Starring - Christopher Abbott (Kraven the Hunter, Possessor), Julia Garner (Ozark, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For), and Matilda Firth (Vampire Academy, The Power)
Release Date - 2025
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Protect your own"
Format - UHD (Personal Collection) (Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
Many genre fans, myself included, cut their teeth on the Universal Monster movies. I remember collecting the reissues VHS as a kid and picking up extra copies to trade among friends. This was long before the genre really took hold. I was still watching shit like Air Bud, Heavyweights, Space Jam, and any other kid appropriate film of the mid-90s but there was always joy in watching Bela deliver Dracula's iconic lines or Boris throwing that little girl in the water. The films have seen several reboot over the years with some being personal favorites of mine. Brendan Fraser's The Mummy being one of them. A few years back Blumhouse produced The Invisible Man and it was one I went into with an open mind but in the end I didn't enjoy it. However, the success of the film spawned interest in more classic Universal Monsters and before long we were given Wolf Man from Leigh Whannell who also directed the Invisible Man. I had reserves about this one but I was still interested in it.
The film follows a father who receives documentation that his missing father has been declared dead along with the keys to his childhood home deep in the woods. He decides to take his family there to try and rekindle his marriage and spend more time with his daughter. However, their trip there is anything but normal when their vehicle is ran off the road by a humanoid creature and the person taking them to the cabin is killed. He suffers an injury but is able to get his family to safety in his father's cabin but soon finds himself severely ill. As he slowly succumbs to his illness, his body starts to change. He starts losing his teeth, finger nails, and hair. It doesn't take long before he is unrecognizable but he still has a little of his humanity left and puts himself between the creature, who happens to have the same tattoo as his father, and his family.
I went into this one not knowing what to expect. I had seen some promotional images and a few pictures from some event but that was the extent of my knowledge of the film. With that being said, I actually enjoyed the film. There was a few things that I didn't care for but the overall film was enjoyable. I will say that if you went into this one expecting a solid werewolf flick then you may be disappointed. I would recommend going into this one with an open mind and to expect what you wouldn't expect from a film titled Wolf Man. The acting in this one is one of my biggest problems with the film. Abbott and Garner show absolutely zero emotion. They scream but the entire film their faces remain stone. I thought Kristen Stewart was the worst for showing no emotion but these two rival her with their performances here. The remainder of the cast, as short as it may be, was solid enough but with these two starring it didn't leave much room for the cast to make up for their shortcomings. The story for this one borrow some from the original Wolf Man along with the 2010 remake but not enough to be noticeable. In all three films we follow an estranged son returning to his family home and that is about the end of the similarities. The film takes a more grounded take on werewolf lore that almost feels like it was influenced by Ginger Snaps. It treats it as a sickness or disease rather than people being cursed to turn into a monster by moonlight. I prefer the original lore surrounding werewolves but I kind of liked this take as well. Sure, the story does drag it's feet in the third act and is a bit bloated near the ending but the overall film was enjoyable. Finally, the film has some great practical effects and a few awesome scenes that I don't want to go into great detail with but I absolutely loved the self-harm scenes. I would have liked a bit more monster make-up and some gore but we can't always get what we want. Overall, Wolf Man is nothing like the original or the 2010 remake but I still enjoyed it. While I'm not the biggest fan of Whannell, he did a solid job with this one. It's not going to be an iconic film or one that defines the genre but it's still fun for a late night viewing. Check it out.
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