Written by Leigh Whannell And Corbett Tuck
Directed by Leigh Whannell
Blake: "Sometimes when you're a daddy, you're so scared of your kids getting scars that you become the thing that scars them."
The second film released this year that I've actually seen and it's another horror themed one. It's also another one in a universe that was technically scrapped but still part of a series of standalone movies that could've been part of that universe had things been different.
Back in 2020, director Leigh Whannell went for a grounded and socially relevant take on The Invisible Man that ended up being a massive success for him. For this adaptation of Wolf Man, I can see why Whannell decided to go for a similar approach. However, it's not a case of second time successful.
Anyways, the movie opened with a younger Blake Lovell (Zac Chandler) being berated by his hunter father Grady (Sam Jaeger) about having survival skills. Cut to three decades later and a much older Blake (Christopher Abbott) along with his wife, Charlotte (Julia Garner) and daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth) find themselves on old stomping ground.
Following the death of Grady, Blake brought his family into the woods to his old house and a local man named Derek (Benedict Hardie) ended up being wolf fodder. Well, given the title of the movie, how could he not?
As for Blake, his transformation into the titular werewolf might be one of the worst cases of Hollywood trying to ground a fantastical concept. The prosthetics are some of the absolute worst I've seen on an actor depicting a werewolf. Films from nearly a century ago did a better job. Why did this movie decide to horribly half ass it?
The movie tried to ratchet up the tension as a feral Blake turned on his family but while the focus on Charlotte and Ginger was understandable, it's the second time in a row where Whannell has adapted a horror baddie/creature but pivoted the focus elsewhere. It also didn't work here like it did in his previous effort, making the last scene lack any real bite to proceedings.
- Originally Ryan Gosling was attached to play the title character before he dropped out and was replaced with Christopher Abbott.
- Leigh Whannell had a voice role as Dan Kiel.
- There was deleted scene involved Blake's ALS-stricken mother. Blake was also meant resemble having neurodegenerative diseases like ALS.
- Chronology: 2025 San Francisco but mostly Oregon in this movie, which was filmed in New Zealand.
I really wanted to like Wolf Man and on paper, I can see why Whannell made the choices he did but nothing works here. It's just such a misfire on nearly every level and the wolf look was genuinely awful.
Rating: 6 out of 10
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