“Wolf Man” film review: With the senses of a beast

Above all, this work will be a horror feast for our senses because we immerse ourselves directly in the werewolf's perceptual world.

A werewolf like that is a pretty hairy affair – even shaving your entire body won't help. Luckily, horror specialist Leigh Whannell isn't afraid of such beasts and has finally given us a film with this theme. After “The Invisible Man,” “Wolf Man” is unofficially another contemporary continuation of Universal's Dark Universe, although this project is no longer called that after the thoroughly failed cruise flop “The Mummy.”

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Scene from “Wolf Man”

Threat within your own four walls

A missing father, a broken marriage and a lonely country house – the story is built on these motifs. Blake (Christopher Abbot) wants to combine two important tasks: inheriting the inheritance of his missing and ultimately declared dead father and saving his marriage. That's why he drives with his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) and daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth) from San Francisco to the rural expanses of Oregon to his childhood home.

But shortly before their arrival, things become dramatic for the family – an unknown creature attacks them in the middle of the forest and causes the three of them to barricade themselves in the house. From now on, the danger within her own four walls is just as great, as Blake exhibits increasingly sinister behavior, and Charlotte has some difficult decisions to make.

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Scene from “Wolf Man”

Painful loss of humanity

“American Werewolf” once set new standards in terms of tricks and mask technology in the horror genre when it came to showing the transformation into a beast. “Wolf Man” doesn't focus so much on the few seconds of the final transformation, but instead lets us experience with agonizing attention to detail how the person bitten slowly but surely loses his humanity.

These moments were really impressively implemented and the first sign of change is something special: Blake hears a mysterious scratching and rumbling on the upper floor of the house – when he gets to the bottom of the source of the noise, he is not the only one who is amazed. Further steps of dehumanization follow, such as some hair and tooth loss or loss of the ability to speak; It seems even worse that he can no longer understand the voices of his closest relatives.

Whannell had a brilliant idea and decided to show us this transformation process again and again through the eyes and ears of the victim, while we then again assume the perspective of the human counterpart after the camera pans 180 degrees.

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Scene from “Wolf Man”

Body make-up and prosthetics

“Wolf Man” is actually the story of a terminal illness, and much of the horror comes from family members having to watch up close as it takes its unchangeable course. Christopher Abbott eventually disappears under ever-increasing layers of body make-up and prosthetics, but despite all these external aids, he offers a magnificent performance that actually doesn't scare us so much as deeply touch us.

In comparison, his two colleagues have a difficult time. In any case, Matilda Firth proves to be a promising young actress, while Julia Garner only has a somewhat cold performance here, because her main task is limited to two requirements: either she stands around stunned or takes action fleeing in panic.

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Scene from “Wolf Man”

Tricky problem

The main part of the film takes place during a single night, when of course the full moon should be in the sky (although we don't notice it). In the finale, we see a scene repeated after a period of 30 years under different circumstances, and the film finally leaves us with a tricky question: Can the sight of a beautiful landscape adequately compensate for a night full of horror? However, something else can easily be decided in January: “Wolf Man” is without a doubt one of the best horror films of this year.

4 out of 5 werewolves who like to eat themselves.