The Wolf Man (1931)

The Wolf Man was made in 1941, smack bang in the middle of the ‘monster period’ in Hollywood. Films such as The Mummy, Bride of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man all became hits, and changed the way cinema horror was produced. Many of these films still have a huge cult following among fans of the horror genre, and with good reason. This is the original werewolf film, and in many people’s opinion it is still the best.

After finding out that his elder brother has died, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney) returns to his home in Wales after an 18 year absence in the United States. His father (Claude Rains) insists that he stay and take his rightful place as heir to the Talbot estate. Larry meets a beautiful local woman by the name of Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers), and instantly falls for her.

That night Gwen, Larry and Gwen’s friend Jenny (Fay Helm) decide to go to some gypsies to have their fortunes told. Gwen and Larry leave Jenny to have her palm read by a gypsy man by the name of Bela (Bela Lugosi), but things go awry when Bela seems horrified by something he sees when reading Jenny’s palm. She runs away, but tragedy strikes when she is attacked and killed by a wolf. Larry tries to help, and he eventually kills the wolf, but not before he is also bitten.

"Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms, and the autumn moon is bright."

The next morning Larry is shocked to learn that the wolf that he killed actually turned out to be Bela the gypsy. He goes through many stages of denial and confusion, but ultimately he can’t deny that he is now under the curse of the werewolf. The film really is quite sad in many aspects; Larry is a nice and very likeable character, and it is heartbreaking to see him changed into this beast. The blossoming romance between Gwen and Larry is nipped in the bud because of his illness. And the ultimate sadness: Larry is killed by his own father.

The film was written by Curt Siodmak, a man renowned for this many monster films. He wrote the 1943 horror film Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. where Lon Chaney returns as the Wolf Man and takes on Frankenstein. Wonderful stuff, and Siodmak creates a very nice screenplay for The Wolf Man. There were in fact five movies featuring Lon Chaney as the Wolf Man, and in most of the films he meets up with some other monster, such as Dracula and Frankenstein.

The cast is like a role call of famous horror movie stars of that era. The only one missing is Boris Karloff, who the role was actually written for in its early stages. Lon Chaney is truly great as the tormented Larry Talbot/The Wolf Man. He shows great skill in the role, particularly in the second half of the film where he falls into a spiral of despair. Equally as good is Claude Rains in his role as Larry’s father. Another fine performance is by Maria Ouspenskaya, who plays Bela’s mother. Probably the only weak link in the cast is Doris Lloyd who plays Jenny’s mother. She just seems a little unconvincing, but is still acceptable.

The video transfer is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (full frame) and is thus not 16x9 enhanced. The restoration work that has been done by the Universal team is very, very nice. I was taken aback by the lack of grain and large film artefacts. Of course there are small film artefacts running through the entire movie, any film from the early 1940s will be impossible to clean up entirely, but the lack of large and really irritating splotches and dirt is fantastic.

Shadow detail is another very strong point with the transfer. When watching the trailer supplied in the extras section (which has only had very minimal restoration work done on it – maybe none at all), the difference between that and the feature is startling. It is much easier to pick up details in the film, which is very much appreciated since many scenes are shot in the night.

Of course for a film of this age there are bound to be troubles that can’t be corrected. From time to time there is a loss of vertical stability; the picture jumps around the screen a little. This is relatively rare, but it is quite noticeable when it happens. Also, at times the picture loses its sharpness and focus. Normally it only lasts for a few seconds, and doesn’t disrupt the film overly.

The disc is single sided and dual layered, with the layer change occurring near the end of the film at 52:12. It is placed in a good spot at a change of scene where the film fades to black and is hardly noticeable. There are plenty of subtitles available, and the English ones, though slightly abridged in some cases, are mostly accurate.

The one soundtrack offered on the disc is in English and is Dolby Digital mono. Like the video, Universal have done a good job with the sound transfer. Thankfully the loud hiss that is noticeable with most films of this vintage has been totally removed, as has all semblance of audio dropouts and background noise.

There are no problems with audio synch. There is no distortion at all throughout the film, even the screams and shouts come through nice and smooth. The subwoofer is occasionally roused to support the score. The original score is set by Charles Previn, Hans Salter and Frank Skinner. It is suitably moody and mysterious, and complements the feature well. The score has been re-orchestrated for better effect, but it is very hard (if not impossible) to tell that it is not the original.

The dialogue is easy to understand at all times.

Overall, the remastering of the sound is very impressive.

This is a pleasant surprise: a nice set of extras on an older film.

Monster By Moonlight - Presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and a full frame aspect ratio, this documentary made for the DVD runs for a little over 30 minutes. It has quite a broad scope, and includes a lot of information about the makeup, cast and crew as well as an interview with the screenwriter Curt Siodmak. There is a lot of discussion about the other monster movies of the era, and the last ten minutes is devoted to the other four movies featuring the Wolf Man. Well worth watching.

Feature Commentary with Tom Weaver - Tom Weaver is a film historian and author, and this feature length commentary is quite a good one. He reveals a lot of information about the cast and crew, and the technical aspects of the film. He also makes a few comments about some bloopers and plot holes that are quite amusing.

The Wolf Man Archives - A set of stills that includes movie posters, shots from the film and the cast.

Theatrical Trailer - The original theatrical trailer, this seems to have had no restoration attention paid to it. It is interesting to see how different it is to the remastered film though.

The Wolf Man is a classic of the Hollywood monsters era. Even today it is revered as one of the films that helped reinvent the way horror films were produced. The acting is first-class, the script is good and the story is good. Hard to pick a fault really.

Both the video and audio transfer has been well restored by Universal, and is much better than one would expect from a film of this vintage. The extras are a nice addition to the package and are very interesting. If you are a horror fan, or just enjoy seeing one of the founding films of a genre, you will definitely enjoy this one.