Wolf Man (2025) is a reminder of how heartening it is to see classic movie monsters on screen. Before The Invisible Man (2020) was released, the fate of Universal’s classic monsters’ existence in our modern landscape was in flux. Universal had tried and failed to launch a cinematic universe, which they haphazardly dubbed the “Dark Universe” with The Mummy (2017). With this brief endeavor, the studio failed to understand what audiences have loved about these monsters for nearly a century of cinema, let alone what continues to make them frightening today.
What worked so well when director Leigh Whannell revitalized one of Universal’s beloved classic monsters for a modern audience with The Invisible Man was how it brought the character and Universal’s monster movie legacy back to basics. Whannell provided a straightforward, tense, and relevant rendition to the screen by using the Invisible Man character to tell an intimate story about long-term trauma that sprouted from an abusive relationship. It was a take that blew away expectations and made many interested to see what he would do next within the horror genre and potentially with a different Universal monster. Five years later, Whannell has brought audiences his take on The Wolf Man (1941).
Although Wolf Man doesn’t feel as innovative as The Invisible Man or have anything nearly as relevant to say through its story, it’s a reminder that Whannell understands how to heighten what continues to make these classic characters horrifying.
When his estranged father passes away, Blake (Christopher Abbott) travels to Oregon with his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) and daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth) to gather the assets Blake’s father left behind. On their way to his father’s farm, the family crosses paths with a creature that infects Blake with a crippling disease. As he transforms into whatever attacked them in the woods, the family finds themselves barricaded inside Blake’s childhood home, hoping to remain safe from the danger stalking them outside as the danger within only grows.
What directly sets Wolf Man apart from the character’s previous iterations is how heavily Whannell leans into the body horror elements synonymous with the monster’s nature. Whannell thrillingly places the viewer in Blake’s shoes throughout every step of his evolving transformation, employing techniques that allow us to identify with what Blake is going through. One of the most effective is the several instances when the camera pans from Charlotte and Ginger to Blake. When the shot begins, the audience stands in the shoes of Blake’s wife and child, seeing and hearing what they see and hear. Once the camera arrives to face Blake, viewers become fully enveloped by the distortion of senses that Blake is experiencing.
As the illness takes hold, Blake transforms physically, losing his teeth, nails, and hair in a gruesome fashion thanks to gory make-up effects work by Arjen Tuitn. As Blake’s body contorts in ways reminiscent of the classic body horror monster movie The Fly (1986), he also loses his sense of self. Eventually, he loses the ability to understand and see those most important to him. As viewers, we witness this loss in real time from both sides.
Aiding in this endeavor is the sense of claustrophobia from being confined to one space for most of the film. Whannell and sound designers P.K. Hooker and Will Files make the house feel like a character, ensuring each door bears a distinct shiver-inspiring creak as they open and close. One of the feature’s most frightening and tense moments is entirely earned by the sound design. As Blake’s senses heighten, his hearing becomes much more focused and detailed. What he initially believes may be the sound of the creature outside banging on the walls somewhere in the house, trying to burst through, turns out to be a spider’s legs slowly crawling up a wall in a closet.
While the film succeeds in imbuing its horror with a compelling personality, it doesn’t reach the mark of fulfilling the same objective for its characters. With only three characters guiding the audience through the story, they must be as fleshed out as possible to keep the audience’s attention and concern for their well-being. Unfortunately, the characterization can be described as thin at best with the most intriguing element being Blake’s relationship with Ginger.
Having grown up with a father who made him fear him more than love him, Blake has made it his mission as a father to protect his daughter from potential darkness. He focuses so much on keeping her from being scarred that he doesn’t realize he’s putting himself in the position to be the person that eventually scars her. It’s an interesting commentary on parenting that gets explored enough that its inclusion doesn’t feel wasted, but leaves viewers wanting much more.
Abbott excels as a protector who slowly loses his ability to be the person his family needs him to be. Seeing him fight the transformation into the creature to no avail makes his predicament all the more painful and viewers begin to feel conflicted about how they hope the story plays out for Blake’s sake and his family’s.
Charlotte is given much less to do emotionally. At the start of the film, the audience learns that Blake and Charlotte are having marriage troubles and that Charlotte feels like it’s difficult for her to earn Ginger’s affection which Blake receives so easily. Once the werewolf plot ensues, both concepts are pushed to the background. Garner is a gifted performer who makes the most of what she’s given but when her character feels like an afterthought, it’s harder to get behind her emotionally. This is especially disappointing considering the strong female lead in The Invisible Man has proven to be one of the most enduringly memorable lead characters in horror of the last decade.
Wolf Man gets to the root of the horror behind the titular monster. As the person cursed with the affliction loses their humanity and becomes blind to everything important to them in life, we’re forced to watch as they jeopardize the safety of those they care about as they further become vicious animals. It’s terrifying to Blake suffer through this. However, if a greater emphasis was placed on the tragedy the characters experience, Whannell could have added new layers to this story that would have made it worthy to stand alongside his previous monster movie entry.
Review Courtesy of Evan Miller
Feature Image Credit to Universal via The Hollywood Reporter