Wolf Man is now playing in theaters in most major markets worldwide, and we're delving into the horror reboot's intense final act while touching on how this latest take on the classic Universal Monster differs from other versions of the terrifying tale.
Spoilers follow.
The movie begins with an overprotective (borderline abusive) father taking his young son hunting in the dense Oregon woods. After an encounter with an unseen creature, the man becomes obsessed with tracking the monster down.
We then jump forward 30 years, as Blake Lovell (Christopher Abbott) receives a letter informing him that his estranged father has legally been declared dead after going missing in the woods years earlier. Blake convinces his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) and daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth) to accompany him to his dad's secluded house to pack up his belongings.
After swerving to avoid a shadowy figure standing in the middle of the road, Blake's arm is scratched during an attack. Our protagonists narrowly make it indoors, but their ordeal is just beginning.
Though writer/director Leigh Whannell sticks pretty close to the premise of most previous versions of the Wolf Man story, he does make some intriguing changes to the werewolf mythos. Gone are the silver bullets and full moons in favor of a more grounded (if you can call it that) approach, as Abbott's Blake undergoes a prolonged transformation that's more akin to the escalating body horror of David Cronenberg's The Fly than the likes of An American Werewolf in London or The Howling.
Lycanthropy is depicted as more of a disease than some kind of supernatural curse, and as Blake's condition worsens, he begins to lose the ability to communicate with his wife and daughter. We see this from both perspectives, and Whannell employs creepily effective "wolf vision" to show that Blake's loved ones are becoming as alien to him as he is to them.
Blake is initially able to retain enough of his humanity to protect his family from the werewolf that infected him, putting the beast down by ripping its throat out with his teeth. After spotting a familiar tattoo on its arm, Blake realizes that he has just killed his own father.
At this point, Blake fully succumbs to the lupine metamorphosis, posing a lethal threat to Charlotte and Ginger for the first time. After getting his leg caught in a bear trap and chewing off his own foot, Blake drops to all fours (well, threes) to chase his wife and child through the woods, cornering them in a hunting stand.
Blake hesitates momentarily, and Ginger tells her mother that she believes her father wants her to "end it." The Wolfman then lunges at his family, leaving Charlotte with no other choice than to shoot him in the heart.
The movie ends with Charlotte and Ginger taking in the stunning view Blake had told his wife about earlier on.
Have you been to see Wolf Man? If so, what did you think? Let us know in the comments section.
What if someone you loved became something else?
From Blumhouse and visionary writer-director Leigh Whannell, the creators of the chilling modern monster tale The Invisible Man, comes a terrifying new lupine nightmare: Wolf Man. Golden Globe nominee Christopher Abbott (Poor Things, It Comes at Night) stars as Blake, a San Francisco husband and father, who inherits his remote childhood home in rural Oregon after his own father vanishes and is presumed dead. With his marriage to his high-powered wife, Charlotte (Emmy winner Julia Garner; Ozark, Inventing Anna), fraying, Blake persuades Charlotte to take a break from the city and visit the property with their young daughter, Ginger (Matlida Firth; Hullraisers, Coma).
But as the family approaches the farmhouse in the dead of night, they’re attacked by an unseen animal and, in a desperate escape, barricade themselves inside the home as the creature prowls the perimeter. As the night stretches on, however, Blake begins to behave strangely, transforming into something unrecognizable, and Charlotte will be forced to decide whether the terror within their house is more lethal than the danger without.
The film co-stars Sam Jaeger (The Handmaid’s Tale), Ben Prendergast (The Sojourn Audio Drama) and Benedict Hardie (The Invisible Man). Wolf Man is directed by Whannell, whose previous films with Blumhouse include The Invisible Man, Upgrade and Insidious: Chapter 3.
The screenplay is written by Leigh Whannell and Corbett Tuck, Lauren Schuker Blum & Rebecca Angelo (Dumb Money). The film is produced by Blumhouse founder and CEO Jason Blum and is executive produced by Ryan Gosling, Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner and Leigh Whannell.