WOLF MAN REVIEW

“The amount of tension and unease that permeates the film more than makes up for the lack of many outright jump scares.”

If you read my Top 25 Most Anticipated, you knew that Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man was fairly high up on that list. That’s because Whannell has really transformed himself (ha ha) into a formidable horror filmmaker who has regularly delivered, whether he’s working from an original idea (like the underrated Upgrade) or giving new meaning to old classics, as is the case with Wolf Man.

This new take on a Universal horror classic begins with a prologue involving a man out hunting with his son when they encounter a ferocious creature. Cut forward thirty years and that boy, Blake – now played by Christopher Abbott – is married to Charlotte (Julia Garner) with a young daughter (Matilda Firth). Blake returns to his childhood home with his family after learning his father has died, with plans to clear out his old cabin. On the way there, they encounter an odd stranger and an occurrence knocks their moving truck off the road, after which Blake is attacked by a ferocious creature. Pursued by something unknown, the family holes up in the cabin as Blake begins changing into something not quite human.

As with The Invisible Man, Whannell (who co-wrote the script with Corbett Tuck) is clearly trying to do something different from the 1941 and 2010 films. In that sense, Wolf Man is not necessarily a remake in the traditional sense, and unlike various Dracula and Frankenstein, it’s not adapted from any literary material either. There is no full moon affecting Blake’s changes, nor is his state something that comes and goes. From the opening title crawl, we learn about an indigenous curse in the Pacific Northwest that accounts for the disappearance of a hitchhiker, and there isn’t a lot more information to be had other than that.

If you’ve seen the impossible-to-avoid trailer, you already probably know about the truck going off the road and how that leads up to Blake’s “infection,” but much of the film involves an antagonist werewolf that is chasing after the family just as Blake goes through his own transformation. There’s a simplicity to the storytelling that is quite welcome and refreshing in a world where horror movies are growing more and more complicated. Whannell is generally going for a slow build rather than immediately throwing the anticipated transformation at the viewer.

The family aspect is another thing that differentiates Wolf Man from previous “werewolf” movies, since Blake feels an obligation to protect his family even as he begins turning into the greatest danger to them. Unfortunately, I’ve never really found Christopher Abbott to be that compelling an actor in terms of his performances, and that certainly hurts the film. (I’m not sure what happened with Ryan Gosling, who at one point was listed as a producer on the film, but that would have been a very different and possibly better movie.) There are a few other aspects to the story I didn’t get like the inclusion of them picking up that stranger other than maybe that being a red herring since many will assume that the stranger is the instigator for what’s to come.

Otherwise, the movie moves at a fairly quick and satisfying pace after the slower build, and well under two hours, that it never outstays its welcome. The sheer amount of tension and unease that permeates the film more than makes up for the lack of many outright jump scares. Also, the director’s attempt to do as much practical make-up and special effects in-camera often helps make things that much more disturbing.

Ultimately, Wolf Man is on par with The Invisible Man, though it might be far more divisive since there are more expectations that come with the pairing of the words “wolf” and “man.” I have a feeling this will have its fans, just as it will have its detractors, but it’s certainly a unique take on a horror classic that avoids going for any of the obvious low-hanging fruit some might be expecting.

Rating: 7/10

Wolf Man opens nationwide on Friday, January 17 with previews on Thursday night.