by Michael Lyons
"What if someone you loved became someone else?"
So declares the trailer for the new film Wolf Man, the latest horror film from Blumhouse, the production company behind some of the most recent scary blockbusters, including 2020's The Invisible Man, directed by Leigh Whannell, who helms Wolf Man, as well.
The film is, of course, the latest incarnation of one of the most iconic of the Universal Monsters, and the release of Wolf Man this weekend is the perfect opportunity to look back at the howlingly-good star's appearances in film and TV through the years.
It all started in 1941 with the original, The Wolf Man, starring Lon Chaney, Jr. in the title role of Larry Talbot, who finds he is cursed to become a werewolf during a full moon. With its "time-lapse" special effects (quaint, sure, but still effective) and compelling direction in glorious black and white by George Waggner, it's no wonder the film was a hit, and audiences couldn't get enough of this tormented monstrously good monster.
Chaney would return to play the Wolfman for Universal four more times in 1943's Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945), as well as 1948's Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, one of the best horror-comedies ever, with an amazing "team up" of all the Universal Monsters.
In the '60s and '70s, there was a proliferation of Wolf Men on TV, albeit none as terrifying as seen on film. One could make the case that little Eddie (Butch Patrick) on The Munsters was a descendant not of his dad, Herman (Fred Gwynn), but of Lawrence Talbot himself.
Saturday morning also had its share of Wolf Men. Filmation's Groovie Goolies brought the monsters into the era and included a laid-back hippie surfer werewolf named Wolfie (voiced by comedian Howard Morris).
In 1978, Ruby-Spears gave us Fangface, where the title character (Frank Welker) was a werewolf who embarked on Scooby-Doo-like mysteries with other "meddling kids."
Hanna-Barbera brought us Drak Pack in 1980, where decedents of the monsters, including Howler (William Callaway), a new generation's Wolf Man, were superheroes.
There was also a live-action, seasonal special, The Halloween That Almost Wasn't in 1979, where famed Monsters get together to save Halloween. Comedian Jack Riley, from The Bob Newhart Show, played the Wolf Man.
The 80s had plenty of werewolves on screen, from 1981's Wolfen, where the creatures are loose in New York City, to American Werewolf in London (also 1981), director John Landis' horror classic.
In 1987's The Monster Squad, a Goonies-like touch was put on the Universal Monsters, where a group of kids go up against them, including the Wolf Man, played by Jonathan Gries.
However, the next, big, major comeback for the character would come in 2010 with director Joe Johnston's The Wolfman, a big-budget remake starring Benicio Del Toro as the title character, who is bitten by a werewolf when he visits England after his brother's death. The film, which also stars Emily Blunt, Anthony Hopkins, and Hugo Weaving, has ties to the original (Del Toro's character's name is Lawrence Talbot) and impressive makeup effects that earned the film an Oscar.
And now, fifteen years later, the famous fanged creature returns this weekend with Wolf Man. Will a new generation of audiences leap at the chance to see a reboot of a franchise that's lasted over eighty years? Chances are, they'll be over the moon.
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