Hi everyone,

I watched a couple of horror films over the weekend.

The first was one that I haven't seen
before, MR. WU from 1927. This stars Lon Chaney Sr. in a dual role as
the aging Mr. Wu and his grandson, and he does a great job in this.
Directed by William Nigh, who went on to direct both Lugosi and
Karloff in similar roles, it has the feel of those later films. The
central plot revolves around Wu's daughter (Renee Adoree) being
"defiled" by her relationship with a Westerner (Ralph Forbes), when Wu
was intending something very different for her. This leads to some
climactic decisions in the latter portion of the film (honestly it
does drag a little bit until that time, but the latter portion makes
the wait worth it). The best performances are from Adoree's
mother, played by Louise Dresser, who is placed in an ethically
untenable situation by Wu. There are some chilling bits in that
latter portion, including Wu showing Dresser some macabre things, most
of it in suggestion, but effective nonetheless, through some bizarre
windows. Forbes gives a dull and lifeless performance (see David
Manners in any of his horror films), and it's hard to see how the
wonderfully gorgeous Adoree would fall for him, but such things do
happen I suppose. Great cinematography and mood, and Chaney is in rare
form as Wu. The more I see Chaney, Sr. the more I like him. This
sort of film won't be to everyone's tastes, justfiably so, but I
enjoyed it quite a bit.

Next was THE WOLFMAN from 1941. This is one of the last of the iconic
Universal "monster" characters, and is played well by Lon Chaney, Jr.
as the tragic Larry Talbot who inadvertently gets caught up in the
werewolf curse. Bela Lugosi shows up in a cameo as the gypsy
(creatively named Bela-LOL) who puts the bite on Lon and gets him all
messed up. The wonderful Maria Ouspenskaya plays Bela's mother who
seeks to help out Lon a bit, or at least tell him what anguish he's in
for. Also rounding out this fine cast is Claude Rains as Lon's dad,
who just can't believe that his son is acting a bit wacky; one of my
faves, Warren William shows up in a relatively small, but excellent,
role as the family doctor; the gorgeous Evelyn Ankers as the love
interest; Ralph Bellamy as the town cop; and even the "showing up
everywhere lately" Patric Knowles as an employee of Rains who also has
designs (and who wouldn't?) on the lovely Evelyn. I loved the comic
relief scene where the dead bodies of Evelyn's friend and Bela are
found and Ralph is barking out orders to his assistant, played very
deftly by Forrester Harvey. It's almost a throwaway scene, but their
playing it for a few laughs adds to the proceedings. What I find
interesting about this one is how much of a "wolf" Lon is prior to him
getting bitten by one--him spying on Evelyn through his telescope and
coming on strong with her, I had to laugh as I'm sure the
screenwriter, Curt Siodmak, had his tongue firmly planted in cheek. :)
I know there are people who don't care much for Lon, Jr, but I like
him and
I think that this is undoubtedly his signature role, one that reflects
most of the Universal pantheon of the tragic, misunderstood homicidal
monsters. The scene where he first realizes that he's transforming
into the lupine creature of the night is a very good one. By the time
of the 40's the Universal horror series had pretty much descended into
B status, but still quite good. If you love classic horror and/or B
films, you'll love this, but even if you don't, you should give it a
go for the fine cast.

Mark