‘Wolf Man’ Review: Backwoods Retelling Of Classic Universal Monsters Tale
Leigh Whannell’s latest go at tackling Universal Monsters has culminated in Wolf Man, a unique take and commentary on family and protection.
Fresh off a well-received film in The Invisible Man, which surprised both critically and commercially back in 2020, Leigh Whannell’s output has been steely calm. But now a follow-up film, in the form of Wolf Man, has been released this time tackling themes of parenthood, family, and sins of the father. Read our Wolf Man review below.
Wolf Man follows father Blake Lovell (Christopher Abbott) who, following the disappearance and death declaration of his father Grady (Sam Jaeger), moves back home to the family’s property in rural Oregon. There, he and his family (Julia Garner’s Charlotte and Matilda Firth’s Ginger) are met with torment and a supernatural threat unlike one they’ve ever seen. Read the official synopsis below:
From Blumhouse and visionary writer-director Leigh Whannell, the creators of the chilling modern monster tale The Invisible Man, comes a terrifying new lupine nightmare: Wolf Man.
Golden Globe nominee Christopher Abbott (Poor Things, It Comes at Night) stars as Blake, a San Francisco husband and father, who inherits his remote childhood home in rural Oregon after his own father vanishes and is presumed dead. With his marriage to his high-powered wife, Charlotte (Emmy winner Julia Garner; Ozark, Inventing Anna), fraying, Blake persuades Charlotte to take a break from the city and visit the property with their young daughter, Ginger (Matlida Firth; Hullraisers, Coma).

Prior to watching the film, I had been going through a bit of a backwoods horror kick, from stuff like The Blair Witch Project, to more grounded stories like Deliverance, that whole subgenre really interests me and the atmosphere created within really struck me as something compelling. So when the opportunity to re-explore some of Universal Monsters’ more grounded characters presented itself in Wolf Man, I said sign me up and got ready to view the film.
The marketing for this film has both accurately portrayed the film, and done it a disservice. From the titular Wolf Man design that was revealed bizarrely at Universal Horror Nights, to the marketing itself feeling empty, there was plenty of reason for audiences to be sceptical about the release of this film. Suffice to say that reason was warranted, but at the same time, it works in the film itself. The movie is basic on a written level, taking not many liberties with the story, eventually turning into a back-and-forth, with characters being chased around the same location for the bulk of the 90-minute runtime.
Whannell excels here with the technical aspects, from the long drawn-out transformation to the body-horror and gore that brings you back to the maker’s Saw days, the film is a masterclass in technical aspects. The cinematography itself is really interesting and how the film plays with perspective is applaudable, showing a clear divide between the human world and the supernatural alternative.

Where the film falters is this emptiness, not delivering on several of the proposed metaphors that were alluded to in the first act of the film. For example, the film focuses heavily on the fatherly relationship between Blake and his daughter, contrasting it to the relationship between Blake and his father, but the film falls short, as not even halfway into the runtime, Blake becomes non-verbal and can no longer converse some of these ideas in a way for the audiences to recognise. The physicality of the performance is still very much there, but it could have been so much more. Christopher Abbott uses his expertise in film to deliver a commanding performance, one that doesn’t overshadow the rest of the film’s small cast, but one that instead uplifts the others.
I did enjoy how the film came full circle eventually, and in more ways than one, showing how Blake became his daughter’s biggest threat despite doing everything in his power to protect him, and how Charlotte and Ginger mimicked Blake and his father from the beginning of the film, even right down to the location.

While the film comes across more as a remake of David Cronenberg’s The Fly, it’s wolf-manliness does come through when it matters, and for that I respect Whannell’s unique and contemporary take on the character, thrusting one of Universal’s coolest monsters back into the spotlight- where he belongs.
Wolf Man stars Christopher Abbott as Blake Lovell, Julia Garner as Charlotte Lovell, Matilda Firth as Ginger Lovell, and Sam Jaeger as Grady Lovell. The film is written and directed by Leigh Whannell and produced by Jason Blum alongside Ryan Gosling.
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