In observance of that autumn spell when we celebrate the primal instinct of fear, Rainestorm highlights 31 days of spooky scares to season the eerie atmosphere of Halloween.
This week we pay obligatory homage to the studio that brought some of finest thrills and greatest cinematic cheese to the 20th century. It’s Universal Monster Week!
Reign of terror: 1941
The horror… the horror: A more direct monster movie than Frankenstein. What it lacks in complexity, however, it makes up for in performances, especially Claud Rains, Ralph Bellamy, Maria Ouspenskaya, and no less than Dracula himself, chameleon Bela Lugosi as Bela, the cursed gypsy fortune teller who passes his burden onto Lon Chaney, Jr.’s Lawrence Talbot. Chaney, for his part, delivers an inadvertently creepy performance as the foredoomed aristocrat. He’s meant to be an innocent, if forward, suitor for Evelyn Ankers’ Gwen Conliffe. But he shows this admiration in very smarmy ways, peeking into her bedroom window from a telescope, then visiting her shop to tell her he’d like to purchase the pair of earrings he saw her put in her jewelry box. It’s intended to be playful but it just makes Talbot look like a sleazeball. But if you can get past that, it’s a fairly nifty horror hoot.
Halloween haunt: The fog-strewn moors, of course, custom made for spine-tingling terror.
Tastiest treat: Cane-wielding Larry Talbot, threatening to all but beat the holy hell out of a gaggle of gossiping old ladies in defense of Gwen’s honor.
Check the candy for: The full moon. Let me know if you find it. That concept did not originate with this movie. It wasn’t until the sequel, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, that the full moon motif would solidify itself in werewolf folklore.
Devilish discourse: “You wouldn’t wanna run away with a murderer wouldja?”
Goes great with: An American Werewolf in London (1981). David Naughton is as whiny and weak in the lead role as Lon Chaney, Jr. ever was. The first half-hour is a delightfully spooky and hallucinatory trip, and Rick Baker’s werewolf transformation scene is legendary.
One response to “31 Nights, 31 Frights: The Wolf Man”
The full moon concept goes as far back as Herodotus. The 1935 Universal film Werewolf of London (preceding Wolf Man by 6 years) uses the full moon scenario, but the production value for Wolf Man (not to mention the brilliant talent of Jack Pierce) make this one the classic to be remembered.