Oh, if you are going in expecting a "werewolf" movie, you're going to be sorely disappointed. Wolf Man is a radical departure from anything we've seen before or will likely see again from a werewolf/ Wolf Man movie (One example: Most of this film is the transformation scene, think David Cronenberg's The Fly). This Wolf Man is going to be about as divisive as Halloween Ends was, if not more so.
The cinematography, sound design, and score are superb. Christopher Abbott puts on a true transformative, physical performance as Blake/ Wolf Man. He's easily one of the best things about this film. The choice to set the majority of the film at a desolate farmhouse was a wise one as well. The atmosphere is consistently rich, thick, and tense.
The storytelling can be very blunt, the foreshadowing during the first act is obvious, and not all the dots connect by the end (There are plot holes left unfilled and questions unanswered). Characters don't always talk in realistic ways either. As for the design of our 'Wolf Man", I'll leave that for you to discover on your own....all I'll say is, I wasn't in love with it, but it definitely looks better than what we got at HHN (He's definitely freaky looking). Those expecting or wanting some supernatural elements are bound to leave unhappy. Gone are Wolfsbane, full moons, silver bullets, and Gypsy curses.
Leigh Whannell strips the werewolf/Wolf Man mythos down to it's absolute bare essentials, reimagining and re-interpreting it in the process. It still retains many of the classic tragic elements we've come to associate with the werewolf film, making this one familiar yet exceedingly different. Whannell uses the metaphor of a Wolf Man to tell a tale involving generational trauma, parenthood, and sins of the father (It's not unlike The Shining novel, in as much as the protagonists of both are struggling fathers who are desperately trying not to repeat the mistakes of their parents).
This latest version of Wolf Man gets a lot right, while still fumbling the ball in some critical areas. It's not great, but it's also not terrible. It's consistently interesting, intriguing, tense, and scary. Those open to something new or those who walk in with an open mind might find something to enjoy here, while anyone looking for something closer to the classic Wolf Man film will likely leave disappointed.
3.5 STARS