could use more room.
We felt sorry for Larry when Sir John Talbot tries to persuade him that the werewolf is imaginary. Claude Rains makes that reassurance troubling: a reasonable explanation can still leave the person receiving it frightened. The scene allows us to understand the father’s position without expecting his son to find it sufficient. The screenplay by Curt Siodmak finds a recognisable family difficulty in the father’s attempt to explain away his son’s fear.
Joseph A. Valentine’s cinematography gets considerable help from those fog-filled artificial forests. Their obvious construction does not spoil them; it makes the space feel enclosed, with none of the freedom or fresh air we might associate with woodland. We never need to mistake the setting for a real place to find it oppressive. The make-up also retains its force, although viewers expecting elaborate physical horror should adjust their expectations.
Ted J. Kent’s editing keeps the film moving, but the short running time is not an unqualified virtue. The drama occasionally needs a pause that the film seems unwilling to allow, particularly when fear and affection must become convincing together. The music credited to Charles Previn, Hans J. Salter and Frank Skinner supplies an appropriate gravity. It can feel more emphatic than necessary, reinforcing an unhappiness the actors have already made clear.
The emphasis on Larry’s unhappiness suits a werewolf story. The creature shares a body with someone who still needs affection and reassurance, so treating Larry simply as a menace would leave out much of what is disturbing about him. The film understands this, even when it states his suffering too insistently. Its interest in the person under the make-up survives the occasional stiffness of the performances.
Come to it for uneasy company rather than a test of nerve. Those who require frequent shocks may find its concern for Larry frustrating, especially in a film this short. We would choose it for a quiet evening when a little sorrow is welcome alongside the fog.
Most critics respond warmly to The Wolf Man, with praise clustering around its sympathy for Larry Talbot and the craft that gives his predicament weight. The favourable reviews value the tragedy as much as the scares, finding lasting interest in the suggestion of evil beneath respectable appearances. Foggy forest sets, make-up, direction and script all earn approval. Lon Chaney Jr.’s performance is a particular source of praise for its anguish and tenderness.
The verdicts nevertheless span a wide range, and Chaney is a point of disagreement: The AV Club criticises his performance while singling out Jack Pierce’s make-up for praise. Collider admires the central relationship but finds the film cut short. Variety supplies the clearest negative verdict, questioning its entertainment value despite approving of the direction and acting. The two partially accessible reviews offer too little evidence to establish their reservations.
Newman calls it a classic and the definitive werewolf movie. He particularly praises its wonderfully foggy fake forests and enduring status among Universal’s classic monsters.
Read the full review →Phipps praises the film’s lasting resonance as a monster story about evil lurking beneath modern respectability. He criticizes Lon Chaney Jr.’s performance, while singling out Jack Pierce’s masterful makeup as the film’s saving visual force.
Read the full review →The review says the Universal horror classic still retains much of its power. It praises the intelligent script, direction, make-up and Lon Chaney Jr's sympathetic performance.
Read the full review →The page is blocked, so the critic’s verdict cannot be determined. No praise or complaint is visible in the supplied text.
Read the full review →The page identifies this as Time Out’s review of the 1941 film, but the review text is unavailable. Its visible blurb singles out Claude Rains trying to persuade his son that the werewolf is imaginary, while offering no clear verdict.
Read the full review →The review finds the film well made but dubious entertainment. It praises the direction and performances, especially Lon Chaney’s competent work in both sides of his role.
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Cat PeopleAnother frightened outsider, with desire and suspicion making ordinary rooms feel unsafe.
The Curse of the Werewolf · not on Fi1m yetFor more sympathy towards the afflicted man, with a harsher physical horror.
The Company of Wolves · not on Fi1m yetWolves, forests and sexual unease, with considerably less faith in sensible explanations.
Let the Right One InA colder, bloodier account of the comfort a lonely monster can offer.
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night · not on Fi1m yetAnother solitary creature moving through shadows, with room for humour and attraction.
