February 6, 2025

FILMHOUNDS Magazine

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Tense Lycanthropic Thriller Lacks Bite – Wolf Man (Film Review)

Christopher Abbott as Blake in Wolf Man. He is biting his arm, which is covered in blood

Universal

After releasing his directorial debut, Insidious: Chapter 3, in 2015, Leigh Whannell cemented his status as a genre icon with his remake of the classic Universal Monster movie The Invisible Man in 2020. After Tom Cruise's The Mummy flopped upon release, The Invisible Man's gritty take on domestic abuse in the guise of a creature feature reinvigorated interest in the classic monster icons. Five years on, Saw icon Whannell has dived into the Universal Monster back catalogue once more with his take on the 1941 werewolf flick Wolf Man.

Starring , , and Matilda Firth, the film begins in 1995 with a young Blake Lovell (Zac Chandler) and his father (Sam Jaeger) on a hunting trip. Their remote Oregon farmhouse is situated in remote mountains that have been plagued with “hills fever,” a virus linked to the area's wildlife. During their trip, they encounter a mysterious creature, forcing them to hide while it hunts them down.

Thirty years later, Blake (Abbott) receives a call that his long-missing father has been declared deceased, and he travels from New York to his former home with his wife Charlotte (Garner) and his daughter Ginger (Firth). The break is designed to repair his fractured relationship with Charlotte, with Blake's lack of control over his anger putting a strain on their marriage. But their plans are thrown into disarray when their car is attacked by a hulking creature that scratches Blake in the process. The family manages to escape to the home, but they soon realise they aren't out of the woods yet when Blake begins to experience horrifying side effects.

Inspired by degenerative illness, Whannell's werewolf transformation sees Blake slowly become more monster than human, losing the ability to talk and understand humans. At the same time, his hair falls out, and his body is covered in fur. The practical effects are a work of art, and the werewolf design is unique enough to make Wolf Man stand out among its peers. But it will not go down as one of the greats, and it's this that makes the build-up to the film's final reveal feel anticlimactic.

While Blake, as the film's ticking time bomb, ratchets up the tension, the inevitability of his transformation fails to evoke fear in the audience. Wolf Man's subplot focuses on the fractured family dynamics of the Lovett's and the parental fear of failing to protect your child. But it's a theme that only feels surface-level and not fully explored, making the stakes feel lower than they could be. They are evocative subjects that, when paired with a rabid monster trying to rip the family to shreds, could have made for a truly horrific battle to the death. But the final effect is characters that struggle to connect with the viewer and a werewolf that lacks bite. Charlotte's reactions to Blake's degenerating humanity is a head-scratcher, veering the film into unbelievable territory – even with a rampant lycanthrope on the loose.

Wolf Man has plenty of gnarly body horror moments and heart-palpitating scenes set in a picturesque forest that starkly juxtaposes the horrors in store. The claustrophobic setting of the cabin is the perfect setting for Blake's transformation and the deterioration of the family unit, with innovative camerawork from Whannell placing the audience right in the werewolf's shoes. While it may not be in the same league as The Invisible Man, Wolf Man delivers tense chills and glorious body horror for the perfect Friday night popcorn flick.

Wolf Man is released in UK cinemas on January 17