This is a well-directed and generally competently produced film. Visually, it’s atmospheric, and the performances, especially from Matilda Firth, are really good.
The sound design is fantastic, and the body transformations are incredibly well captured, from the sound design to the practical effects to Christopher Abbott’s performance.
This is a good horror movie, but we have to keep it real—this is mean't to be a Wolf Man story, it is even in the name.
Usually, I’d say, “I didn’t know what to expect,” but with Wolf Man, I knew exactly what to expect and that's the primary source of my disappointed. Coming from Leigh Whannell, the director of Upgrade and Invisible Man, Wolf Man felt like watching a genius fumble through a local theatre production. Where did all the brilliance go?
First, the setup, a family decides to take a vacation in a remote cabin despite every red flag imaginable.
No electricity, no cell service, isolated and creepy aura—brilliant. Let’s go there. The premise I thought had promise, a man wrestling with his inner beast and the idea of rage as a hereditary curse.
But instead of leaning into the thrills of the Wolf Man, the film ends up being a two-hour parade of missed opportunities.
The “vacation in the creepy cabin” setup? Played out as expected. The transformations, though incredible, are uninspired, they drag on so long you’d think they were re-inventing the werewolves genre.
And don’t get me started on the werewolf design, it’s less of a “ferocious beast” and more of a “hairless alley dog on a bad day.”
Walking out, it felt like Whannell was cutting costs. Half the movie is spent staring at Christopher Abbott looking sweaty and confused, while his family does inexplicably dumb things, like staying in a house that will remind you of any generic horror movie.
The dialogue could have been better, it’s pure cardboard. The characters, in terms of writing, feel as flat as the screen they’re projected on.
By the end, even the big reveal felt like a punchline that doesn't land. Blumhouse’s budget-friendly tactics are usually clever, but here, they’re just cheap.