Wolf Man, The (1941)

I knew The Wolf Man was one of the more influential Universal horror flicks; I didn't realize how influential. As Wikipedia tells it:

It was The Wolf Man that introduced the concepts of werewolves being vulnerable to silver (in traditional folklore, it is more effective against vampires), the werewolf's forced shapeshifting under a full moon, and being marked with a pentagram (a symbol of the occult). These are considered by many as part of the original folklore of the werewolf, even though they were created for the film. Unlike the werewolves of legend, which resemble true wolves, the Universal Wolf Man was an extension of the previous 1935 Werewolf of London in which both primary characters are a hybrid creature unlike the traditional interpretation. The Wolf Man stood erect like a human, but had the fur, teeth and claws and savage impulses of a wolf.

Artistically, not in the same league as James Whale's Frankenstein or Invisible Man, but a solid entry -- a blockbuster of yesteryear.