WolfMan

Plot

Blake is a young married father, discovers that his long missing father has finally been declared deceased. He heads back to his old hometown to go through the belongings but his family are attacked by a ‘beast’ of some sort.

As the night goes on, Blake begins turning into the very beast that attacked him, and his wife and daughter must seek shelter from him.

Direction

Directed by Saw writer/actor Leigh Whannell uses good use of shadows, especially while Blake’s hallucinations.

The beautiful nature scenes of Oregon are used well, and are blended into the screenplay well.

I quite liked the opening sequence with great use of diegetic sound. There is also good use of misdirect with the audience able to watch through the eyes of young Blake as he looks through the sight on the gun.

Cast/Characters

A minimalist cast with really only three actors.

Christopher Abbott plays Blake, who does a solid job as the ‘first protagonist’ Blake – who slowly descends into the illness becoming a wolf/werewolf/wolfman throughout the film.

Julia Garner, who normally does amazing work (my review on her other recent horror film Apartment 7A is coming soon). Sadly here she is mis-written (not miscast) as Blake’s wife Charlotte, Ginger’s mother.

Matilda Firth plays their daughter Ginger.

Breakdown

We are introduced to the character of Blake as a youth, who lives with his militant father. The opening 15 minutes or so are done really well, and make Blake a empathetic character you want to root for.

As an adult, he left his near abusive childhood, and his father went missing years ago. This is an obvious clue to the third act where a fully formed “Blake Wolfman” fights the Wolfman that bit him.

The odd relationship between both Blake and Charlotte while not given much backstory is believable, especially as the pair have very little chemistry together. It is the strained relationship between Charlotte and Ginger that makes no sense.

Had they changed the screenplay to have Charlotte not be Ginger’s bio mum, and make her the step mother instead would have made way more sense. Especially given how the movie ends.

Blake’s relationship with his “deceased” father has the cliche “is he really dead?” trope ** spoiler ** he is the new wolfman who turns Blake. This does leave the unanswered question of who was Blake’s father hunting in the opening, and who turned him? And where is that wolfman now?

The midpoint of the film shifts protagonists as Blake’s ‘illness’ progresses – Charlotte becomes the focal point.

The progression of Blake’s illness feels like it goes too quickly, all happening in one night. Once again, a change to the screenplay making it occur over several days would have improved the nightmare that the characters are going through.

Because of the “one night” they rush the cut to day too quick, with it being pitch black to day within once frame cut.

I thought the way they revealed the wolf man was done well, with the first true shot of it not occurring until well over an hour into the film – similar “monster” reveal like great movies like Jaws, Jurassic Park etc.

I thought there was a very good score too, especially during the Wolfman v Wolfman scene near the end.

I did hope for a different ending, especially being a father to a daughter.

Overall

While nothing at all to write home about, there is still enough here to give it a respectable pass. A few changes to the narrative would have made a far better viewing experience. There were good tense moments (the truck crash, Blake’s progression of turning) and some good graphic moments that even I had to turn away from (that arm chewing scene!).

Worth a watch, but forgettable the next day.

3.5/5