Wolf Man starts in 1995 with some poor bastard lost in the Oregon woods, supposedly cursed with this thing called wolf face, and when we fast forward to today, Blake (Christopher Abbott) finds out his old man’s officially dead.
He decides to then drag his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) and their daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth) out to the middle of nowhere to clear out his dad’s house, and things kick off, and suddenly everyone’s up to their necks in some hairy chaos,
I loved the sound design in Wolf Man, it’s all quite eerie.
You’ve got generators coughing and taps creaking, and wolf howls sneaking in just enough to keep you on edge, and when Blake starts turning into the Wolf Man, it’s not just sight to watch, it’s sight to hear, and the transformation itself I thought was pretty good with its prosthetics and practical effects.
Blake’s change is quite mesmerizing, and even when he’s full wolf, Abbott nails it as you can still see the man in there, clinging on, with nothing but his eyes and a few pitiful little noises.
There’s a scene in the film where we get to see the world from Blake’s wolfy perspective, where everything’s distorted, and it’s creepy and brilliant, even if the werewolf's design is shall we say, different.
Wolf Man also attempts to take a more realistic approach with its storyline, moving away from the usual werewolf tales, and while the idea is interesting, the execution falls a bit flat, missing the depth and tension needed to pull you in.
Some of the plot and character decisions were a bit silly as well, and while not surprising, it is still silly with some usual cliches in full swing as well, and its a film that feels like it has potential, but just lacks enough memorable moments, and it all ends up a bit forgettable and a film that never really howls as loud as it should.
Christopher Abbott as Blake and Julia Garner as Charlotte deliver solid enough performances though, even if their roles don’t fully deserve them, as Abbott’s Blake goes from tame to terrifying, while Garner tries to make her character’s quick jump from busy journalist to action hero feel believable, though it happens too fast, and their daughter, Ginger, brings some much needed depth to her character.
But both Abbott and Garner aren't really given enough to work with, much more so Garner, and I never really felt much of an emotional connection as needed and the film relies heavily on this aspect.
It just doesn't have enough depth to be as emotionally powerful as it is intending, and even the moments that should have been impactful mostly fall flat..
Overall, Wolf Man is watchable I thought, it has its moments and the sound design is excellent, but I found to be ultimately a disappointing and somewhat forgettable experience though that doesn't leave too much of a strong impression and most of the interesting moments occur during the transformation, and is a film that just feels too rushed. [Wolf Man on IMDB] [Where To Watch Wolf Man]