Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine What would you consider the seminal Wolfman work?

Lets face it, wolfy comes in third to the big two, Vampires and Frankenstein's monster. Both were immortalized in literature works that create or transcend their literary basis.

Shelley created a work that has become basis for many a different interpretation,and Stoker's Dracula set the stage for everything to follow. Even (shudder) glittery vampires.

But, as far as I can tell, the single greatest wolfman story told is An American Werewolf in London. A movie. Not a work of litertature. And I know that it wasn't even close to being the first werewolf telling in movies or tv. Certainly not comics.

But, what would be the masterwork that cemented the werewolves as a part of the big three?

Lon Chaney Jr, Adolf Hitler and a bit of timing would be my answer to what cemented Werewolf into the big three.

I didn't even know Marv had kids

Robert Lois Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

The story of the descent of a man of good standing through bestial transformation.

The recurrence is important as Jeckyll knows that it's something he can't put off much like the arrival of a full moon.

The transformation scenes in Jeckyll & Hyde could be lifted wholesale for the transformation from man to werewolf in Werewolf films.

The unleashing of another, darker personality fits in well with Werewolves in folk lore. Jeckyll feels that there's no way out of his predicament. That he feels cursed so there's an analogy to the curse of the werewolf.

Jeckyll & Hyde was a mainstay of stage and early screen. I think adaptations of it might have tailed off as films such as Werewolf of London and The Wolfman came to the fore. I don't recall too many in the late '30s and early '40s, and that may not be coincidence, as more monstrous transformations took hold.

If you have not seen the 1941 Lon Chaney “Wolfman” film, you should go and watch it. Although, by modern standards, stilted and slow-moving, as all old films appear today, there is an unexpected heart to this film that will make you realize why it is a classic.

(The Bela Lugosi Dracula, on the other hand, has not held up well over time.)

Maria Ouspenskaya, Russian acting and Dance teacher, is wonderfully, casually creepy as the old gypsy woman, Maleva.

Maleva: You killed the wolf.
Larry Talbot: Well, there's no crime in that is there?
Maleva: The wolf was Bela.
Larry Talbot: You think I don't know the difference between a wolf and a man?
Maleva: Bela turned into a wolf and you killed him. A werewolf can only be killed by a silver bullet, or a silver knife...
[looks down at Larry's walking stick]
Maleva: ...or a stick with a silver handle.
Larry Talbot: You're insane! I tell you, I killed a wolf! A PLAIN, ORDINARY WOLF!
Maleva: The wolf bit you, didn't he?
Larry Talbot: Yeah. Yeah he did!

Maleva:
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 way you walked was thorny, though no fault of your own, but as the rain enters the soil, the river enters the sea, so tears run to a predestined end. Now you will have peace for eternity."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnCh9QujjkI

Yeah, Universal is basically responsible for inventing from scratch much of what we think of as werewolf mythology, including the idea of transforming under a full moon and the vulnerability to silver bullets.

It's certainly better than the earlier Werewolf of London (1935)

On books there was The Werewolf of Paris that came out in 1931, but I've not seen it connected to either film, even though it was popular. It formed part of a later Hammer film, Curse of the Werewolf.

Probably play better than then ancient Greek form.

Dumas had a were wolf story that preceded even Jekle and Hyde, the popularity of the mythology seems well established before Hollywood. But the franchise seemed to really pick up after the Lon Chaney/Siodmak version so I put it into the seminal category as well as being most responsible for Were Wolf becoming one of the "big three."


What in my mind made The Wolf Man different and pertinent to Rick's premise and question (how did he become part of the big three), was Lon Chaney's compelling and sympathetic performance and Curt Siodmak who wrote it and the following Shelly addon that brought the monsters together. He was an Eastern European Jew who saw the writing on the wall and got while the going was good. Also, looking at a list of horror genre (in Hollywood), though Frankenstein had been out nearly a decade and there were the occasional ghoully type movies, there seems a significant up-tic in them beginning in the late 30s, hence adding to my Hitler connection.

I believe that House of Frankenstein was the first Universal film in which Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man all appeared together.

And it is possible that Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein was the last.

With a hunchback thrown in for good measure. Siodmak had a writing credit on all three:

41 The Wolf Man
43 Frankenstein Meets
44 House

The Wolf Man is easily MY favorite of the three partly because I like the story the most and mostly because of Lon Chaney Jr's portrayal of Talbot.


Mostly what lasts with me about American is the transformation. Every man to monster since has riffed that. I don't honestly recall the story. Good excuse to see if the library has a DVD.

I like The Werewolf of London.

It's a different take on the Werewolf ... more of a Mr. Hyde character ... having a speaking Werewolf was kind of intriguing compared to all the post Talbot werewolves.

There was a great Canadian film called Ginger Snaps that tied lycanthropy in with teenage puberty that was really well done.

I still like the original Howling though it's been a while.

I enjoy the werewolves in the U.K. version of Being Human.

Similarly, Hemlock Grove's done interesting stuff with the idea.

The brutal dream sequence in American Hamster in London was the part that stayed with me longest. Horror is fine. Brutality not so much Probably why I'm not much for mafia films either.

When reading this thread, my first thought was "An American Werewolf in London."

The Lon Cheney movie is probably the best and most seminal in terms of building the mythology as well as the classic Werewolf storyline: of a normal man becoming cursed, then what happens to him as he realizes his new state.

I've always preferred werewolves to vampires and Frankenstein (and/or his monster), but that's me.

I'm just disappointed we've got to this point without saying "Teddy Long". I'm sure we can all agree he's the semenal Wolfman work.

I was going to talk about Crisis on Infinite Earths too before I realized what the topic was about...

When Wolfman met Wolfman...

But did I, Vampire, Frankenstein or the Creature Commandoes appear in Crisis?

BAckground, I think.

I consider An American Werewolf in London to still be the seminal werewolf work. It has a great mix of dark humor and genuine tension and drama that the best horror movies are characterized by. Compound that with the fact that the special effects set the standard for every werewolf movie that followed.

The Anti Monitor summoned the corrupted Harbinger to his Anti Matter Fortress. Soon, his pawn would kill his positive matter counterpart.

Yet, something was amiss. Harbinger struggled not between two forces, but three. A third influence. He noticed two neat puncture wounds on her neck, just as something uncurled from the shadows of his citadel...

I, Vampire vs The Anti Monitor! The Lost Crisis Crossover.