NO TRESPASSING. THERE IS NOTHING HERE WORTH DYING FOR.
FIRST REVIEW
In Wolf Man, Blake (Christopher Abbott), Charlotte (Julia Garner), and Ginger (Matilda Firth) are living in NYC. Blake is a failed writer-turned-stay-at-home dad. He struggles with some (seemingly minor) anger issues he picked up from his father’s parenting style. Charlotte is a workaholic who has started to slowly drift apart from Blake. Ginger is cute, precocious, and absolutely adores her father.
On a trip to Blake’s home state of Oregon to pick up his recently deceased father’s belongings, their moving truck is attacked by something, causing it to crash. During the escape, Blake is scratched/nicked by the beast. Once barricaded inside dear old dead dad’s farmhouse, Blake slowly starts to succumb to a grisly and horrifying set of symptoms. While he struggles to fight off the spreading infection, the thing from earlier stalks the family around the property.
Truly the Halloween Ends of werewolf movies. Wolf Man makes quite a few bold, ballsy choices that are going to alienate or possibly even piss off audience members. Personally, I dug it. It’s at the very least unlike any werewolf movie you’ve ever seen or likely will ever see in the future.
Leigh Whannell had two clear goals with Wolf Man: Strip the werewolf mythos down to its absolute bare essentials, and make a different werewolf movie that will stand apart from the crowd. The cinematography (Stefan Duscio), score (Benjamin Wallfisch, seriously keep your eyes on this man. He’s been on my radar ever since A Cure For Wellness), and sound design (P.K. Hooker) are superb. The location of an aging, desolate farmhouse might owe something to Jordan Peele’s Nope, but it’s still a fantastic and creepy setting that works wonders for the movie.
The decision to cast Christopher Abbott as Blake/our Wolf Man was a wise one. He puts 110% of himself into the character. I’ve seen Christopher Abbott in many films, but I’ve never seen him quite like this. He fully embodies the role, bringing a physicality to it that can be unsettling or scary. There are moments where he looks not unlike Lon Cheney in The Phantom of the Opera. He’s also got the canine mannerisms down to a T. It’s a transformative performance. I’d say Christopher Abbott as Blake deserves the title of Icon.
Julia Garner grows into her role as the film progresses. She sells the terror of watching the one you love slowly turn into something unrecognizable exceedingly well. You buy it. Matilda Firth does well as Ginger. She doesn’t leave as much of an impression as either Abbott or Garner do, though.
What makes this Wolf Man movie so unique is the decision to re-imagine the werewolf mythos by blending it with the legends of “Wild Men” that live in the forest (think Wrong Turn). Instead of the Wolf Man being a Gypsie folk tale, it’s now become a Native American legend they call “The Face of the Wolf” (think of something akin to the Wendigo). Gone are silver bullets, Wolfsbane, and full moons. There is nothing supernatural about this Wolf Man.
The Wolf Man design is also quite different from the typical one we get in most werewolf films, and 90-95% of the movie is Blake’s transformation. His transformation scenes are grotesque, stomach-churning, scary, and even a bit trippy. There’s a definite emphasis on body horror here (think David Cronenberg’s The Fly).
There are still some lupine features to this Wolf Man, but for the most part he looks more Cro-Magnon than Werewolf (think Caveman William Hurt at the end of Altered States, but with far less hair on his head). It appears to be mostly practical and is absolutely the most unique werewolf/Wolf Man I’ve seen, but it’s also one of my least favorite designs. I can see and appreciate what they were going for, even if the end result likely won’t please most.
The screenplay by Leigh Whannell and Corbett Tuck is serviceable. The biggest issue is the foreshadowing during the first act is way too obvious, and characters don’t always talk like real people. Characters sometimes say exactly what they’re feeling or thinking, which can be annoying and leads to occasional stilted dialogue. There are also some plot holes throughout. Everything doesn’t quite come full circle by the end despite Whannell and co.’s best efforts.
There’s also a wild and weird choice to include very brief moments of Wolf Man vision and hearing, so we experience the world in the way Blake does. These moments are very trippy and hallucinatory. It’s interesting, but ultimately doesn’t add much to the movie except some brief psychedelic visuals.
Wolf Man changes a lot of what we know about werewolf films, while still retaining the classic tragic elements these films often share. The result is a Wolf Man/werewolf movie so different from what came before that you could argue as to if it’s really a werewolf/Wolf Man movie at all (that’s where the core tragedy and themes come into play).
Wolf Man definitely won’t be to everyone’s tastes. Most are likely going in expecting to see, you know, a werewolf. You never really get that here. Wolf Man is wildly different. It’s also really damned scary and tense a good deal of the time. You can tell Leigh Whannell really tried here, he definitely wasn’t sleeping at the wheel.
Wolf Man makes many deliberately different choices, and the results will undoubtedly vary for each viewer. Those open to something new or those who walk in with an open mind might find something to enjoy here. This isn’t your classic Wolf Man/ werewolf movie , but that’s ok. For myself, I really appreciate the attempt to make good on the promise of a unique take on the Wolf Man/ Werewolf film. In the end, some will howl at the moon in anger, while others will wag their tails.
While flawed in some regards, what Wolf Man gets right, it really gets right. There was a lot I loved, and a good deal I didn’t. Wolf Man is interesting, intriguing, tense, freaky, and very scary. It mostly succeeds at what it sets out to do, even if what it sets out to do is make a very different werewolf movie, which will undoubtedly divide audiences.
Universal’s new approach towards re-imagining/re-interpreting their classic monsters continues to intrigue and surprise. I can’t speak for everyone, but after The Invisible Man and Wolf Man, I’m all in on these new classic Universal Monsters. As for Wolf Man on it’s own, I think, given enough time, it might just end up infecting you too…if you let it.
SECOND REVIEW
If you are going in expecting a "werewolf" movie, you're going to be sorely disappointed. Wolf Man is a radical departure from anything we've seen before or will likely see again from a werewolf/ Wolf Man movie (One example: Most of this film is the transformation scene, think David Cronenberg's The Fly). This Wolf Man is going to be about as divisive as Halloween Ends was, if not more so.
The cinematography, sound design, and score are superb. Christopher Abbott puts on a true transformative, physical performance as Blake/ Wolf Man. He's easily one of the best things about this film. The choice to set the majority of the film at a desolate farmhouse was a wise one as well. The atmosphere is consistently rich, thick, and tense.
The storytelling can be very blunt, the foreshadowing during the first act is obvious, and not all the dots connect by the end (There are plot holes left unfilled and questions unanswered). Characters don't always talk in realistic ways either. Those expecting or wanting some supernatural elements are bound to leave unhappy. Gone are Wolfsbane, full moons, silver bullets, and Gypsy curses.
Leigh Whannell strips the werewolf/Wolf Man mythos down to it's absolute bare essentials, reimagining and re-interpreting it in the process. It still retains many of the classic tragic elements we've come to associate with the werewolf film, making this one familiar yet exceedingly different. Whannell uses the metaphor of a Wolf Man to tell a tale involving generational trauma, parenthood, and sins of the father (It's not unlike The Shining novel, in as much as the protagonists of both are struggling fathers who are desperately trying not to repeat the mistakes of their parents).
This latest version of Wolf Man gets a lot right, while still fumbling the ball in some critical areas. It's not great, but it's also not terrible. It's consistently interesting, intriguing, tense, and scary. Those open to something new or those who walk in with an open mind might find something to enjoy here, while anyone looking for something closer to the classic Wolf Man film will likely leave disappointed.
FINAL REVIEW
Ok, upon a serious re-watch I admire the hell out of what they are attempting to do here. I love how aggressively different it is. I love the setting, the atmosphere, how terrifyingly alone our characters are. I love that Blake is very prepared for situations like this thanks to his dad, but is seriously compromised due to his infection. The sound design is tops. The score shines in moments.
Unfortunately, the Wolf Man design is disappointing. The only times it looks good is on Daddy Wolf Man and on Blake Wolf Man during his final interaction with family. The screenplay is of shockingly poor quality. The weak link would appear to be Corbett Tuck, Whannell’s wife, whom co-writes with her husband here. This is her first writing credit, but even with Whannell helping there is very little of quality in dialogue, screenplay, and plot development.
There are so many moments that are too blunt and on-the-nose, where the film stops and just explains things directly to the audience. Other moments are saccharine enough to make you ill, like every time Ginger reads Blake’s mind, for example. The individual parts alone are interesting and hold potential, but the end product they add up to disappoints. The main saving graces are Abbott’s transformative performance as Blake, the atmosphere, the setting, and the sound design.
3 STARS
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