‘Wolf Man’ brings the scares and suspense with a refreshing take on the werewolf genre

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — I see a bad moon rising.

Synopsis

Wolf Man follows couple Blake (Christopher Abbott) and Charlotte (Julia Garner), whose marriage is on the rocks. After Blake inherits his recently deceased father’s house, he travels there with Charlotte and their daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth) to clear it out. Once they arrive at the house, a werewolf attacks them, trapping them inside.

Blake is scratched in the attack and begins exhibiting disturbing symptoms, feeling like he’s now transforming into a wolf. As his condition worsens and the werewolf stalks the family from outside, Charlotte and Ginger try to survive the night, wondering if they may also have to defend themselves against the increasingly ferocious Blake.

My thoughts

Leigh Whannell is one of those filmmakers I’ll always turn out for. I mean, he’s responsible for co-creating Saw, one of my favorite film franchises, so how could I not?! He and his friend James Wan, director of the original Saw, have come a long way since they burst onto the scene a little over two decades ago, both of them now operating independently on their own filmmaking paths.

For a while, though, it seemed like Whannell’s career trajectory wasn’t going as fast and high as Wan’s, who went on to helm huge blockbusters like The Conjuring, Furious 7, and Aquaman. Whannell was still writing the various Insidious sequels at this time, but it was when he made Upgrade in 2018 followed by The Invisible Man two years later where he was able to establish a reliable brand of his own.

Resurrecting monsters

Whannell’s adaptation of The Invisible Man is one of those few modern horror films that I would legitimately label as “brilliant”. He perfectly updated and executed the Invisible Man premise for the modern age, crafting a genuinely scary sci-fi horror film with real themes of domestic abuse, all led by a phenomenal Elisabeth Moss. Upgrade was a cult classic, but The Invisible Man seemed to officially put him on the directing map.

So, when it was announced that Whannell would be doing a new version of The Wolf Man for Universal, I thought there couldn’t be a better pick for the project. Not only is it nice that Universal is gravitating back toward horror for these updated monster flicks instead of that stupid Dark Universe crap, but they also recognized the talent in Whannell putting an interesting spin on these classic stories.

Whannell treats The Wolf Man premise in a similar way that he treated The Invisible Man premise. They’re still monster movies at their core, containing men of the wolfy and invisible variety, but he wisely avoids making them traditional remakes that follow the same beats. Above all, he actually strives to turn these schlocky premises into legitimate character-driven dramas, while also giving audiences the scares they expect.

Similar to his last film, Whannell shows us all again that he’s a master at building tension and atmosphere. His horror direction feels very 60’s/70’s influenced, with him and cinematographer Stefan Duscio implementing many wide, clear shots for you to examine the frame to find something lurking. They use the rural Oregon setting (actually New Zealand) to great effect, really enhancing the character’s isolated and vulnerable situation.

Exercising restraint

Perhaps it’s just simple maturity and honing one’s craft, but Whannell’s directing and writing since Upgrade have become surprisingly mature. Up until The Invisible Man, Whannell’s scripts have always had cheesy and over-the-top qualities to them, but there’s no room for levity anymore. The Invisible Man at least had some catharsis, but Wolf Man is about as dour and bleak as you can get.

Whannell said David Cronenberg’s The Fly was a major inspiration for this film, particularly the tone. When Jeff Goldblum is falling apart in The Fly, it’s never played for laughs. As the audience, we’re just as horrified as Geena Davis as she witnesses her husband become a monster. In Wolf Man, there’s not one moment where you don’t feel the primal anguish of every character, especially Blake.

There are a couple of sweet scenes between Blake and Ginger in the beginning, but don’t expect any laughs or sweetness to lighten the mood. I would even go as far to call Wolf Man joyless, but usually that’s a negative way to describe a movie, but it’s a positive here. There were many times here where Whannell easily could have taken the schlocky route, but he plays it completely straight and it actually works.

There’s not one ounce of fun or good feelings to be had, but still plenty of scares, which is what we’re here for. Even if much of the runtime consists of our characters being boarded up in a house, it’s consistently tense and atmospheric. The way Whannell and Duscio light these scenes really emphasizes the darkness throughout the house where you never know what could be creeping around in the shadows.

Wolves at the door

Also similar to The Fly, this is essentially a body horror movie as Blake slowly transforms into a werewolf throughout the night. Arjen Tuiten’s makeup and prosthetic work is terrifically grotesque, putting Christopher Abbott through a terrifying transformation. It’s probably the most “anatomically correct” wolf man in movie history, looking completely unlike any other iteration. He truly feels like a “wolf man”.

We even get “werewolf vision,” which was pretty neat. I don’t think we’ve ever really seen things from the werewolf’s perspective before, so it gave the proceedings an interesting little twist. With the perception of different sound frequencies and vision bathed in blue light, the transformation feels less like a curse and more like an illness. That’s far scarier when you think about it, and it’s treated no differently than seeing a loved one lose themselves to any other type of disease out there.

I wasn’t quite gelling with Abbott’s performance at first, but once he starts becoming the titular Wolf Man, his talents are on full display. The man fully throws himself into this role, making you feel honest empathy and fear towards his character. As he becomes less verbal and more physical while the night goes on, it’s actually impressive the lengths Abbott goes to in order to really sell the transformation. However, you can still see the humanity and love for his family behind his eyes through all the suffering.

Even if Whannell certainly brought his horror chops to Wolf Man, his story and character work here is a significant step down from The Invisible Man. The first act is especially rough, particularly when Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner interact with each other. I understand they’re supposed to be a distant couple, but their performances and dialogue during the standard dramatic scenes came off as quite stilted.

Abbott, Garner, and Matilda Firth are all still very good, though, especially in the second half when things ramp up in intensity. Whannell and his co-writer Corbett Tuck keep the emotional core of Blake and Ginger’s father-daughter relationship intact until the end, but I really wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be getting out of this narrative. The themes of family sacrifice and protection are apparent but felt emotionally hollow.

Final verdict

The best part about all of this is that Whannell made the idea all his own. There are no full moons, silver bullets, or any other werewolf lore to bog down the narrative here. I was relieved when enough time had passed where I knew there wasn’t going to be a random character swinging by to dump exposition about curses or whatever. Nope, none of that. Wolf Man is a refreshingly restrained creature feature with no frills and it’s all better for it.

It’s too bad that it’s fairly lackluster when it comes to the narrative and the way it’s thematically worked into the horror, because had that been executed better, we would have another modern classic like The Invisible Man. Regardless, Leigh Whannel’s talents at putting pure tension and terror on screen are as sharp as ever. If you want a genuinely creepy, suspenseful time, consider taking a walk in the moonlight with this one.