A Field Guide to Cinematic Wolf Men

There are dozens of werewolf movies, but only a select few center the character who popularized the Wolf Man as part of the Universal Monsters pantheon. With Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man—a Universal Monsters riff that re-names Lawrence “Larry” Talbot to Blake as part of its rebooted storyline—arriving this week, we’re looking back at all the prominent Wolf Men past.

(If you’re more of a vampire fan, io9’s also got a “Field Guide to Cinematic Draculas” from a few years back to sink your teeth into).

The Wolf Man (1941)

He followed the Universal Monsters’ now-classic takes on Dracula, Frankenstein, the Bride of Frankenstein, and the Invisible Man into theaters, but Lon Chaney Jr. makes an indelible impression as Larry Talbot, a fish out of water in his ancestral Wales home even before his fateful encounter with a very particular kind of wolf. 

Some excellent subtext is afoot here: Claude Raines, star of The Invisible Man, plays Larry’s estranged father, and Bela Lugosi, Count Dracula himself, plays the werewolf (also named Bela) that creates our Wolf Man. The Wolf Man is, of course, now the cultural touchstone for every werewolf movie that followed, from Chaney’s memorable transformation scene to the script’s incorporation of monster lore. That includes the power of silver and the “wolfbane” poem that foregrounds the idea that “even a man who is pure in heart” can fall victim to the werewolf curse.

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)

Lon Chaney Jr. returns to star, and Curt Siodmak once again scripts, in this follow-up to The Wolf Man that picks back up with Larry Talbot (retconning his tragic on-screen death at the end of that film by opening with his full moon-enabled revival). Chaney’s co-star is also, once again, Bela Lugosi, but this time around he dons tons of make-up to play Frankenstein’s monster.

Now fully aware of his creature status, Larry must not only grapple with being a werewolf, but also the fact that the authorities don’t think werewolves are real—inconveniences that drive him to seek out Dr. Frankenstein, or at least the weird-science notes he left behind, to find a cure. He finds instead the frozen-in-ice monster, who proves hard to handle once he’s brought back to undead life. Universal’s first foray into monster crossovers didn’t hit with critics at the time, but it’s since become a fan favorite, not the least because of a boozy, toe-tapping musical number when the characters are convinced to attend a nearby “Festival of the New Wine.” Both monsters perish at the end of act three… or do they?

House of Frankenstein (1944) 

A Curt Siodmak story about a mad scientist (played by Boris Karloff) with a Dr. Frankenstein-esque plan to craft a new body for his hunchbacked assistant forms the basis for this crossover, which also features Chaney as the Wolf Man, John Carradine as Count Dracula, and Glenn Strange as Frankenstein’s monster. Things are set in motion by an unbelievable sequence of events (a prison escape with the help of an earthquake; a vampire revival after springing his corpse from a traveling sideshow… and then a pretty swift re-death by sunlight), and Wolf Man and the Monster enter the story when they’re revived from their own frozen tombs.

Despite his circumstances, Larry retains enough animal magnetism to stir romantic feelings in a local woman, though it doesn’t end well for either of them, with the Wolf Man succumbing to silver bullets. Or does he?

House of Dracula (1945)

The gang’s all here (Chaney as the Wolf Man; Carradine as Dracula; Strange as the Monster) again, though this time around both the Wolf Man and Dracula descend on an eccentric scientist’s castle lair hoping to cure their monstrous ailments. Frankenstein’s monster, who seemingly perished in quicksand with House of Frankenstein’s mad doctor, is brought back to life (again) to bring more chaos to the proceedings.

While much of House of Dracula revolves around vampires—never trust Dracula, especially when blood transfusions are underway—it is notable that Larry is actually cured in this one thanks to a brain operation that prevents him from transforming into his werewolf form. Dracula dies, the mad scientist dies, the Monster dies… but Larry Talbot lives, heroically at that!

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

At last, Universal realized what its monster movies were missing all this time: jokes and gags! Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was such a hit—reviving the waning Universal Monsters genre in the process—the comedy duo embarked on a subsequent run of similarly titled movies, encountering the Mummy, the Invisible Man, and others. But it’s hard to beat the hijinks here, which have Larry Talbot (Chaney, of course) as a key figure on the periphery of a story about Dracula’s (Bela Lugosi) attempts to rustle up a new brain for Frankenstein’s monster (Glenn Strange). Larry (in wolf form) and the Count (in bat form) seemingly die at the end, but we all know that means nothing in the ever-revolving creature-feature circle of life.

Transylvania 6-5000 (1985)

Mountain-sized actor Donald Gibb (Revenge of the Nerds) plays “Larry the Wolfman” in this goofy comedy starring Jeff Goldblum and Ed Begley Jr. as tabloid reporters sent to Transylvania to investigate an apparent sighting of… Frankenstein’s monster? They find, of course, the scoop motherlode, uncovering a werewolf, a vampire, a swamp thing, and a shady doctor who just might have crafted a monster made of human body parts. Critic Leonard Maltin famously gave the tepidly received Transylvania 6-5000 a one-word review (“Stinks!”), but the cast is ridiculous enough to garner at least some curiosity; in addition to the leads, it features Geena Davis, Carol Kane, Norman Fell, a pre-scandal Jeffrey Jones, and a pre-Seinfeld (and pre-his own scandal) Michael Richards.

The Monster Squad (1987)

While not a canon entry in the Universal Monsters pantheon—for one thing, Fred Dekker’s horror comedy was not made by Universal—this cult favorite features a group of monster-obsessed kids who re-think their idol worship when the Universal Monsters come to life in their neighborhood and cause near-apocalyptic troubles. Frankenstein’s monster is the only cool guy in the bunch, but it’s the hairiest menace among them that gives rise to The Monster Squad’s most quotable line: “Wolfman’s got nards!”

Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman (2000)

After they met Frankenstein (and his monster) in 1999, the animated critters returned for more Universal Monster mashing in 2000, with veteran voice actor Maurice LaMarche (Futurama, Pinky and the Brain, The Real Ghostbusters) co-starring as Lawrence Talbot—the new next-door neighbor to Alvin, Simon, Theodore, and Dave. Turns out Mr. Talbot has a secret (can you guess what it is?), but amid the mild-mannered frights Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman does present a novel cure for werewolf-ism: if one werewolf bites another werewolf, the effect reverses the curse in both victims.

Van Helsing (2004)

Director Stephen Sommers created cinematic delight with Brendan Fraser’s Mummy movies, but unfortunately could not conjure the same mojo in this similarly big-budget, effects-laden adventure starring Hugh Jackman as the legendary vampire hunter. There’s not really a “Wolf Man” character—most of the drama revolves around Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh), his nefarious brides, and his even more nefarious Frankenstein’s monster-adjacent world-domination scheme. 

But Van Helsing is very much cut from the Universal Monsters cloth. It tosses in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and weaves in a werewolf plot involving the afflicted brother of Kate Beckinsale’s character, who briefly passes the curse to Van Helsing… which turns out to be the thing that’s needed to defeat Dracula, so everybody wins?

House of the Wolf Man (2009)

I actually hadn’t heard of House of the Wolf Man before I started compiling this Wolf Man list, but the fact that this indie film shot in black-and-white stars Ron Chaney—Lon Chaney Jr.’s grandson—makes it something of a curiosity. He doesn’t play the Wolf Man, though; he plays a mad scientist who turns various familiar monsters (including, yes, a werewolf) on greedy would-be inheritors of his fortune.

The Wolfman (2010)

Joe Johnston (Captain America: The First Avenger, The Rocketeer, Jurassic Park III) directed this oft-forgotten Universal release that still managed to garner a Best Makeup Oscar for Rick Baker (who won the very first award given in that category for 1981’s An American Werewolf in London) and collaborator Dave Elsey.

So the make-up is great! The rest, unfortunately for a cast that includes Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, and Hugo Weaving, is not, though it is more or less a remake of the 1941 original.

Wolf Man (2025)

Leigh Whannell’s Invisible Man (2020) gave new hope to Universal’s dreams of recapturing its monster-movie mantle, updating the original film’s story with genuine scares and timely themes. Will his Wolf Man, starring Christopher Abbott as a non-Larry Talbot take on the title character, and Julia Garner as the man-wolf’s understandably freaked out estranged wife, generate similar success? It arrives this Friday, January 17, to make audiences howl… hopefully in delight.

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