Review: 'Wolf Man' has teeth but fails to transform into new horror classic
It's a good omen for the new movie year when a fresh take on the werewolf myth comes with expectations of making a killing. And "Wolf Man," now stalking its way through theaters, is rabid to chew off a sizable chunk of the box office.
It just might. I only wish "Wolf Man" was a better movie or even a passable one instead of a limp, lazy excuse for thought-provoking horror that can't hold a candle to the 1941 classic with Lon Chaney Jr. or even the woebegone 2010 remake with Benicio del Toro.
Audiences had reason to hope for stronger stuff since just five years ago, director Leigh Whannell struck thematic and fright-fest gold with a riveting reboot of "The Invisible Man" that made star Elisabeth Moss the victim of a timely monster called toxic masculinity.
Things go sideways pretty quickly with "Wolf Man," despite a strong cast led by "Catch-22" Golden Globe nominee Christopher Abbott and "Ozark" Emmy winner Julia Garner. Sadly, Whannell and his actress wife, Corbett Tuck, have concocted a script so thin it's invisible.
The setup for this contemporary take on "Wolf Man" would have to go some to qualify as basic. It's a family story as husband Blake (Abbott), wife Charlotte (Garner) and daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth) gather in a remote cabin in the Oregon wilderness to work on their problems. Her star as a San Francisco journalist is rising, his writing career is stagnant.
And, oh yeah, an animal predator has scratched his skin while the threesome runs into the cabin for shelter. Yup, the predator is a wolf and it keeps scratching around with menace outside while dad -- never good at anger management -- starts manifesting physical and mental changes.
That's it. Except for a prologue in which young Blake (Zac Chandler) is shown hunting a beast on the same farm with his ramrod father, Grady (Sam Jaeger), missing and presumed dead after 30 years, the film focuses on a single family in a single location on a single day facing the enemy outside and within. There's not even a full moon or silver bullets. Jeez.
To be fair, "Wolf Man" has occasional moments of suspense and psychological tension. This is Whannell, after all. But other key elements leave us wanting.
Instead of using flashy digital tricks to show Blake transform into a beast, Whannell uses practical effects. The idea has merit, but in practice keeping it real deadens the thrill and feels amateurish. Watching the rapid aging and physical disintegration of Demi Moore in "The Substance" is far scarier and thematically intense than anything Whannell and his team can manage.
As a result, "Wolf Man" leans too heavily on its jump scares and thundering sound design. There are also scenes in which we see the world as a wolf sees it, blurry with flashes of disorienting color and light signifying nothing. You leave this long night's journey into day with the same sinking feeling. And, worse, it's no fun at all.
