Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
After his brother's death, Larry Talbot returns home to his father and the family estate. Events soon take a turn for the worse when Larry is bitten by a werewolf.
The Wolf Man is a foundational horror classic that essentially codified werewolf mythology for cinema — the pentagram, silver bullets, the full moon, wolfsbane — making it genuinely novel and singular in its cultural impact. Lon Chaney Jr. delivers a sympathetic, tortured performance and the supporting cast including Claude Rains is solid. The cinematography is atmospherically foggy and expressionistic in classic Universal horror fashion. However, the plot is thin and fairly mechanical, functioning more as a vehicle for mood and mythology than as a satisfying narrative. The ending is abrupt and somewhat unsatisfying dramatically, offering little catharsis beyond the inevitable tragic conclusion.