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There’s much to admire about Leigh Whannell’s (perhaps too) tasteful take on THE WOLF MAN but while nobly attempting to bring something fresh to the lycanthrope table it gets a bit lost in the woods and sadly doesn’t quite scratch the werewolf itch. This movie boasts a thoughtful, script, sincere performances (Christopher Abbot, Julia Garner & Matilda Firth are all great), at least one nerve shredding set piece (cleverly involving a slash-ready greenhouse), and plenty of heart but strays so far from its source inspiration that it muffles its howl and comes off almost sheepish. If it was say, a remake of THE BEAST WITHIN (’82), I’d be plenty satisfied, but it’s not and I feel like I didn’t get my proper dose of werewolf. Do I need more fur on my werewolf tale? Yes, I think so. I did appreciate that it offers a singular view of what it might be like to slowly loose your humanity and how its clear commitment to its characters sparks a romantic tragedy that nicely mirrors Cronenberg’s THE FLY. It makes absolute sense that after the successful THE INVISIBLE MAN that a similar counter intuitive approach be taken here but as my grandmother always said “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander but what’s good for the invisible man may not be good for the wolf man” or something to that effect.
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There’s a key part of the film in which a moving van careens off of the road, crashes down an embankment and lands teetering in a tree threatening to smash down twenty feet below and possibly splatter someone. The escape of all involved is tense and anxiety inducing but the van fails to fall. Much later we return to the scene (this flick has a flair for callbacks) and so the van has a second chance to flatten someone but still never does. And I feel like that’s a good illustration of the movie in general. It’s packed like a moving van full of, interesting ideas, it absolutely puts you in a state of tense, unease for much of its runtime but it never seems to deliver its full potential impact. I’d say it’s still worth checking out and I’ll leave room for it to grow on me but for the most part, in the case of THE WOLF MAN I may be an old dog weary of new tricks (and less fantastic creature design).
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Impressively eclectic Steven Soderberg’s persistently puzzling PRESENCE offers a unique, literally haunting experience that’s both fascinating and disquieting. It may disappoint viewers looking for violence and wall to wall scares but those who enjoy the subtle and mysterious will be richly rewarded. Written by reliable David Koep ( DEATH BECOMES HER, STIR OF ECHOES) the film basically puts the viewer in the position of an ambiguous entity in a gorgeous house privy to goings on both mundane and eventually shocking. Lucy Liu and Chris Sulivan portray parents who move into a dream home with their teenage children, outgoing athletic son Tyler (Eddy Madday) and sensitive outsider daughter Chloe (Callina Lang). The unknown ghostly entity is especially drawn to Chloe who is mourning the loss of a friend who recently died of a drug overdose and we eventually come to understand that its interest is more protective than predatory (once, I finally assembled the pieces I got the always welcome gift of serious goosebumps). This is a movie that requires some patience but it has one humdinger of a twist that retroactively makes many of its small details become monumental (and even moving) in retrospect. Not a flick for a Friday party but absolutely perfect for a rainy afternoon indoors.
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I so expected The Wolf Man to be good after The Invisible Man but when it was announced it was releasing in January my heart sank. And for good reason. I agree with what you said.
Skipped the Presence paragraph as I haven't seen it yet, but so far I've gotten the impression this might be one better to watch at home than the theater. Yes? No?
I've got a tagline for Wolf Man, here goes: "Half-man, half-wolf, half-assed"
Fuck this movie, it was embarrassingly bad. It is not a horror film, it's not a werewolf film and it has nothing whatsoever to do with The Wolf Man. Fuck Lee Whannell (or Leigh or whatever it is; it doesn't matter, I'm just going to call him shit stain from now on) and Jason Blum. They are not talented and they need to be kept from making movies. I'm very happy it's a total failure and I hope it causes or at least contributes toward Blumhouse going bankrupt and closing it's doors for good, it deserves it. Jedem das Seine, baby.
Wolf Man, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways…
The movie is feminine, everyone is in a soap opera "dealing with their emotions and relationships" crying and telling each other "we're gonna get through this", instead of being in a horror movie.
It pushes the bullshit idea families and fathers in particular "scar" children; the solution? Single motherhood- yeah, that isn't a recipe for disaster at all…
The characters are all empty vessels with zero personality or likeability.
Didn't like or care about the beginning with the pussy-boy main character's (I never even bothered to catch his name) father and their relationship; didn't believe it at all. His father tried to instill discipline and character in him and teach him important life skills and lessons- the bastard, how dare he! Of course, from the time his balls drop the main character spends the entire rest of his pointless, meaningless, worthless life and the runtime of the movie whining and atoning for nearly being made a man, instead of a good little castrated male. Waah.
Didn't like or believe the relationship between the bitch made main character and his clad in plaid empowered short haired quasi-bulldyking businesswoman wife. Maybe this film should be interpreted as the story of her slow transformation into a lesbian; a sort of Curse of the Queerwolf sort of deal. If I were a woman, looking for a man and this guy was the available talent, I'd be down Bernal Heights pearl diving. Luckily, I'm a lesbian born in a man's body, so everything worked out just fine.
These two characters are supposed to be writers; I can just imagine the sorts of smug, asinine things they would come up with-these are exactly the sort of cosmopolitan urban dwelling pea brained scum who have nothing worth saying.
The daughter character is supposed to be cute and precocious but is just a generic idiot child, the kind you wish the mother had the sagacity and solicitude to abort.
I didn't believe the scenes like those in the van on the way out to the house, which are supposed to show "family closeness".
As for the "wolf man" early on, the daughter character is confronted by a piss bum on the shit begrimed streets of San Francisco and I suspect bums were the "inspiration" for the look of the so-called "Wolf Man" because that is exactly what he looks like- a fucking bum. Whoever designed this thing should have been loaded into a cannon and shot directly into a brick wall.
The movie is shot like all cheap, trashy disposable modern "horror" movies are; everything is flat and stark, with minimal music and what music there is, is extremely unimpressive.
They thought "werewolf night vision", wherein when he turns into the werebum, everything turns blue and everyone sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher was a brilliant idea. This was really stupid.
They tried to turn it into The Fly-esque body horror. They tried and failed.
The fights between Jack Nicholson and James Spader in Wolf were far better and far more impressive and those were terrible. Wolf is a far more interesting, enjoyable movie to boot.
The daughter character can read the father's thoughts, she says at the end "he wants this to be over"- she also read my mind as the entire time watching it, those were my thoughts exactly.
Raphaeladidas,
I believe PRESENCE would be better for home viewing for sure. It’s basically one set movie & will work just as well if not better on smaller screen.
I always go to a nearby $7 matinee just to get out of the house so its a fair deal for me but otherwise as much as I appreciated it, it’s better to not see in theater or pay too much for.
Ghastly,
Oh boy. lol. You crack me up with the Charlie Brown reference. Very fitting as that wolf vision looked like a cartoon. For me, I didn’t mind the sensitive navel gazing at all because it let me know they were at least trying to create something with depth and I thought it worked to illustrate the contrast between the civilized and uncivilized. I think this all could have worked if it just delivered on the werewolf front. Funny you mentioned WOLF because it’s sorta in the same arena for me as far as being interesting but not satisfying. I guess nothing will ever beat 1981’s one two punch of THE HOWLING and AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON with a kick in the knees from WOLFEN.
That said I really do love 2010’s THE WOLF MAN (sans the dumb CGI wolf fight at the end which was shoehorned in and didn't fit the movie). That’s really much more my speed and I think that following the lead of Coppola’s Dracula (’92) makes much more sense with the Universal monsters.
I get why they tried it this way after The Invisible Man success but nope, it ain't it. It’s like they were ashamed to make a werewolf movie. It’s more SHOOT THE MOON than THE HOWLING and that’s not good. The make up is well done but the design is so boring and honestly If I look in the mirror right now, I guarantee I look more horrifying than whatever that was.
And… this may sound harsh BUT… the title’s font on the poster is the worst. I hate that font. That is not appropriate Wolf Man font.
One positive thing that I forgot to mention is that I really liked the idea to have most of the action take place in one night and I love the last shot of the view that the father wanted his wife and kid to see. That was nicely done.
Just needed much more werewolf cowbell for me.
Also Ghastly1, I really disliked the main character’s father for taking him hunting and think the idea of teaching men that empathy is a weakness is sad. I know so many guys who fell for that con and basically lost their souls or at least lead lesser lives.
Not that I want to debate that issue . I just feel how I feel and don’t care who agrees. I know many people have fond memories of hunting with their father but I still think it’s gross. That's just me.
I think the film suffers because it failed to embrace its subject matter and live up to its title.
And as I said in the review it might make a decent THE BEAST WITHIN (’82) remake. I think they tried. No creator hits them out of the park and who knows maybe it will age well? It's not like a modern werewolf tales can't work as illustrated in this recent post…
https://www.kindertrauma.com/ten-underrated-werewolf-movies/
Unk,
If you care to, check your spam folder; it should contain a reasonably thorough response. You don't need to post it, but I tried to address the things you brought up in a somewhat thoughtful, intelligible manner; it is too long for me to retype the whole thing.
"I really disliked the main character’s father for taking him hunting and think the idea of teaching men that empathy is a weakness is sad. I know so many guys who fell for that con and basically lost their souls or at least lead lesser lives.
Not that I want to debate that issue . I just feel how I feel and don’t care who agrees. I know many people have fond memories of hunting with their father but I still think it’s gross. That's just me. "
Unkle Lancifer, I'm with you on both counts.
Don't mind me, though. I'm the weirdo who likes the 2019 version of Black Christmas and didn't give too farts up a wind about the whining complaints from incels that the movie was too "woke." (What it was, was too rushed, because Blumhouse didn't give Sophia Takal and April Wolf enough time to fine-tune the movie before they had to meet a ridiculously tight deadline of six weeks or so).
I haven't seen The Wolf Man; it came and went too quickly for me to find the time to go see it. I'll wait for streaming. I am seeing Companion , The Monkey and Heart Eyes very soon, though!
I was raised by an abusive father, I should mention, Unk, which is why I absolutely agree with your statement (and I don't like hunting, either).