March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010
August 2010
September 2010 October 2010 November 2010 December 2010 January 2011 February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 May 2015 June 2015 July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 December 2016 January 2017 February 2017 March 2017 April 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017 August 2017 September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018 September 2018 October 2018 November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019 September 2019 October 2019 November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 June 2022 July 2022 August 2022 September 2022 October 2022 November 2022 December 2022 January 2023 February 2023 March 2023 April 2023 May 2023 June 2023 July 2023 August 2023 September 2023 October 2023 November 2023 December 2023 January 2024 February 2024 March 2024 April 2024 May 2024 June 2024 July 2024 August 2024 September 2024 October 2024 November 2024 December 2024 January 2025 February 2025
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
News Every Day |

Wolf Man review: Can Leigh Whannell best his Invisible Man?

Be it the scorching rays of the sun, the sting of a silver bullet, or a brutal box office thrashing, nothing can truly kill the Universal Monsters. Since they first lurked onto the silver screen in the early 1900s, this motley crew of Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Wolf Man, the Invisible Man, and the creature from the Black Lagoon have risen again and again for a sequel, remake, or re-imagining, for better or worse. 

For worse, this has resulted in the aborted Dark Universe, which flamed out with Tom Cruise's big-budget flop The Mummy in 2017. For better, there's been 2020's The Invisible Man, in which writer/director Leigh Whannell left his supernatural leanings from the Insidious franchise behind for a more sci-fi-rooted horror. His Wolf Man has a similarly grim and grounded approach, abandoning much of the paranormal lore of werewolves in favor of more penetrating real-life fears. 

However, while Wolf Man ditches the lycanthropy tropes of silver weapons and a full moon, Whannell stays true to Blumhouse's formula. The film brings heralded actors — in this case Poor Things' Christopher Abbott and Apartment 7A's Julia Garner — into a central location, where horror can be spun cost-effectively from a single spooky concept. For Whannell, that is taking the gruesome and inescapable transformation of man to beast and making it a metaphor for chronic illness, the kind that robs sufferers of control of their bodies, speech, and even the ability to understand the people around them. 

It's a bold move. But does it make for a satisfying horror movie? 

Wolf Man is a meditation on illness. 

Credit: Universal Pictures

Scripted by Whannell and Corbett Tuck, Wolf Man stars Christopher Abbott as Blake, a San Francisco family man who is happily serving as a stay-at-home dad to his plucky daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth), while his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) works to bring home the metaphorical bacon. However, all her focus on her career has Charlotte feeling disconnected from her daughter and husband. So, when some bizarre personal news offers the family a chance to visit Blake's childhood home in rural Oregon, they leap at the chance for some quality time, far from the hustle and bustle (and relative safety) of human civilization. 

Of course, as the title teases, there's something not quite human prowling in the woods near Blake's old house. And it only takes one scratch from a gnarly claw to infect this loving father with a lycanthropic disease. After a scene of frenzied fleeing through a forest, much of Wolf Man takes place within the walls of the cabin where Blake was raised by his macho hunter/survivalist father, who's been proclaimed dead after years missing. As such, there's a home invasion element to Wolf Man, reminiscent of The Strangers. A frightened woman is trapped in a house under siege by a violent and mysterious threat, with no real hope of outsider intervention to save her and her loved ones.

As Blake steadily begins to transform, Charlotte must step up as a mom, protecting her child, and a wife, understanding her husband even as the man she knew vanishes before her very eyes. 

Leigh Whannell wallows in agony in Wolf Man. 

Credit: Universal Pictures

In many stories of werewolves, there is an inescapable sense of doom, whether the cause be a bite or curse. These tales often follow a hapless man (or teen girl) who is irrevocably changed, and will likely die because of it. Whannell leans into this dread by focusing on the distortions Blake suffers, physically and mentally.

Satisfying the body-horror expectations of the werewolf subgenre, Blake's skin curdles into open sores, which he cannot help but ravage with growing claws and pointed teeth. His luscious hair falls out as his face stretches into a disfigured mockery of his former reflection. His voice vanishes, replaced by a hollow growl. In panning shots, captured practically and enhanced digitally, Whannell reveals how Blake's family sees him and vice versa. As the camera moves from a weeping Charlotte whispering comfort, the lighting changes, the vision blurs, and her voice becomes an indecipherable warble as the film moves into Blake's warping perspective. This wolf vision is not intended to give us the sense of a slasher in pursuit or a predator that is targeting prey. It's a nightmarish perversion of reality, reflecting how Blake feels trapped, even damned, in his mutating body. 

It's tragic and unnerving, especially as Abbott relishes every bit of body horror. (Whannell counts David Cronenberg's The Fly as an inspiration.) However, the metaphor between werewolfism and chronic illness ultimately feels obvious and lazy. Yes, both can be inescapable and horrific. The effects of both can be terrifying to those who suffer from them and the loved ones forced to witness. But this analogy ignores the ferocity and brute strength that is still present in even Whannell's pared-down werewolf lore. Where does that fit into his metaphor?

Essentially, Wolf Man begins as a clever idea that runs out of steam well before the movie ends. Blake's transformation, slow and grueling across several sequences, begins to feel episodic, as does the grief-stricken displays of his wife and child. And so, even at one hour and forty-five minutes, this Wolf Man drags.

Julia Garner and Christopher Abbott commit but can't save Wolf Man. 

Credit: Universal Pictures

These two deserve better than Whannell and Tuck's script. Both their characters are thinly sketched archetypes. Blake is the modern gentle parent, desperate to protect his kid from the childhood trauma instilled by harsh words, fear, and unchecked machismo. Charlotte — well, she sure has a job and cares about it when she's at home despite Blake's condescending remarks! Much of the movie depends on caring about characters who never feel anything but vague signifiers of work/life balance.

To his credit, Abbott — who shot this very physically demanding film while still in physical therapy for an on-stage knee injury — is committed to every bit. With child actor Firth, he is gentle, gamely goofy, and sincerely focused. With Garner, he is alert, though his attention is edged with a low-boil frustration that will never get a proper voice. And when he is the monster, he is in turn a pitiable puddle of malleable flesh and a ferocious creature, barrelling after his terrified family. Garner matches him, her hard stare glittering with righteous tears. But with the first act failing to establish these characters in the way The Fly or — to cite another danger-from-within domestic horror film — Rosemary's Baby did, the rest just doesn't work. Instead, it becomes a slog of tears, blood, and moping.

In the end, Whannell's Wolf Man is a maudlin mess, which heaps on grief and grisliness without balancing it with character. While there are a few moments of delicious tension — like an opening sequence where a young Blake goes from hunting to hunted — Wolf Man overall is more one-note than anything. Compared to The Invisible Man it's a serious misstep for Whannell. Compared to The Mummy, well, that might have been a wreck of a movie, but at least it was occasionally fun.  

Wolf Man opens in theaters Jan. 17.

Read also

Trump says 'inflation is back': 'I had nothing to do with it'

The View finds itself surprised to agree with Steve Bannon

I caught my husband of 9 years cheating using a baby monitor – then I found out something that made it worse

News, articles, comments, with a minute-by-minute update, now on Today24.pro

News Every Day

Exact date Aldi’s brand new anti-ageing skincare range that ‘maintains youthful skin’ hits middle aisles for just £4.99

Today24.pro — latest news 24/7. You can add your news instantly now — here


News Every Day

Asian flag carrier to launch more flights from the UK this summer to bucket list destinations



Sports today


Новости тенниса
Александр Зверев

Теннисист Зверев назвал странным наказание Синнера из-за употребления клостебола



Спорт в России и мире
Москва

«Чемпионат»: «Спартак» продвинулся в переговорах по трансферу Саласара



All sports news today





Sports in Russia today

Москва

Московское «Торпедо» объявило о подписании воспитанника ЦСКА


Новости России

Game News

Предзагрузи бета-клиент MMORPG Crystal of Atlan


Russian.city


Москва

Ликсутов: Схему метро Москвы перевели на арабский язык


Губернаторы России
DAASHA

DAASHA даст сольный концерт – билеты на Like FM


Разведданные из России способны спасти Дональда Трампа? СЕНСАЦИЯ! Новости. В.В. Путин, Д.А. Медведев, Илон Маск, Дональд Трамп. Россия, США, Европа могут улучшить отношения и здоровье общества?!

Глава КЧР Рашид Темрезов в Москве встретился с Президентом Российской академии наук Геннадием Красниковым

В Екатеринбурге наградили юных звезд на благотворительном фестивале «Добрая волна»

В Курске осужден молодой человек за сбыт фальшивых денег


DAASHA даст сольный концерт – билеты на Like FM

AI Певица. Создание AI Певицы. AI Певец. AI Артист.

Набор монет Presentation Edition в честь Пола Маккартни выставят на аукцион

В Екатеринбурге наградили юных звезд на благотворительном фестивале «Добрая волна»


Роман Сафиуллин покинул турнир ATP-500 в Дохе, проиграв Алексу де Минору

Россиянка Андреева за день выиграла два матча на турнире WTA-1000 в Дубае

Медведев отметил положительные аспекты отстранения Синнера

Даниил Медведев стал четвертьфиналистом турнира в Дохе



В Екатеринбурге наградили юных звезд на благотворительном фестивале «Добрая волна»

В Москве и Московской области более 25,5 тысячи многодетных мам досрочно получают пенсию

В Екатеринбурге наградили юных звезд на благотворительном фестивале «Добрая волна»

В Екатеринбурге наградили юных звезд на благотворительном фестивале «Добрая волна»


Концерт русской песни

«Чемпионат»: «Спартак» продвинулся в переговорах по трансферу Саласара

Консультант Актёра. Консультирование Актёра.

В Тамбовской области завершился турнир по хоккею на Кубок генерала армии Николая Рогожкина


Проезд по платным дорогам подорожал в России в среднем на 340 рублей

«Заражение всего организма микробами»: чем грозит двусторонняя пневмония Папе Римскому

За поездку из Владимира в Москву по трассе М-12 теперь придется заплатить больше

Доктор Бизра назвал фрукт, который избавит от выпадения волос



Путин в России и мире






Персональные новости Russian.city
Олег Митяев

Олег Митяев поздравит воронежских женщин с 8 марта



News Every Day

Don't let AI phantom hackers drain your bank account




Friends of Today24

Музыкальные новости

Персональные новости