Wolf Man, directed by Leigh Whannell (The Invisible Man) and written by Whannell and Corbett Tuck, is a reboot of one of Universal’s most popular and iconic monster franchises. The movie is a body-horror film revolving around one terrible night for the Lovell family. Blake (Christopher Abbott), the father, is a writer between assignments, and his wife, Charlotte (Julia Garner), is usually away at her ambiguous but busy, job. Together, they are raising their young daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth), though Blake is much closer to the daughter because he is always around to take care of her. Blake’s estranged father, Grady (Sam Jaeger), has recently died, leaving his farmhouse and land to Blake. The Lovell’s decide to vacation at the farm for the summer, mostly in hopes that it will rekindle Blake and Charlotte’s waning relationship.
Buy Wolf Man Blu-rayOn the way to the farm, deep in the middle of the Oregon woods, they are run off the road in the dark of the night by a “man” standing in front of their truck leaving them stuck in trees over a steep cliff. Something attacks them and scratches Blake’s arm before they are able to escape the truck and race to the farmhouse with a monster on their heels. Blake’s father spent his entire life tracking a dangerous creature and his house is a testament to security. The windows are barred, the generator is huge and well stocked, and the CB radio is in working condition though unhelpful since nobody lives nearby. They would be perfectly safe for quite some time, but Blake is starting to show signs of a strange sickness.
Blake’s transformation is the brilliant stroke in the film, as it should be. Instead of a couple minutes of exciting claws and fur and growls, we get a night-long transformation that portrays the process as a sort of virus that slowly alters each of your senses. At one point, we are led to believe a creature is crawling all over the roof trying to find a weakness to the building. When Blake goes upstairs to investigate, he discovers that his newly acquired super hearing has just been listening to a spider slowly moving across the ceiling. The good news is that Blake is genuinely a family man, and, at least for a while, he is able to use his new powers to fend off the creature outside. Then he becomes a liability. Then he fully becomes the Wolf Man.
The Wolf Man is an excellent thriller with body-horror elements that will keep you jumping at shadows from beginning to end. The acting is excellent, and you can really feel the love, compassion, and, finally, fear that each of the three leads must process as the night gets darker and more bleak. The bonus features, each of which are about ten minutes long, are well produced, informative, and give a good overview of the creation of the monster and the film. If you can handle a few disgusting moments and love suspense, seek out Wolf Man.
Bonus Features:
- Feature Commentary with Director/Co-Writer Leigh Whannell
- Unleashing a New Monster
- Designing Wolf Man
- Hands On Horror
- Nightmares and Soundscapes
