Warner Bros. Pictures

Of course, I am in no way, shape or form trying to disparage Lon Chaney’s work as the wolf man, but a lot of the old-timey have not seemed to age well over time. They obviously didn’t have computers to render the finalized werewolf believable instead of laughable, which is where the Alfonso Cauron 2004 film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban comes in. 

This third film in the Wizarding World franchise sees Harry Potter being haunted by a newly-escaped prisoner named Sirius Black, who has been said to have aided Lord Voldemort in the killing of Potter’s parents. 

The main plot of the film isn’t what I’m here to talk about, though. I’m here to talk about one scene, in particular, where the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher Remus Lupin turns into a werewolf after forgetting to take his potion to prevent the incident from occurring. 

In the course of the scene, Lupin is ready to attack and kill Harry, his friends and Professor Snape, until Black transforms into his dog disguise and takes on the hairy brute. 

This is all to say that this is one of the most intense sequences in the Harry Potter series. It takes the series into a darker turn for fans and audiences. It is also a milestone in the horror genre and, more specifically, a werewolf movie.

I have never seen a werewolf film honor its horror roots with such amazing CGI and a sympathetic character. This third entry in the series is something that many werewolf films don’t truly understand. It harbors a sympathetic victim of this werewolf curse. Other films before and after it have given generic characters to their horror pictures. They fail to connect with audiences and the characters come across as flaccid and lifeless that fail to resonate anything with audiences. 

Harry Potter’s third movie combines the dark macabre with a touch of comedy that is sorely missed from previous wolf movies. I am so happy that I grew up with this gem.