User blog:ShawnCognitionCP/Shocktober: The Wolf Man

Hello, Creepypasta Wiki community, and welcome back to Shocktober. Everyone knows about werewolves, just as much as they know about vampires. Both are Hollywood staples from the golden age of cinema, and both have origins that we can calculate. Vampires being Dracula, and perhaps Nosferatu, but when it comes to Werewolves, it is of course, The Wold Man from 1941.



The Wolf Man released in the age of great films spewing from Hollywood in terms of horror, each and every year. Releasing what would later be classic after classic, this movie came in full swing.

Directed by George Waggner (Horror Island, The Climax) in 1941, on a budget of $180,000, it is technically a different version/take on an earlier, non-successful film titled Werewolf in London. No one really knew what impact they would have, which would turn out to be absolutely massive.

Mixing drama and horror, the plot revolves around Larry Talbot, whom falls in love with Gwen Conliffe. Rescuing her friend from a "wild wolf attack", he is bitten in the chest, though he does manage to kill it with his staff. After the attack, he must attempt to control his bloodlust every night, or risk killing Gwen, or anyone else he cares about.

The effects in this movie were huge, and the transformation into a werewolf is one of the best transformations in any film. Lon Chaney Jr had to sit completely still, in the same pose, for hours on end as the make up was applied and the scene was shot frame by frame.

Speaking of Lon Chaney Jr, this film was the perfect kickstart to his career. He was a fantastic actor, standing with Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff (whom you may know as Dracula and Frankenstein).

Though certainly not the fist film he was in (by a long shot), this film set him on an horror route in his life, and placed him as a great actor. No matter how he would try to go into a more universal reputation, he was, and will be, a horror actor.

All acting in this film is stellar, and emotion feels genuine. This is not a film that is loved because of age, but because it stands up to age. The golden age of cinema is really a period of time which includes grand movies, and this is no excuse.

A Halloween classic from the period of generally creative horror and emotional plots, this film has reason behind all of the howling behind it. You'd be some sort of monster to pass it up. Just remember- keep a silver bullet near you this October. Watch for the bite.