The sad truth is that the Monsterverse has really only come to life when filmmakers have been brave enough to try something different. The Last Voyage of the Demeter worked because of its throwback to classic monster cinema while Renfield and Abigail won audiences over by combining gore with comedy.
The gem in the modern-day Monster crown though has been Australian filmmaker Leigh Whannell’s re-imagining of The Invisible Man, which turned out to be a stroke of cinematic genius. Not surprisingly it managed to win over both critics and film-lovers alike. Not surprisingly in order to try and get this Monsterverse back on track the studio have thrown Whannell the keys once again and got him to turn his attention to Wolf Man.
And once again I get the feeling that this is going to be a film that will divide audiences. Some will enjoy the natural and retro feel of Wolf Man while others will leave the cinema wanting more.
The film begins in the past. Young Blake (newcomer Zac Chandler) is taken out into the Oregon wilderness on a hunting expedition by his seemingly overbearing father (Sam Jaeger – American Sniper). During the hunt the pair almost lose their lives when they come across a local legend – the Wolf Man – whom many believe is a hiker who went missing years earlier.
Fast forward to modern day and the older Blake (Christopher Abbott – Poor Things) seems to have pushed the incident to the back of his mind. He is house-husband while his workaholic wife Charlotte (Julia Garner – Ozark) brilliantly succeeds in her career, and remains a stay-at-home dad while looking after his daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth – Subservience).
Realising that Charlotte’s heavy workload is causing a rift in the family, Blake suggests that, after the disappearance of his father, the family travel to Oregon for a few months to clean up his old family home. However, the journey doesn’t go as Blake plans and soon the family find themselves wrapped up in their own encounter with the legendary Wolf Man.
One of the first things you will notice with Wolf Man is that like he did with The Invisible Man, Whannell takes this ‘monster’ story and turns it into something relatable for the audience – and he manages to do it in kind of a brilliant way.
First of all there is the design of the wolf. Over the years we have seen many different ‘faces’ of the Wolf Man, so to speak. There is the classic design of the 1940s, the more comical version that we saw in Teen Wolf and then of course the more modern looks – the very wolf looking versions of Oz from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the heavily CGI-influenced wolf pack from the Twilight franchise.
Here though Whannell goes back to basics and using all practical effects gives a real human look to his creatures – the result is they instantly become more believable. Then to enhance that natural feel even more he takes a leaf out of what worked in the classic The Forsaken: Desert Vampires and treats the ‘monsterism’ as a disease rather than a paranormal occurrence.
In doing this Whannell and fellow screenwriter Corbett Tuck have managed to make something so supernatural and horrific and created the kind of film that is going to tug at the heartstrings for anybody that has watched a loved one struggle with any kind of terminal illness or disease.
That natural feel also lends itself well to the retro straight-to-VHS vibe that Whannell brings to the film but there are also some weaknesses with this film as well.
First of all, despite a brilliant performance by Julia Garner it feels like more should have been done with the journalist side of her character. Would a journalist who is brilliant at her job reacted the way she did when suddenly trapped in the wilderness with the Wolf Man – or would she have turned more into Lois Lane and found this something that she wanted to report on?
It also feels a little unbelievable that Blake would have shut out or at least not talked about his first run-in with the Wolf Man years earlier. While these two points may be small things I am sure they are things that will play on the mind of audience members as they watch the film.
To its credit though Wolf Man does work as a film – and that is largely due to the work of actor Christopher Abbott, who is sensational throughout the film. Early on as he plays a doting father with his daughter there is no way anyone could predict just what an acting force he becomes later in the film when it is needed.
Matilda Firth also does a great job with the material that she is given. Many of the scenes of her and Christopher Abbott are the more emotional parts of the film and she delivers them in a way that is well beyond her years.
Whether or not you enjoy Wolf Man as a movie will come down to one question – what are you wanting from the film? If you are wanting a more natural take on a classic monster tale then you will be happy. If you are wanting something more action-packed and full of CGI, you will be gravely disappointed.
Wolf Man will divide audiences but from my point of view I am more than willing to sit down for a second viewing.
Wolf Man is currently screening in Phuket and is rated ‘15’
3/5 Stars
David Griffiths has been working as a film journalist for over 25 years. That time has seen him work in radio, television and in print. He currently hosts a film podcast called The Popcorn Conspiracy. He is also a Rotten Tomatoes accredited reviewer and is an alternate judge for the Golden Globes Awards. You can follow him at Facebook: SubcultureEntertainmentAus