Wolf Man Review: Suspense, Gore, and the Legacy of Universal Monsters
Does Wolf Man live up to the hype?!
We’ve seen them in cinema for nearly a century—Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man, The Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Frankensteins, along with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. These were the most popular monsters depicted on screen since the early 1930’s. Monsters who struck fear into the hearts of man since before modern sound, visual effects and even colour.
THE DARK UNIVERSE: A BRIEF HISTORY
Most monster fans were aware—and ecstatic–when Universal announced they’d be building an interconnected monsterverse a la MCU called The Dark Universe. Universal had big plans for this film saga, attaching household names like Russell Crowe as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Johnny Depp as The Invisible Man, Javier Bardem and Angelina Jolie as The Frankensteins and even Dwayne Johnson as the Wolfman. Unfortunately for fans eager to sink their teeth into these blockbuster monster movies, after the underwhelming profit of The Mummy starring Tom Cruise, the interconnected movie universe was ultimately scrapped.
HORROR PIONEER PICKS UP THE PIECES: LEIGH WHANNELL’S ‘THE INVISIBLE MAN’
It wasn’t all bad news though, as a few years later we witnessed the birth of a new kind of monsterverse. A set of films that leaned less into blockbuster action and more into genre and substance. The first of which was Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man, a modern take on the infamous monster told through a captivating (and tragically realistic) story of domestic violence. The exceptional film follows Elisabeth Moss’ Cecilia as she tries to escape a dangerous relationship with her obsessive billionaire husband, who works as a renowned optical engineer.
Whannell wrote and directed, proving to audiences that this film was riveting, psychological and profound even without the studio machine working behind him. Though the film undoubtedly felt smaller than Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy, it was a brilliant and terrifying approach to the original source material that included some original scares, jaw dropping action and reveals, as well as a powerful and artistic ending. Needless to say, Whannell’s follow up had big shoes to fill.
Wolfman, originally tied to Dwayne Johnson before the project was thrown onto Ryan Reynolds’ desk, finally found itself in front of Leigh Whannell in 2023. The film had been trapped in pre-production hell for nearly a decade, with the earliest scripts written back in 2014. In 2017, Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan stepped away from the project after the studio’s decision to derail the Dark Universe and it wasn’t until March 2024 that this version of the film finally went to camera.
WOLF MAN REVIEW: DOES IT LIVE UP TO THE HYPE?
Produced by industry titan Jason Blum of Blumhouse, Wolf Man stars Ozark’s Julia Garner and Christopher Abbott as a married couple struggling to find the joyous companionship that once sparked their now very fraught relationship. Blake (Abbott) is a writer between jobs, giving him ample time to spend with daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth), while Charlotte (Garner) feels like a pedestrian in her own life. The trio take to the woods of Oregon for a chance to connect, revisiting Blake’s childhood home in the hope uncovering his old family history will bring his new one closer together. And family history is just what Blake finds.
A spooky title card introduces us to the local lore of these dark and treacherous mountains. The film’s prologue, arguably the strongest section of the film, does well in introducing us to the perils of the forest. As a child, Blake’s father warns him how dangerous the area can be and how easy it is to die. Not only are they to be wary of predators, but also a disease called Hills Fever—what the natives refer to as The Face of the Wolf.
After years helping pioneer the horror industry, it’s no surprise that Whannell is a master in crafting sequences of suspense. Perhaps one of the most interesting scares comes from his choice to place the camera behind a hunting blind while Blake’s father hides from the beast, revealing only the steam coming from the beast’s maw as it hovers above the blinder.
Whannell uses the textures of the farm and surrounding forest to build an atmosphere that helps draw audiences into the darker side of nature. His choice to darken scenes is juxtaposed by moments in which we view the world through the Wolf Man’s eyes—bright and blurred and colourful, even in the dead of night. With this family trapped on a farm in the rural wilderness, with no cell service or getaway car, they’re forced to fight for their lives against a beast outside the house while grappling with Blake’s untimely transformation within it.
The movie plays best when it grounds itself in the story it aims to tell about family. It decidedly loses the thread it weaves about fatherhood and generational trauma somewhere along the story, but it starts with a thorough exploration of fatherhood, of the fear and anxieties and doubt that comes with being a parent. But when we witness Blake’s transformation, it feels as though these themes along with the idea of ‘the sins of the father passed onto the son’ is sacrificed due to the kitschier demands of the genre. The characters aren’t necessarily nuanced or fleshed out enough to make us care when we find them in danger, but the performances are valiant and strong enough to make the terror they experience believable.
Though the film uses its sets well and offers up some serious body horror, it encounters some difficulty deciding whether it wants to be a family drama or horrific grotesquery. Sliding it onto the shelf next to The Invisible Man will certainly warrant scrutiny and comparisons, with Whannell’s previous entry boasting the better story. However, Wolf Man was an exciting watch with some gnarly gore that’ll leave even the most seasoned horror fans a bit queasy. Along with an ending that feels beautifully earned.
Watch the trailer for Wolf Man below
Universal Pictures releases Wolf Man in theatres January 17, 2025
[Review by guest blogger Jurgen Sosa]