By Michaele Jordan: I know. It’s November. But I’m not tired of the Halloween horror fest yet! So last night we watched The Wolfman. ‘Which one?” you may ask.  Because there are a lot of them. They are everywhere. They started out in ancient times. In Greek mythology there is a story of an Arcadian King called Lycaon who tested Zeus by serving him a dish of his slaughtered and dismembered son, to see if Zeus was really all-knowing. As punishment for his trickery, Zeus transformed Lycaon into a wolf. In more modern times there’s even a comic book. (I’ve never read the comic book.)

We tend to think of the movies as starting with the classic Universal series of five horror films, starring the incomparable Lon Chaney. But those weren’t the first. That honor goes to a long-lost silent film from 1913. It was only 18 minutes in length, and was unfortunately destroyed by a fire in 1924. The first surviving version was made in 1935 as The Werewolf of London, directed by Stuart Walker and starring Henry Hull as Dr. Wilfrid  Glendon. (The Talbot name was still years in the future.) Since it was the first, the content had not yet been codified. Most notably, it doesn’t start with a wolf.

Dr. Wilfred Glendon, a famous botanist, journeys to Tibet in search of a rare plant, said to be nourished by moonlight rather than sunlight. While there, he is attacked by “a feral humanoid creature” (as Wikipedia puts it). This does not stop him from acquiring the plant, which he takes home, and puts under a grow-light that simulates moonlight instead of sunlight. The plant is said to be an antidote for “lycanthrophobia” – which was presumably a problem in Tibet.

Dr. Glendon soon finds fur growing on his hand. He dabs at it with some sap from the mysterious flower and, sure enough, the hairiness clears from his hand. Nonetheless, he remains skeptical when warned that werewolves cannot turn back until they have killed someone, and that they are drawn to kill those they love. This proves true, and he is shot while chasing his wife around the house.

Obviously, many of these elements had been dispensed with by 1941 when Lon Chaney took (and immortalized!) the role. From there, sequels and reworkings multiplied. He seems to have started a trend. Wikipedia does not list them all, merely remarks the best 15 are:

‘Teen Wolf: The Movie’ (2023	‘Ginger Snaps’ (2000)	‘Cursed’ (2005)
‘Twilight’ (2008)	‘The Wolfman’ (2010)	‘Blood and Chocolate’ (2007)
‘Werewolves Within’ (2021)	‘The Howling’ (1981)	‘When Animals Dream’ (2014)
‘Silver Bullet’ (1985)	‘Wolves’ (2014)	‘Late Phases’ (2014)
‘Wer’ (2013)	‘Bad Moon’ (1996)	‘Dog Soldiers’ (2002)

I blush to admit that I have not seen them all. (A couple of them, I’ve never even heard of before.) But I have to say that the 2010 version (The Wolfman) is the best I know, despite the bad press it received (not to mention the absence of Lon Chaney).

It was directed by Joe Johnston, from a screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self. It was produced by Benicio del Toro – who had so much faith in the project that he starred in it himself. Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving also starred. This superb cast is one of the reasons this film is so good.

The story is constructed with more care than your average horror film knock-off. I’m not saying that it is significantly changed, but it is detailed. It starts, as it so often does, with the protagonist returning to his family home, where he is greeted by his father, who still lives there. Usually that’s just a given. But here we see it noted that the reason he wasn’t already home, or at least in close contact, was that he was an actor working in America.

Does that matter? No. But it makes us feel we know the character better. And why does he come home? Because his brother’s fiancée has asked him to help find his missing brother. So we know that he is already in a troubled state before he arrives. Again, does that matter? No. It’s just a minor detail. But it drives us to empathize with the character, before we even meet him.

There are no surprises in the story. We have all seen various versions of it many times. Lawrence Talbot comes home to mist and antique architecture. He gets bitten, and becomes a werewolf. It does not end well. There is really no point in trying to change or apologize for any of that. But it’s very well told. The characters are compelling. We see their confusion and concern. There is no bit part so small that the actor playing it does not make it convincing,

Obviously, I cannot talk about a wolfman movie without mentioning the makeup and special effects. These were done by Rick Baker (supervised by Dave Elsey). Mr. Baker actively pursued the position because he had loved the older film (along with the Frankenstein movie) so much as a child that it inspired him to pursue the imagery as a career. Clearly, he never lost that youthful fascination. The specials were superb. He won an Academy award for them. Later he worried that the award was for the CGI, not his effects.

This film faced numerous obstacles to production. It cost a great deal more to make than was budgeted. It was panned in the reviews. It did poorly in the box office. It deserved better. It’s an excellent film, a classic of its kind. I hope the long-term afterlife is kind to it.