Wolf Man Movie Review

“Wolf Man” is new twist on the old idea of a man turning into a beast. This version becomes a ‘Family Affair’. When a guy and his wife take their young daughter to the place when the guy grew up – the wild woods around them become savage. But so does that guy, when he is attacked by a … well, take a look at the movie title.

Back out in a remote part of Oregon, up in the remote woods — lives a hunter and his son. The hunter, named Grady (played by Sam Jaeger). He has a young boy named Blake (played by Zac Chandler). Grady is very strict and gives Blake a hard time about going out on a hunt. There are things out here that can kill you — or even worse. Grady does not explain the ‘or worse’ part…

Then it is thirty years later, and the much older Blake (played by Christopher Abbott) is out with daughter. He lives in San Francisco with his wife Charlotte (played by Julia Garner). They have a daughter named Ginger (played by Matilda Firth). Her hair is not red, by the way. Blake has a very good relationship with Ginger. His relationship with Charlotte is not as good.

One day Blake gets a piece of mail that he always expected. The State of Oregon has declared his father dead. It has been a couple of decades that Grady went out on a hunting trip and never returned. Blake had moved out prior to that and joined the Marines. He never kept in contact with the old man.

Blake now owns the old house at the edge of woods in Oregon. His father, who is now presumed and legally declared dead, will not use that property. Blake wants the whole family to take a trip up there and get to see where he grew up. Charlotte does not like that idea, because she knows Blake has nothing but bad memories of that place.

Soon they are on the back roads in Oregon. The whole family is there, Blake and Charlotte, with Ginger in the back of the rental moving van. Of course, there is no cell service — so they are unable to look on a Google map to find out where they are. Blake knows they are close by. They all see a man in a raised structure –a deer blind used for hunting.

The man (played by Benedict Hardie) is the son of old man Grady’s hunting friend. He offers to get them over to the Grady property, now vacant for many years. He warns that being out after dark is not a good thing. Of course, he does not explain the ‘not a good thing’ part. But before he can give any details…

Blake sees some someone, or something, standing in the road in front of them. He swerves the rental truck off the road, but there is only a steep hill-lined cliff right there. The crash causes the hunter to fall out to the ground. Charlotte and Ginger are able to get out. Blake is just about to get out of the truck, when something (or someone?) cuts deep scratches in his arm.

They run for it, and Blake is able to find the old homestead. It has not been occupied since Grady left many, many years ago. He was declared dead, but his body was never found. Quickly, Blake and Charlotte and Ginger make it inside. It seems like some wild beast is out there, stalking them.

Blake is able to find a way to turn on an old diesel generator. There is no phone or any other communication. Blake remembers his dear old dad had a CB radio. He finds it and tries to make contact. Charlotte notices that Blake has deep gash and a severe wound on his arm. Blake is beginning to feel strange, and he loses a tooth.

Things are not normal for Blake. He can hear things that he could never hear before. He feels really ill and he some type of extreme medical care. Charlotte wraps up Blake’s arm as well as she can. But they are nowhere near anything. They try to call on the CB again and again. Ginger tries to lie down and rest, but she wonders what is wrong with daddy?

At various points in the night, there are sounds from outside the house. These do not sound like typical animal noises. But they do not sound human at all. All through the night, Blake gets worse and worse. His hair and teeth fall out, and his skin becomes discolored. He finds that he cannot understand anything that Charlotte is saying.

Blake begins to see everything is weird, different way. His vision is changed to see things in very low light, and objects and people look much enhanced. He is feeling very scared because he knows he is speaking, but his words are all garbled. His fingernails start to turn into claws, and the transition has begun.

He does not know it yet, but Blake was attacked by a ‘wolf man’. The natives in the area used to call this type of thing a ‘wolf with a face’. But now for Charlotte, it is a frightful change. How can she save herself and daughter? Is there anyway to try and save Blake? The only thing to do is get out of there.

There is an old truck on the property. They all get to the truck and Charlotte is able to get it started. But there is a terrible creature out there waiting for them. It is the ‘wolf man’ who attacked Blake earlier. The ‘wolf man’ attacks them in the truck. Blake is able to fend off the evil creature.

It is up to the wolf-like Blake to fight off the scary monster. Blake does not know that this creature started roaming the forests soon after his ‘dead’ father went missing. That could be something interesting, but the much older ‘wolf man’ is only interested in killing the people in the house.

The older, father-like ‘wolf man’ is dead, killed by the ‘wolf man’ that was Blake. But at this point, there is no turning back in his transition. Blake the Man is becoming Blake the “Wolf Man”. And this new version of Blake will not be nice to have around. Charlotte and Ginger are in survival mode.

Survival will not be possible if they stay anywhere near the ‘wolf man’ that Blake has become. Back in San Francisco, Charlotte was pondering a trial separation. But now, out in the wood, Charlotte locates the rifle from the dead hunter they had met.  Now the only thing that Charlotte will consider is a high-caliber divorce…

“Wolf Man” is one of those movies that used be lumped in with the ‘creature features’ films from Universal Studio. They have attempted to bring back the ‘Dark Universe’ of villains and monsters. That all failed until Leigh Whannell got involved. A few years back, he made an updated version of “The Invisible Man”.

This time he went into the deep, dark forests to find his new creature. As the Writer and Director of this movie, Leigh Whannell makes a mark on the creepy half-man, half-wolf story. But this is not the werewolf from the “Twilight” franchise, or even the spooky thing from “American Werewolf in London”.

This is a very bloody and visceral look at the horror of transformation from normal guy into some ungodly creature. The intense pain and suffering of Blake (Christopher Abbott) makes for a tense and unsettling situation. Then the utter disbelief of Charlotte (Julia Garner) slowly turns into recognition that her husband is a monster.

The cinematography is very unique. It is mostly set in a dark night. Sometimes the viewpoint will go from how Charlottes sees the world to how Blake, the ‘wolf man’ sees the world. It is an interesting way to see with enhances senses. He can also hear sounds that a normal human cannot pick up.

However, the husband and wife and child do not act or behave in a very human manner. There is no connecting story of Charlotte and Blake, so there is no reason to feel anything about the failing marriage.

“Wolf Man” is movie that captures the horror of a guy who is turning into a wolf, in a bloody and gory fashion. It does not capture the family dynamics surrounding him quite as well.