Another one of Universal's classic movie monsters is the entry today, and that's 1941's The Wolf Man, starring Lon Chaney, Jr (son of the more famous Lon Chaney, the silent screen star who gave rise to many movie monsters himself, including Phantom of the Opera). This movie is actually less frightening than some of the other films this week, as the wolf man legend is inherently sillier, and this film doesn't treat it with the ambiguous brilliance of a movie like Cat People. But like Dracula, this one is so iconic and with so many great images that you've got to see it anyway. Lon Chaney walking through the fog in the original Wolf Man costume for instance- it doesn't get any more cinematic than that. It also was the first to give out all the werewolf lore we're used to now, including silver bullets and full moons and everything. You can withstand some of its silliness for its deserved status as an essential movie monster, that's for sure.
Trailer:
