WOLF MAN

Director
Leigh Whannell

Starring
Christopher Abbott
Julia Garner
Matilda Firth

Following the death of his estranged father, Blake Lovell [Abbott] brings his wife Charlotte [Garner] and daughter Ginger [Firth] to the remote farm he grew up on, out in Oregon. Not only to settle the legal affairs but also to give the family time to address the rifts forming between them. Upon arrival however, their van is driven into the mountainous treeline while avoiding a figure in the road. The family try to then survive the night being hunted and attacked by some feral animal.

The very best horror films are about something. Yes, they have jumpscares, gruesome scenarios and gore, but the reason they stay with you long after first viewing, is the inherent underlying messages that gnaw at you. Subsequently, one of the biggest missteps Wolf Man suffers is the fact it’s got an incredibly strong concept that it simply cannot execute well enough. During the opening scene, it’s evident that Blake’s overbearing father is not only stern but his fear of losing his son has warped his actions into violent outbursts and an emotional distance. All of which keeps his son on edge at all times under this oppressive rule. As such, following Blake as he tries to break the cycle with the gentle parenting of his own daughter is a really interesting starting point. But the film never truly cements this single powerful idea because while we can see the internal struggle between Blake trying to fight a seemingly innately aggressive nature and avoid hurting his family, it also pits Blake against the manifestation of his father’s rage and toxicity. And the only way to counter that is to visit said violence upon this figure. Which, as a message, is pretty damning and unintentionally harmful.

The truth is, if this were some up-and-coming indie filmmaker, I’d probably be more lenient. But considering the director is Leigh Whannell coming off the back of the incredibly impressive The Invisible Man it’s simply baffling to me. The movie is slow burn, yes, but it stalls to the extent of lacking all tension, and the last thing an immersive horror film should be is boring. I couldn’t help but notice that around the 45 minute mark, so little had actually happened and it was clear the audience were restless. What’s more, there are countless lazy horror conceits, repetitive scenario generation, and disappointing visuals that felt frankly amateurish. The only aspect I can think to praise is the soulful but under-utilised score by Benjamin Wallfisch.

Now, let’s get into one of the film’s weakest elements: the wolf itself. It’s my opinion that all Wolf Man adaptations struggle when they get to the wolf part, and without top tier prosthetics and performances it falls apart very quickly. This is why, despite it being over 40 years old, we still hold An American Werewolf In London as the benchmark. And, frankly, of all the myriad wolf man transitions over the decades this one is a bit lazy. From the choices to have a toned-down wolf-man-hybrid who loses hair rather than gaining more, to the clumsy ‘let me try this jerky, oh my tooth has fallen out’ escalation, none of it is paced well. But more than that, I feel both Whannell’s grounding and his directorial skillset aren’t the best fit. Namely because the slowly moving camera and use of negative space that we saw throughout Invisible Man worked better there because the attacker could have been anywhere. But here they feel stunted and things simply hang for too long.

That said, the choice to try and show the change from Blake’s perspective is really interesting. Not only his inability to understand his loved ones or properly express himself, but the bloomed, colourful tones that illustrate how he now sees the world. Which makes a nice stark contrast when we revert back to the real world and are offered something new and horrifying as Blake scratches away at his infected arm and eats the rotting meat. But as soon as the terror creeps in, it just edges away and the film strains as much plausible deniability as possible with Charlotte simply watching rather than figuring out how to get away from this man.

Speaking of Charlotte, let’s talk about the performances. This movie has a very small cast and as such, a great deal is put on their shoulders. I don’t necessarily think any of the leads did a poor job, they were simply given incredibly thin characters to bring to life. Running, screaming, panicking, this all works without real complaint, but the people behind the fear come off as flimsy. “I’m a writer between jobs”, “I’m a journalist”, “I don’t think our daughter likes me as much as you”, “I can read your mind, daddy” – it’s all just so rote. Even when we get an outsider, in the form of Derek (one of Blake’s childhood friends played by Benedict Hardie) his arrival and unsettling nature is pulled from horror schlock. It’s never clear how or why he’s creepy, if he’s aware or complicit in the events. He’s just odd so the audience can say “Oh, I’d watch out, he’s clearly dangerous and odd.” Similarly, you can chalk a lot up to shock but Charlotte takes truly shocking events in her stride – and with the idea of Blake being a threat to the family unit, the urgency of getting away from him comes far too late in the film, despite the monstrosity he’s clearly becoming. And, while I can understand the potential plot angle of “it’s hard to walk away from an abuser, you forgive them over and over”, the film doesn’t do enough to earn that weight.

Looking back on Wolf Man, it feels like the film that was originally pitched has somehow been lost and swallowed up by what was eventually rolled out. From the pacing, visuals, plotting, everything indicates this feature has been chopped and butchered in the edit. And while we could have had a poignant and emotionally intense Wolf Man story by way of The Shining, we end up with a short, uninspired, ugly affair that is sure to disappoint many.

Release Date:
17 January 2025

The Scene To Look Out For:
Wolf Man opens with a title card about a hiker going missing in 1995, and how the townsfolk in the area blamed a virus that takes hold of people, akin to the local legend of “the man with the wolf’s face”. It’s very heavy exposition, but understandable if you want to get the ball rolling quickly. However, at the end of said cold open, we see another title card stating “thirty years later” meaning the first block of text was pre-loading what we were about to see. For the uninitiated, that is a prime example of “the people won’t understand, we need to hit them over the head with unambiguous exposition.” It’s lazy, insulting and wholly unnecessary.

Notable Characters:
spoilers in this paragraph
The world-building in this film is pretty bad but we need to talk about Blake’s dad: Grady. As detailed above, the title card talks about a long history of these kind of incidents but over three decades, said creature seems to roam the land on its own. It’s only when Blake is old enough, he’s able to move away from his father. What’s not clear is exactly when Blake’s dad was turned into the wolf. Yes, shocker, the current wolf is his dad. Is this a recent development? Has Derek been trying to hunt the wolf down for a short or long period or time? Was a proclamation of death finally issued to bring Blake back in an attempt to lure Grady out? Who knows? Maybe these questions were left on the cutting room floor, or maybe they simply never existed in the first place.

Highlighted Quote:
“He wants this to be over.”

In A Few Words:
“A shockingly ham-fisted release that fails on so many fundamental points that it might kill this Universal Monster reboot before it even got started.”

Total Score: 1/5