Wolf Man
This lycanthrope is a misanthrope.
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I suspect the Leigh Whannell-directed and Blumhouse-produced iteration of “Wolf Man” (now in theaters) won’t be much of a commercial or critical success on its initial release, but could become a cult curio in time.
Christopher Abbott stars as Blake Lovell, a San Francisco-based writer, husband to career-minded journalist Charlotte (Julia Garner) and father to precocious tween Ginger (Matilda Firth, who despite being British is of no relation to Colin). Blake’s a good dad who easily relates to and dotes upon his daughter, but his temper can sometimes get in the way and seems to be putting a strain on his marriage.
Blake is shook when he receives correspondence announcing the demise of his stern-bordering-on-abusive, long-estranged and long-missing father Grady (Sam Jaeger). He returns to his rural Oregon childhood home with Charlotte and Ginger in tow to get his Dad’s estate in order and hopefully engage in some familial bonding.
The Lovell’s trip quickly becomes derailed when they get lost in the woods and are spooked by the rifle-toting Derek (Whannell regular Benedict Hardie), a family friend who Blake initially doesn’t recognize. Derek offers to help them find Grady’s farm, but the quartet runs afoul of our titular lycanthrope (embodied by Ben Prendergast) causing Blake to dramatically crash the box truck he’s driving. The creature scratches Blake’s arm in the process cursing him with the same fate.
As scripted by Whannell and his wife Corbett Tuck, “Wolf Man” is a domestic drama in creature feature duds – a sheep in wolf’s clothing if you will. This is first and foremost a story of generational trauma and on that level it worked for and surprisingly moved me. I was especially reminded of Paul Schrader’s “Affliction” – particularly when Blake removes his own tooth.
Abbott, Garner and Firth all give really good and nuanced performances. I’d argue Garner was slightly miscast as the 30-year-old actress reads younger and too young for the role, but she’s a good enough performer to overcome such disparities.
There’s a lot here that impresses and makes the movie something to recommend. New Zealand subs in for Oregon and there’s plenty of pretty scenery. These vistas are capably captured by Whannell’s returning cinematographer Stefan Duscio. Benjamin Wallfisch’s score is sweeping and appropriately emotive. Sound Designer/Supervising Sound Editor P.K. Hooker and his team gift us with an aggressive mix. Prosthetics & special make-up effects designer Arjen Tuiten, key prosthetic make-up artist Pamela Goldammer and their fellow artists give us a new and unique take on werewolves, i.e. they’re teaching an old dog new tricks. The body horror elements are fairly freaky, but nowhere near as gnarly as those seen in “The Substance.”
(Fun Story: A nice-looking, older black lady sat two seats away from me during our screening. As the film got hairier and scarier she kept hilariously going, “Uh-uh. Uh-uh … sheeeittt!” Her date left the movie for a bit and came back during a scene in which the werewolf is revealed in the backdrop of a shot. He “astutely” pointed out, “Yep, there he is!” This sort of behavior would generally drive me crazy, but these folks were just too f*cking funny to get angry.)
“Wolf Man” is a picture I respect more than like and for me at least it’s probably a single service watch. It’s fair to say this lycanthrope is a misanthrope.