“Wolf Man” hit theaters last month, giving audiences a pretty dull addition to the werewolf genre. The film was by no means hard to sit through or unwatchable, it was just full of plain characters and predictable plot points. I left the theater feeling underwhelmed and unshaken by the horror aspect.
The film centers around Blake and his family, who are attacked by an unseen animal and in a desperate escape, barricade themselves inside a farmhouse as the creature prowls the perimeter. The farmhouse belongs to Blake’s dead father. As the night stretches on, Blake begins to behave strangely, transforming into something unrecognizable that soon jeopardizes his wife and daughter.
To start, I wish the film had dove a bit deeper into the characters. Charlotte and Blake have an interesting dynamic with their daughter that is worth exploring. Charlotte feels as though their daughter, Ginger, relates more and is closer to her dad. She feels like she is not good at being a mother, with her work keeping her busy. We never see Ginger say or do anything to confirm this belief. It could have been more interesting to watch Charlotte fight for her daughter or watch Ginger lose her father if this dynamic was explored further.
The horror aspect of the film was decent. Seeing Blake gradually transform into a monstrous, wolf-like creature was unsettling. However, I wish there had been more scenes of him behaving strangely, as the build-up to Charlotte discovering his transformation lacked excitement. The use of point-of-view shots during Blake’s transformation was a cool concept that I don’t often see in horror films.
From Blake’s point of view while transforming, his wife and daughter’s voices become distorted and muffled while everything around him shifts to a bright blue-tinged tone. His face shows utter disbelief and exasperation as he cannot understand why he can’t communicate with his own family. Unfortunately, the effect was not utilized to its full potential, as it looked cheap and gimmicky at times–but the idea of experiencing horror through the eyes of the victim is something truly unique.
What I enjoyed most about this film was that Blake is not immediately antagonized and his wolf form is not villainized. Instead, the audience is meant to feel sympathy for him as every fiber of his humanity is slipping away during this uncontrollable change. The final wolf look is mildly scary. I wasn’t exactly cringing at it, but it was disturbing enough.
The big reveal is that the wolf attacking Blake and his family is his dad, who we learn in the beginning of the movie had a complicated relationship with Blake. I found this reveal to be extremely predictable, since the Dad was the only other major character. If the wolf man had to be someone we already knew about in the movie, there was only one option.
“Wolf Man” mostly lives up to the potential of its premise, but some of its elements could have been fleshed out better. The characters themselves remain flat and the plot is predictable, leaving little room for excitement or genuine horror. Though there are moments of creativity, the overall experience is more underwhelming than unsettling. Wolf Man ultimately misses the mark, offering a horror film that doesn’t fully embrace its chilling potential.
