‘The Wolf Man’ movie review: Universal Pictures’ horror classic reboot is one to remember

Julia Garner, from left, Christopher Abbott and Matilda Firth in a scene from ‘The Wolf Man’ Photo Credit: Nicola Dove

After the amazing success ofinvisible man, Director Leigh Whannell returns to reboot one of Universal Pictures’ most iconic horror titles. Whereas invisible man This proved to be the outing that could revive the Dark Universe which was shot down after the failure Mummy, Filmmaker’s latest film Wolf Man Shows why the possibilities for finding that universe are deeper than the movies could have found.

In the latest iteration of Wolf Man, After his father suddenly disappears along with the keys to his childhood home, Blake (Christopher Abbott) decides to take a trip there to save his strained marriage with Charlotte (Julia Garner). With their baby Ginger (Matilda Firth) in tow, the couple drive to the middle of nowhere when they are attacked by a mysterious creature similar to the one Blake saw 30 years earlier. When one of them becomes infected while fleeing from a monster, the barricaded safehouse turns into a trap.

The problem with tried-and-tested stories and the chaos that comes with them is a sense of redundancy and predictability, and that’s Wolf Man Suffering from. Like the original 1941 film, Wolf Man The story of a cursed man whose transformation into a hideous creature comes with the emotional pain of turning into a nightmare for his own relatives. Despite the extremely thin story, it’s Abbott and Garner’s performances that save the film. This is what makes drastic turns like a character handling the wheel while operating from behind for most of the film not seem very funny.

Julia Garner, from left, Christopher Abbott and Matilda Firth in a scene from ‘The Wolf Man’ Photo Credit: Nicola Dove

After a neat prologue that sets the stage for an interesting story, the film takes a downturn. The fact that the story is based on body horror rather than scares also doesn’t work in its favor. But the choice of prosthetics and practical effects instead of CG makes for some charming, old-school gore-shows and they come as a welcome relief in this horror movie that needed more scares.

Of course, there are features of intelligent writing that rear their heads like a werewolf on the day of the full moon – like the cool POV shots of the infected as they descend into madness. But what overwhelms them are the predictable aspects of the film, including clichés such as one character being a writer and a child saying after escaping the clutches of death, “I want to go home “. Not to mention the banality of being a ‘cabin in the woods’ movie along with the usual ups and downs like the inability to communicate with the outside world.

Wolf ManIn a way, it tries to honor the legacy of the original film by sticking to practical effects. But with a simple and formulaic plot, the performances can’t do much good.Wolf Man We lack anything to sink our teeth into.

The Wolf Man is currently playing in theaters