Leigh Whannell’s return to the Universal Monsterverse lacks bite
After the disastrous attempt to reboot the Universal Monster brand under the blockbuster-tilted Dark Universe Umbrella, a shift was made to take a more considered and intimate approach to revisiting creature features such as Dracula, The Mummy and yes, The Wolfman. Partnering with Blumhouse, the independent film company renowned for carving out success with low cost but popular productions within the genre space (Paranormal Activity, M3gan, The Purge, The Black Phone). The collaboration hit a home run with their first outing, The Invisible Man. A timely reimagining of the tale weaving in themes of abuse, gaslighting, and powerplays into a genuinely tense thriller. Well the films writer/director Leigh Whannell (Saw, Insidious, Upgrade) is back, helming another entry to the expanding UM/Blumhouse stable, this time with an updated take on lycan lore.
The film opens in the woods of Oregon. A father and son hunting together, and a brief encounter with a mysterious predator. Safely making it home, the son witnesses the beginning of his father’s soon to be obsession with this creature in the woods. 30 years later and Blake (Christopher Abbott) now lives in San Francisco with his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) and their daughter Ginger (an effective and authentic turn from Matilda Firth). Despite a strong bond with his daughter, Blake’s relationship with his wife is strained. When he receives confirmation that his long missing father has been declared officially dead, he suggests a return to his childhood home to settle his father’s affairs and spend time together as a family. As they get close to the farmstead, an incident occurs on a forest road plunging them into a dire encounter with a creature in the wilderness. Seeking refuge on the family farm, the trio barricade the doors against the monster outside, only to find a threat emerges within, as Blake begins to act strangely, and undergoes a strange transformation into a more primal force.
What’s admirable about Wolf Man is a determination to repurpose the mythology behind this creature feature into something more intimate and poignant. Centering the film around a family, already challenged in its stability and variances in levels of intimacy, and upending things with encounter with this lupine menace An ominous dread builds as a ‘sickness’ consumes Blake and his inner, primal nature comes to the fore. The slow creeping shift (both physical and psychological) into this lycan state is well portrayed, both by the practical effects work and the performance of Abbott himself. Its considered and effective body horror at play. Where Whannell really finds his footing is in crafting long sequences and building tension, including a standout sequence involving a greenhouse roof. The sound work and cinematography both impress, both notably employed in a series of sequences that flip perspectives between the human world and the lycan one.
While these components work, there are fundamental problems with the film that undercut its potential. The narrative is simple yes, but underdeveloped. The characters and their arcs are poorly scripted while dialogue is excruciatingly clunky at times. The main issue is that this feels like a film with misplaced priorities. The Invisible Man dealt with resonant themes that serve as the foundation of the film, and served as a way to leap off into a creature feature. Here, themes of generational trauma (yes, a horror film yet again used to explore trauma) feel to tacked on to a threadbare plot and dynamic as a way to try and connect the film and events to an audience. It’s a muddled approach that undermines its success. The script from Whannell and Corbett Tuck is just under-baked and predictable, clunkily weaving in subtext, and paying insufficient attention to its small cast. Abbot gets plenty to chew on (no pun intended) with his role, but Garner suffers, with her character being pretty sidelined. Charlotte seems poised to come to the fore as the film advances, but never really reaches that level. The finale falls rather flat too, again stemming from insufficient buildup as well as a lackluster resolution. It’s not all bad, but taken as a whole, Wolf Man is just all too lean and lacks bite.
Wolf Man tears up cinemas from January 17th
