You know, even though they’re arguably one of horror’s most iconic monsters, the werewolf has never really had a great run in popular fiction.
Yes, we’ve had our American Werewolf in London-ses, our Gingersnaps and our Dog Soldiers – even more modern indie takes on the genre, like Late Phases. But, as a whole, the werewolf seems to evade the clutches of cinema at large.
Which is why I was so looking forward to Leigh Whannell’s take on Wolf Man, his second foray into the Universal Monster canon, after the brilliant Invisible Man. Whannell (even though he will always be Adam Stanheight to me) has proved himself as an excellent director in the last few years, blending an obvious passion for the genre with a fresh, sharp style and an ability to blend excellent entertainment value with some meatier themes, and Wolf Man seemed like a perfect fit for his talents.
And, spoiler alert: I think it turned out to be just that. I’ve seen some mixed reviews of the movie, and frankly, I’m not sure what it didn’t do that critics and audiences expected of it. The film follows Blake Lovell (Christopher Abbott) as he returns to his childhood home in the Oregon wilderness to clear out the home of his missing father, joined by his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) and daughter Ginger – but there’s worse out there than just some deadly mushrooms and bad fashion choices.
The werewolf story, by its design, is a sort of choose-your-own-metaphor: the duality inherent at the heart of the monster makes it pretty adaptable to almost anything you can imagine, from puberty to anger to queerness and more. Leigh Whannell pulls on a few different aspects for Wolf Man – specifically, the werewolf as both a representation of paternal trauma and how that overlaps with the duality of Blake’s character and emotions. He’s a loving father and a husband really trying to build a family with his wife, but his upbringing by a controlling and obsessive father (played, in the film’s tight but vital prologue, by a very restrained and genuinely excellent Sam Jaeger) has left him with a short fuse that he struggles to keep a handle on. The script paints in broad strokes, but that doesn’t mean it’s not effective, especially with such a great, committed, and very physical performance from Abbott to hang it all on.
But, forget the metaphor – what about the actual werewolf? I’ve got to say, I really love how Whannell uses his stylish, slick approach to fill out the werewolf side of this story – Blake is the main character throughout this entire movie, even deep into transformation, as Whannell hopes deftly between his increasingly-animalistic perspective and that of his wife and daughter. The body horror is appropriately grotesque – I heard someone groan out loud in the cinema when his fingernails started to pop off – and, after Upgrade, anyone who doubts Whannell’s skills as an action director only needs to glance at the couple of action sequences in Wolf Man to dissuade themselves of that.
Wolf Man does exactly what it says on the tin, and does it brilliantly. Is it blowing the doors off the genre? No, it’s not, but it’s a movie that takes everything good about werewolf movies and puts them through the distinctive, polished Whannell treatment. What comes out the other side is an unsettling, compelling, and downright entertaining werewolf flick that’s a worthy entry into the Universal Monsters canon.
Which of the Universal Monsters are you hoping to see turn up in Whannell’s next movie? I would love to hear about it in the comments below!
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By Lou MacGregor
(header image via IMDB)
No But Listen 