Movie Review: Wolf Man

After getting his start co-writing horror hits like Saw and Insidious with James Wan, Leigh Whannel proved to be equally adept in the director’s chair, first by helming Insidious: Chapter 3, following that up with acclaimed actioner Upgrade, and then the megahit 2020 remake of The Invisible Man. By finding the sort of success with one of Universal’s classic monsters that had so far eluded the studio’s recent output, it is no surprise that he would be asked to take a crack at another and so here the writer (along with wife Corbett Tuck) / director returns with Wolf Man.

The relationship between Blake (Christopher Abbott) and his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) is becoming increasingly strained, which has not escaped the notice of their daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth). As the pair are teetering on the edge of an argument one evening, Blake opens a letter revealing that after having been missing for years, the state of Oregon has officially declared his father deceased. Now the owner of his childhood home, he has to head there to clean it out and asks Charlotte and Ginger to join him.

When the family arrive in the beautiful Oregonian wilderness, Blake finds himself unable to locate the house. Luckily, they encounter his childhood acquaintance Derek (Benedict Hardie) who offers to show them the way. The journey appears to be back on track as night begins to fall when an unsettling looking man suddenly appears in the middle of the road in front of them. In trying to avoid the stranger, Blake veers into the trees, crashing their rented moving truck. Fortunately, they all appear to be physically alright, but an attack from a mysterious creature sends them running the rest of the way to their destination. Well-fortified inside, they plan to wait until daybreak, but Blake was scratched in the encounter and appears to have become infected by a dangerous and fast-moving disease that is causing him to undergo alarming changes.

Whannell and Tuck have made a lot of smart decisions in their story, most notably by choosing to focus it so heavily on a small group in an isolated location. In so doing they create an effective aura of claustrophobia while also allowing the audience enough time to grow into and better empathize with the characters. Speaking of which, Abbott gives a stellar performance, beginning as an easily lovable father who is striving not to make the same mistakes his own father did with him before finding himself forced to protect them from an unthinkable danger before then feeling himself fading away as he tries to fight whatever force is taking him over. Garner is equally impressive as a woman who has been struggling with her work / life balance who is now watching the man she loves deteriorating into something unknowable that looks more and more like a threat to herself and her daughter. It’s a heart wrenching struggle for a young family to find themselves in and it feels utterly believable.

A lot of suspense is derived from the situation, with Whannell still proving to be very adept at framing a scene that can get heartbeats racing. From the creepy opening sequence to the violent finale, he and frequent cinematographer Stefan Duscio use the camera to illicit maximum chills, smartly keeping the monster itself largely out of frame for much of the movie. When it is finally revealed, we get a creature that is still definitively human in origin, having undergone far less dramatic changes than any other iteration of a werewolf I’ve ever seen. This decision will likely garner its detractors, but I found it to be disturbing and scary.

As with many great horror tales, Wolf Man is a tragedy at its core. Sure, it’s scary and thrilling but a lot of why this movie really works is because of how sad it is, especially if you’ve ever had to watch a loved one succumb to illness. This doesn’t reach the same artistic heights as the other recent classic horror retelling Nosferatu, but it’s a worthy entry into the modern monster canon in its own right. A rollercoaster ride of a movie that lingers long after it’s over. ★★★★