Wolfman(2025)(Review) - Gruesome Gazette

Most of you know by now that my mission statement is standing up for the little guy. Whenever a movie comes out that is universally hated, I cannot help but dive in and offer my personal opinions on things instead of doing what most do and just mimic what they hear. Director Leigh Whannell (The Invisible Man, Upgrade, Insidious: Chapter Three) is one of my favorite contemporary writers in the horror scene, and with how impressive his re-make of Universal’s ‘The Invisible Man’ was I was honestly excited to check out his new adaptation of ‘Wolfman’. So, how does it really stand up?

‘Wolfman’ centers around Blake (Christopher Abbott), Charlotte (Julia Gardner), and their daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth). In a cold-open, we see Blake as a young child living alone with his father in the middle of the Oregon woods. The woods are breath-takingly beautiful, but eery. They go hunting together but must return to their home by sundown because of rumors of a strange creature that has been lurking at night and is the cause of several missing people. It sets the scene and builds tension without giving us too much.

Fast forward a few decades, and Blake has received word that his father has been pronounced dead. They haven’t spoken in a long time, but Blake is excited to bring his family to his old home and show them the enchanting landscape as they collect some things from the home. But after getting lost on the way there and running into one of his old childhood friends, they are finally on the right trek when a strange bi-pedal humanoid creature stands in the middle of the road, causing them to swerve off a small-cliff. When they come back to, Blake is scratched by the creature before they finally make it safely to the home. What entails is essentially a home invasion of the creature versus them, as well as a body-horror developing as Blake begins to become something otherworldly.

Now, let’s diverge from here into two parts: the good and the bad. It’s worth celebrating that in typical Leigh Whannell fashion the directing, cinematography, and ideas are fantastic. It’s a beautiful film to watch, the acting is strong, and the heart of the story makes sense. It develops into a story that continuously builds tension and has sufficient scares around every corner. The house we are trapped in is unkempt and creaky, and since it’s unfamiliar to 2/3 characters it can become disorienting at times. The transformation sequences are not only prosthetic-heavy and a clever diversion from the expected path, but we get some very cool ideas such as an amplified sense of sound and a sense of night vision – which are both experienced by both Blake and the audience at times.

As for the bad: the grief within a family story is a bit overplayed at this point, and feels familiar to the stakes we previously got in ‘The Invisible Man’ but not as powerful. The main wolfman design is intentionally different, and while I’m not mad at all about it, I can understand why so many people were disappointed with it – the stunt that Universal pulled during their Halloween Horror Nights event (without the filmmakers approval, I’d like to add) definitely set the audience against this film before it even had a chance.

So, where do I stand on this experience? It’s solid.

It has a balance of effective innovation and overdone tropes that set it in the mediocre camp, but ultimately it works. It’s a fun journey that doesn’t feel bloated for time and gives us a tense experience if you let it do it’s thing.

The reality is if this was named anything else werewolf related – and not pitched as a re-imagining of the classic ‘The Wolf Man’ – it would’ve been much more successful. Viewer’s expectations, along with the miss-aligned stunt pulled by Universal with their very hap-hazard wolfman design for their Halloween exhibit, and a not-entirely-fresh perspective certainly work against this film. But, if you accept the fact that the new creature design is literally a “Wolf-Man”, it makes much more sense.

But as I always suggest, if you go in with very limited expectation and just take the film for what it is, it’s honestly not a bad time. Definitely not “best of the year” material, but I promise it’s better than other reviewers or typical audiences would lead you to believe.

3/5

“Wolfman” is currently available to rent on VOD services, and will be streaming on Peacock in the next few weeks.

‘Til Next Time,
Mike Cleopatra