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Wolf Man

Monster movies are having a small moment to begin 2025. First we had vampires, and now we have werewolves. Unfortunately, I think the vampires might have won this round.

This review is spoiler-free!

Wolf Man is an exceedingly well made movie from a cinematography and directing perspective that nonetheless buckles under a weak script, spotty acting, and a third act that doesn't really go anywhere.

And it really is a shame because the first act is kind of incredible. Sure, the establishing scenes to get our characters up to the remote Oregon woods displayed some of the worst acting and most heavy handed dialogue, but the opening scene taking place in the 90s? The Jurassic Park-esque scene involving the moving van (which was practically done, by the way)?

Absolutely some of the best tension in a movie in a long time. It really is a shame that the rest of the movie couldn't maintain that quality. Not that what followed was bad by any means. I was still invested and enjoyed every second of the 103 minute runtime. But ideas, themes, and concepts are introduced only to immediately be ignored. Multiple Chekhov's guns are shown, but they never fire.

By the time the third act rolled around, I realized what they were trying to do and all tension just disappeared. The ending wasn't earned. Not really. Not compared to where I had initially hoped the movie would go. Again, I genuinely enjoyed the movie. But as soon as I started to look back on it, the flaws became more apparent.

This is one movie that I would recommend seeing in theatres if only because of the sound design. It does so much heavy lifting for not only the general tension, but also when it comes to selling the actual werewolf transformation. It's probably the most interesting idea in the movie, even if it really is little more than visual flourish.

The visual flourishes are very pretty, though. Every so often, we'd dip into Werewolf POV, and it was such a creative idea that I had not seen before. A lot of it was done practically on set through lighting changes. Always one of my favorite things. I just wish that they had done more with it or that we got to see it more often.

As for the actual transformation itself... it was very gross, which is honestly what you kinda want when it comes to body horror. I just wish that the actual design was a little different. It did pay homage to the original 1941 design, but I wanted it to be hairier. It was more Man Wolf than Wolf Man.

Random Thoughts

I assume that the daughter, Ginger, is a reference to Ginger Snaps.

Seriously, this movie is genuinely gross at times. To the point where I was very glad that I didn't order any popcorn.

I did like the wolfy mannerisms that our werewolf started to display even before the full transformation kicked in. Just how he held and tilted his head was great.

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An Honest Fangirl loves video games, horror movies, and superheroes, and occasionally manages to put words together in a coherent and pleasing manner.

1 comment:

  1. I was curious about this one (and Nosferatu of course, as I have the original silent movie on DVD and it holds up rather well), as I am a fan of the 1941 movie and this genre in general, but most of the reviews I've seen are middling at best.

    I can handle gross, I listen to bands like Carcass and Cannibal Corpse after all, but hopefully it works better here than so many horror movies that push gore over everything else. Thanks for the review!

    ReplyDelete

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