206 - The Wolf Man

    A man returns to his family home in Wales, where he is bitten by a wolf man, and turns into one himself.
    I've often heard that this is one of the lesser Universal monster movies.  I think it's probably the best of them.  As a monster, the wolf man only represents a loss of control.  This contrasts with most of the other Universal monsters; Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Mummy, the Creature, and the Phantom.  The main difference with this movie is how much time is devoted to exploring the man who becomes the wolf man.  This is where the difference in these movies is felt.
    We get a lot more character development during the setup.  Larry meets a girl that he's interested in, Gwen, and we see his efforts to woo her.  This is fantastic, partly because of the fun of it, but mostly because it's handled in a way that a modern movie would never attempt.  He's a little creepy, but he keeps on mixing it with a bit of charm.  It's very nice to see this kind of sequence.
    There isn't that much focus on the monster.  In fact, as a monster, he doesn't seem especially wolf-like.  He's mostly just a very hairy guy who stalks around a bit.
    I've watched most of these Universal movies.  I like them, and they're interesting.  But they always drag a bit during the second half.
     I do have to credit Universal with casting very attractive leading ladies.  This Gwen is very cute.