31 Days of Horror Reviews 2018: The Wolf Man (2010)

Joe Johnston’s 2010 remake does a wonderful job at creating an eerie and tense atmosphere, visually jarring moments and really great acting, but is brought down by excessive use of CGI, jump scares and gratuitous attention on gore. 

REVIEW

For what it’s worth, the 2010 remake does follow the basic plot of the original but makes numerous alterations. Instead of setting it in the present, this movie is set in 1891, around the same time period as the original Dracula. Setting it against the backdrop of the Second Industrial Revolution works in the movie’s favor because of the innovations made to technology and medicine of that time period contradicts anything supernatural.

Most of the characters get more depth in this version than compared to the original. Lawrence Talbot (Benicio del Toro) is a Shakespearean actor who witnessed a traumatic event when he was a child and sent to an asylum. It turns out his father, Sir John (Anthony Hopkins), was bitten by a feral child containing the lycanthropy disease on a trip to India. On one full moon night in his beast form, he kills his wife and is seen by a young Lawrence. It’s funny in hindsight to see Anthony Hopkins in another monster movie, an actual Universal Monster movie at that, seeing as he was in Bram Stoker’s Dracula almost 20 years prior. He brings that same quirkiness we all know him for to the role and still walks that fine line between playful and sinister. Gwen (Emily Blunt), Lawrence’s love interest, is more involved in the remake and not just the object of his desires like in the original. She is ultimately the one who frees Lawrence from the curse because only a werewolf can be killed by a loved one. We also get a new character, Inspector Aberline (Hugo Weaving), who references the Jack the Ripper case. Now wouldn’t that be an awesome concept: Jack the Ripper in a Universal Monster movie.

The design of the werewolf was made with the intention of being close to the original design as possible through the persistence of both del Toro and make-up artist Rick Baker. It’s nice to know that there was someone on the set that was a fan of the originals and wanted to show their respects in some way. They did a great job making him look scary enough to give adults nightmares. He actually looks more like a wild animal while the original, I hate to say it, looked more like a groomed dog.

The movie just drips with atmosphere from the very start and maintains it all the way through. The night scenes in the woods are some of the best parts and really capture that “Classic Monster” feel of the originals. Even shots of the moon breaking through the clouds brings up images of Disney’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 

Now this would’ve been a solid remake had they gotten rid of two things: the jump scares and the gore. Yes the CGI is obvious and overused a little bit, but a) the CGI kind of adds to the supernatural element in my opinion and b) it’s not as overabundant as the jump scares and gore. Now, I haven’t watched too many horror movies, so I’m still not desensitized by them, but I know how much of a cliche they’ve become and this movie absolutely loves them to an annoying degree. The movie has a jump scare in the first two minutes and it’s a fake out! REALLY!? YOU’RE GONNA ADD A CLICHE TO THE CLICHE THIS SOON!? I’ll admit I did jump during them, but it was always preceded by the thought, ‘Where’s the jump scare? I know it’s coming! THERE it is!’ It gets annoying!

But what’s really annoying is the gore porn or gorn for short. I think because of Saw and its sequels, someone must’ve thought that audience wanted to see more dismemberment in horror movies. I’m okay with that in slasher movies from the 70s and 80s or the Final Destination movies, but those are obviously fake and that makes it easier for me to enjoy those kind of movies. This one tries to make everything look so realistic that I end up getting sick to my stomach.

But The Wolfman is not a horrible remake; it’s not as dull as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and not as confused as Cruise’s The Mummy. It knows what it wants to be and is not ashamed to admit it.