209. 31 Days of Halloween '25: THE WOLF MAN (1941) dir. George Waggner

My favorite Universal Monster movie is 1941's THE WOLF MAN, starring Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot. Larry returns home after 18 years to bury his brother and reconnect with his father, Sir John Talbot (Claude Rains, who also played the Invisible Man). He hits on the - engaged - neighbor (Evelyn Ankers), goes out with her and her chapero-I mean, friend, to get their fortunes told at the gypsy carnival in the forest. The friend's attacked by a wolf. Larry beats the life out of it with his silver-tipped cane but is bitten in the process. Curse successfully transferred.It's in watching Larry's mental deterioration, his anxiety regarding the nights he can't remember and the coincident murders at the places he's been, that makes THE WOLF MAN so fascinating. It's a mental breakdown accented by literal fog and shadows, witnessing a guy desperate to break an evil, a tragedy that's befallen him and his loves.It's something that only grows more poignant with time, especially in the wake of Leigh Whannell's remake, which turns the curse into something parental and generational. We're all dealing with the remnants of shit that, whether purposefully or not, we've made attempts to avoid or block. Who's brave enough to face that darkness head-on (apply directly to the forehead)?---Follow The Movies on Instagram & LetterboxdThrow a couple dollars in the tip jar!