Know Your Wolfmen

The history of the genre goes back slightly farther than Michael J Fox playing fuzzy basketball

Sure, Benecio Del Toro wins the award for actor playing a werewolf who already most naturally looks like a werewolf. But until Del Toro wracks up four more lupine sequels, history’s most iconic wolfman will continue to be Lon Chaney Jr.

So here’s your week’s horror movie history lesson: Along with Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, Chaney was one of the kings of Universal studio’s string of iconic monster movies. He starred in the original 1941 Wolf Man, which spawned this weekend’s Del Toro remake, and then re-wolfed in four follow-up films. (He’s also the only actor to play, in various films, all of Universal’s most iconic monsters: the Wolf Man, the mummy, Frankenstein’s monster and Dracula. Sorry you don’t make the iconic cut, Creature from the Black Lagoon.)

To check out Chaney’s wolf work, pick up:

The Wolf Man A noble nobleman gets bitten by a werewolf and things go downhill from there.

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man A full moon revives the corpse of Wolf Man—making him, we guess, Zombie Wolf Man—who ends up scuffling with Frankenstein.

House of Frankenstein A mad scientist revives not only Frankenstein and the Wolf Man, but Dracula as well!

House of Dracula Dracula, Frankenstein, etc, etc, except this time the Wolf Man finds a cure for his wolf-itis.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein The Wolf Man saves Costello from having Dracula transplant his brain into the head of Frankenstein’s monster. Which was nice of him. Good Wolf Man.

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