Curt Siodmak

The horror is that Larry is still responsible for what that thing does.

Then there's the screenwriter Curt Siodmak, whose contribution to werewolf mythology is difficult to overstate.

The movie gives us the pentagram as a mark of impending death, silver as the weapon that can kill the werewolf, the transforming curse, and of course, the famous poem: "Even a man who is pure at heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright." And if you're wondering which ancient European manuscript that comes from, don't bother looking.

Siodmak wrote it himself, and that's one of my favorite things about The Wolf Man.

It presents its mythology with such confidence that generations of audiences simply accepted it, and eventually, enough movies repeated these ideas that they've stopped feeling like something a screenwriter came up with and starts feeling like rules we've always known.

Well, the movie surrounds all of this with this wonderful Universal Gothic atmosphere.

And that's how he spelled his last name.

It was written by Kurt Siodmak, who invented a lot of the lore that is now considered canon for werewolves, including the famous poem, which we'll get into a little bit.

The movie was released December 9, 1941 in the United States, just two days after a date that will It was three days later in December 12th in the United Kingdom.

It does run 70 minutes, same as a minute shorter than the original Frankenstein, or the universal Frankenstein.

I think W- Black Moon is, like, a voodoo picture.

All right, and the screenplay on this one is, uh, once more the work of Curt Siodmak, who lived 1902 through the year 2000.

Uh, we discussed him previously on Weird Houses.

He wrote, uh, the screenplay for 1946's The Beast With Five Fingers, uh, as well as another movie.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, directed by George Waggner, written by Curt, uh, Siodmak.

Um, music by Hans J. Salter, Frank Skinner, Charles Previn.

Um, and cast is starring Lon Chaney Jr.