Another year, another horror remake, the only question is, is it any good? Wolf Man is the most recent horror movie remake to come out as of late and is the second classic monster movie to be remade by director Leigh Whannell. Much like his previous remake Invisible Man, this film reimagines the famous Universal monster by grounding it more in reality while putting a new spin on the story. Unlike his previous remake though, this one is more a mixed bag. Even though it did decent at the box office, making 34 million worldwide, many audience members either love it or feel disappointed with the project. Being a big fan of the Wolf Man and after seeing the film for myself, the question now is it disappointing as everyone says or is it secretly good?
To give a short summary of the plot, the film starts off with a flashback of our main character Blake, played by Zak Chandler, as he goes hunting in Oregon with his overbearing and might have a few screws loose father Grady, played by Sam Jeager. They encounter a humanoid beast that they are forced to hide from. We then cut to the present Blake who is all grown up now, played by Christopher Abbott. We see he has a wife named Charlotte, played by Julia Garner, who he has a strained relationship with and a daughter named Ginger, played by Matilda Firth. He ends up getting a death certificate for his father Grady and also receives the keys to his home. He decides to take a vacation there with his family in hopes of repairing his relationship with his wife. After getting lost on the way there, they end up meeting an old childhood friend of Blake’s named Derek, played by Benedict Hardie, who agrees to help navigate them to Grady’s house. They end up crashing their car after nearly running over another humanoid beast and Derek is dragged off and killed by the creature. After running away, they end up finding the path to Grady’s house and Blake is scratched by the creature. They make it to the house and barricade the doors. They decide to leave once morning comes but soon Blake starts to feel the effects of the scratch as he slowly starts to turn. So now the family is in a tight spot as there is a deadly beast prowling around outside while there’s a ticking timebomb inside the house with them who like the monster outside, will turn into a Wolf Man.
In terms of story, it’s fine. It has similar elements to other movies like Night of the Living Dead and Evil Dead 2, elements like being trapped in a house with a monster outside while one of the members of the group turns into one of them. It’s an interesting premise for a werewolf movie that hasn’t really been done before. The story itself is fine, but the problems start to arise with the writing. Some of the writing can cause parts of the film to be bogged down to a drag and throw off the pacing at times. Due to that, it can also cause there to be a few awkward silence moments that starts to overstay their welcome. A lot of the dialogue is either repetitive or really on the nose. A good example would be with the one of the films central themes of parents fearing they won’t be able to protect their child. The dialogue throughout keeps hammering that idea across so much that it gets to the point where it starts to become annoying. And the most unfortunate problem with the writing is that it tries and fails to be a “slow burn,” which in turn doesn’t really make it that scary. As with Whannell’s last remake Invisible Man, he tried to write and direct this film as a slow burner. It worked in Invisible Man as the audience questioned whether the main character Cecilia was crazy or if what she was experiencing was real; here it doesn’t work well at all. The idea of someone turning into a werewolf is a great idea for slow burn horror but aside from providing some cool visuals, it doesn’t provide the same tension and scariness as Invisible Man. The film is either so slow it gets predictable when something happens or you just get bored when it happens. You know it’s bad when even a jump scare doesn’t get you. But with all that established, it’s time to move onto the characters.
In terms of characters, Wolf Man is fine, but it’s not like any of them stand out as memorable. Blake by far is the most interesting character but that’s because he has the most going on with him. He’s a father with a chip on his shoulder; he wants to do right by his family but it’s clear some of his father’s bad habits rubbed off on him. On top of dealing with a strained marriage and some father issues, he now has to protect his family from a werewolf outside while turning into one himself. He certainly is the most tragic character as well, slowly losing control over his mind and turning into a monster. Christopher Abbott also gives what is probably the best performance in the film. Due to makeup and prosthetics being added to him, he has to act with body language; he does that pretty well. Just with a look, the audience can tell he’s trying to hold any semblance of humanity he has left while also trying to hold back his animalistic instincts. Charlotte as a character is alright, but her characterization is predictable, even more so than Blake’s. She’s a workaholic mother who can’t connect well with her daughter and has a strained relationship with her spouse but does what she can to help her family in the dire situation they face. Ginger is probably the weakest character of the film. She doesn’t really have that much to do in the film other than look scared and that’s about it. Derek is probably the most forgettable character in the film: he’s mainly there just to serve as a body to be killed. They could’ve cut him out and not a lot would change. As for Grady, he was fine, he served his purpose in the film.
Keep in mind though that even with the negatives listed, there are still positives to this film. The scenery, cinematography, and setting are pretty good. The forests of Oregon can provide some beautiful but haunting scenery and the house can lend itself to some eerie shots. The film also uses some of the cinematography and lighting in clever ways to show Blake’s transformation such as giving everything a slight glow and a blue tint when it switches to his perspective. The score and sound design for the film are pretty good, especially in suspense scenes like when they first enter the house. It adds a sense of an easing creepiness or slight tension to the scene. Though the characters are more one note than a cardboard cutout, the actors do turn in some good performances for them as they actually try to add emotions to the characters. The opening for the film is genuinely the best part of the film: it sets up the kind of threat the characters will face, has the best scenery, shows the kind of dynamic Blake had with his father, and gives out the best tension in the film. And on that note, the film has a great way of reimagining the Wolf Man. Like with the Invisible Man remake, this film reimagines the monster to be more grounded but still keeps some of the fantastical elements. Instead of the Wolf Man being a curse, its treated to be more like a disease similar to Mad Cow disease or rabies. It even reflects that in the final design which is a nice throwback to the old Universal design while adding a new spin, like making the skin paler and giving it more mangey fur. Not to mention the special effects reflect that phenomenally. They also use the “Jaws method” for the monster where they show it less in order to build up more tension on when it will strike.
So, with all that being said, is it secretly good or is it disappointing as everyone says? Unfortunately, it’s the latter and I’m sad about that fact. While it has good elements in it (mainly the monster) it is heavily bogged down by the flat writing, the terrible attempt at being a slow burner, dull characters, and the fact that this film is simply not scary. As a Wolf Man fan, I was looking forward to this movie, and you can certainly feel the passion that went into this film. However, passion can only get someone so far; the actual fruits of their labor have to be ripe and firm, but this fruit seems to have been plucked out before it was ready. While it might be a fine movie to turn your brain off and watch, the film overall is ultimately a sad disappointment.
