52% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 221 reviews)
Runtime: 103 minutes
Directed by: Leigh Wannell
Starring: Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Matilda Firth, Sam Jaeger, Ben Prendergast
From: Universal/Blumhouse
Lowered expectations & waiting to see the film probably helped. It was impossible to ignore since the film was released a week and a half ago that many were not happy with how Wolf Man turned out. In addition, the reasons WHY people were crestfallen became public knowledge to anyone w/ a Letterboxd account. However, someone I know on a messageboard had rave reviews for the directions the film went in so I used my free time this afternoon to finally check this out. My high opinion of the director’s Upgrade & The Invisible Man was a good reason for me to take a chance.
Admittedly, discovering that this was yet ANOTHER modern horror film revolving around grief and trauma gave me tremendous pause; so did the Blumhouse involvement. However, the idea that a father’s sins were passed on (lead guy Blake’s dad was shown to be verbally & emotionally abusive) then as an adult he’s fighting the dog in him-so to speak-to not repeat the same behavior to his daughter Ginger… at least it’s a new idea. As the kids like to say, much of this was a three-hander with mom, dad & kid.
Blake and wife Charlotte have a rocky relationship; his missing father was finally declared deceased so Blake decided to bring his family to rural Oregon to save the marriage as they clear everything from dad’s property. A werewolf attacks Blake and well… I understand the complaints. At times Blake comes across as a sensitive wuss! The film is visually dark too often, although that’s a modern movie-making issue. This is a different take on lycanthrophy, including the appearance of the werewolves.
By the time I viewed Wolf Man in the afternoon, the expectations were low. Thus, even with a few complaints, “the movie is fine” is my verdict. There are some scares, moments of body horror-it clearly was inspired by a famous 80’s genre example-and the idea that it’s centered around a family’s love for each other was something that worked for me. It was anchored by the small cast doing swell as a whole- Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, & Matilda Firth. A sweet sound mix was a solid asset.
There is more than one obvious metaphor & at least one moment where I rolled my eyes. That noted, the movie’s rejection by the public and movie fans is unfortunate. I was happy this wasn’t one of those pretentious insufferable modern horror films that don’t entertain me.
Instead, the small scale and the focus on mom/daughter’s horror at dad’s metamorphosis… also, thank goodness there’s only a bit of humor and that went away after the big attack. Hopefully I haven’t revealed too much. Before this flick, one of the (many) trailers seen was the controversial second trailer for Companion. Besides it revealing the movie’s twist for no good reason, it also implied it’d be full of unfunny “comedy” and it implies a “miss” for me even if the twist wasn’t spoiled.
Nevertheless, Wolf Man may go down easier if you know what to expect & the premise sounds worthwhile. Don’t expect the Lon Chaney Wolfman or the famous early 80’s werewolf films.
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