After resurrecting The Invisible Man, anticipation ran high when it was announced Leigh Whannell would be moving onto Wolf Man. Picking up where Ryan Gosling (staying around as producer) and director Derek Cianfrance left off, I’m not sure what others may have expected — it’s currently sitting at a measly 55% on RottenTomatoes for what that’s worth — but this is another home run for Whannell. Assured direction and unbearable tension from start to finish, Wolf Man packs a surprisingly emotional gut punch with one subplot making it a full fledged daddy/daughter survival flick. Something unexpected, but hugely appreciated, for future repeat viewings.
In 1995, an Oregon hiker vanished and has been rumored to have contracted a virus said to give you the “face of a wolf.” One day, on a hunting trip, young Blake Lovell (Zac Chandler) and his father, Grady (Sam Jaeger) are attacked by an animal standing on two legs. Thirty years later, Blake receives a long-awaited death certificate for his estranged father, along with keys to his childhood home. To much chagrin, he talks his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) into taking some time off to head to the house and try to patch up their rocky relationship. Along with their daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth), they hit the road and before you can say “howl,” they’re attacked on the road by an animal, leaving Blake infected, and Charlotte and Ginger left to decide whether the danger inside is worse than out.
Whannell has always been clear that this Wolf Man was going to be heavily influenced by David Cronenberg’s The Fly and it’s obvious. Trading the mark of the beast in for a super virus makes for a super fast transformation with the film taking place mostly across one night. Practical effects reign supreme with Abbott giving a great performance as he slowly transforms from man to beast, with Whannell sticking to more beastly characteristics than superpowers. This even leads to a great reference to his own Saw by the time the credits roll. There’s also some possibly unintentional referencing of Steven Spielberg’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park, to which I was probably the only person who may have caught them.
Garner puts in one hell of an anchoring performance, with Firth also managing a realistic portrayal of a girl who loves her daddy so much that no matter how bad things get, she just wants what’s best for him. Kudos to Stefan Duscio’s cinematography, Andy Canny’s tight editing, and Benjamin Wallfisch’s gnarly score, for moving things along at a brisk pace, while leaving plenty of breathing room for the cast to keep us grounded between the set pieces. Falling into the minority with a January horror movie is nothing new for me, it happens basically every year. And make no bones about it, Wolf Man is another one to add to my belt. Hopefully it can find an audience, not just because it deserves it, but because if this is the start of 2025 for horror, we’re in for a howling good time.
