Villavicencio- Wolf Man vs. Wolfman

Written by Curt Siodmak and directed by George Waggner, the 1941 film “The Wolf Man” tells the story of a cursed man who regrettably transforms into a murderous werewolf at the arrival of a full moon.

Unlike many classic remakes, Director Joe Johnston’s 2010 version, “The Wolfman,” manages to preserve the original film’s plot rather accurately. Despite obvious differences such as character details and running time, “The Wolfman” remains relatively true to the initial story.

One of the most notable, and obvious differences, however, could be the transformation from human to monster. Although both films provide decent depictions (given the technology available at the time), I believe the original version to be more innovative as a whole.

To begin with, “The Wolf Man” stalls transformation until about 40 minutes into the film. This approach allows not only for a better understanding of character relationships, but also for the building of suspense. When Lon Chaney finally transforms into the wolf man, one can only see the changes in small portions, such as the shot featuring solely the man’s feet as they grow long, thick strands of hair. (Curious as to how this was accomplished, I found that a slow process of photograph overlapping featuring different stages of makeup was used to illustrate a smooth change.)

In the 2010 film, CGI effects allowed for an excessively gruesome transformation, as the characters fingers and toes vividly break and mutate into animal limbs, cheekbones protrude violently from each side of the face, and carnivorous pointy teeth grow into place. The changes of each body part are significantly more details compared to the older film; yet, I believe the technique falls comparatively short to other films of this time.

Overall, the way in which the 1940 film managed to create a slow, mysterious change from man to monster is more impressive given the great time, effort, and manual work required for its success.

Wolfman 2010 Trailer