I first sawThe Wolfmanat a matinee show the day it came out in February of 2010, skipping work for no particular reason other than I wanted to see a werewolf movie in the middle of the day. Indeed, I was a bit like a werewolf myself, stumbling into the theater in a half-animalistic haze to eat entirely too much popcorn while watchingBenicio Del ToroandAnthony Hopkinsmatch wits in a furious contest to see who could emote less. When they battle each other as werewolves in the film’s finale, it was like watching two puppets in a knife fight over who is more wooden. The point is, this wasn’t the best possible viewing situation forThe Wolfman, but it was close, and I left the theater struggling with the movie’s dual truths: it is not very good, and I enjoy it immensely.
Time has not been kind to this horror movie debacle. A big budget remake of Universal’s classicThe Wolfmanhad been in the cards for some time, spurred on by the surprise success ofStephan Sommers’The Mummyway back in 1999.The Wolfmanlanguished in development hell for roughly a decade; originally developed withMark Romanekattached to direct, Romanek left the project over creative differences one month before shooting began. Universal considered handing the film off toBrett Ratner,Frank Darabont, andJames Mangold, before it ultimately landed in the capable hands ofJoe Johnston. However, Johnston was stepping into a fully formed production based entirely on Romanek’s vision, resulting in a finished movie that frequently feels like it’s arguing with itself. Even with a seasoned veteran behind the camera and an A-list cast, the drama ultimately never comes together onscreen, and it bombed out of the box office like a freight elevator in free fall.
However, the deafening explosion of melodrama, graphic violence, and genuinely impressive production design that splintered into my face as that elevator crashed into the earth was impossible to ignore.The Wolfmanisn’t a good movie, not really. But it’s an entertaining one, and it features some of the best werewolf gore I have ever seen on film. If you’re in the mood to watch a man in 40 pounds of prosthetic makeup blast through hapless villagers like a fanged cannonball, interspersed with the gorgeously moody costume drama of a My Chemical Romance music video, you could do a whole lot worse thanThe Wolfman.
The basic story is relatively simple – famed actor Lawrence Talbot (Del Toro) returns home to his family’s sprawling estate after his brother is found scattered across the countryside like he was murdered by an assassin made entirely of grenades. His prickly father Lord Talbot (Hopkins) exudes aloof creepiness as Lawrence clumsily tries to handle the family affairs and comfort his brother’s grieving widow Gwen (Emily Blunt). While investigating his brother’s death, Lawrence is bitten by a werewolf and inherits the curse, which is a gentle way of saying he explodes into a furry demon and rampages through London. There’s another plotline thrown in there about Lawrence recovering repressed memories from his childhood concerning the death of his mother which builds to an unspeakably hilarious reveal that I won’t spoil here, other than to say that it is both an exquisite delight and literally impossible. But otherwise, it’s essentially the same story as the 1941 original.
RELATED:Why 2011’s Red Riding Hood Is a Fascinatingly Silly ‘Twilight’ Clone
To an avid horror fan like me,The Wolfmanfeels akin to the popcorn blockbuster version of a horror movie – a weak narrative packaged in a bunch of polished, appealing spectacle. While it’s undeniably true that the drama is silly and the characters are unconvincing and inconsistent, it’s hard for me to complain too loudly about it when motherfuckers are getting their blocks knocked off in kaleidoscopic bursts of violence. The effects are incredible and are largely practical rather than digital, which is doubly impressive for a big-budget movie released in 2010, a year dominated by the CGI spectacle ofAvatar. The werewolf makeup itself is particularly well-done, with effects artistsRick BakerandDave Elseyultimately winning an Academy Award for their work. The lycanthropes of this movie are closer to the classic Universal interpretation of the monster, with a stronger emphasis on the creature’s human characteristics. (The Manwolfwould be a more accurate title for the film, but as we can all plainly see, that title is stupid.) Some may find that cheesy, but it meshes perfectly with the film’s gothic setting, and plus there’s something transcendent about watching people get mauled by a werewolf in a waistcoat. He looks like a train conductor inAnimal Crossing.
I’ve mentioned the violence ofThe Wolfmana few times now, so let’s sink our expertly crafted prosthetic teeth into that now. Because a werewolf is essentially a rampaging bear, werewolf movies tend to be infamous for the amount of gore they contain. (This is a generalization of course and is not always the case, as some films lean further into the “whodunnit?” aspect of lycanthropy.)The Wolfmanembraces every inch of its blockbuster status in service of this bloody tradition, delivering several top-shelf sequences of people getting absolutely beefed by an angry mutant. It’s the horror equivalent of a big-budget action movie that is dumb as hell but has incredible stuntwork. And unlike a disappointing number of mainstream modern horror films,The Wolfmansticks to its practical effects for the majority of these scenes. Digital gore almost always looks terrible, but thankfully Johnston’s take on the Universal classic decorates its gorgeously gloomy Victorian setting with rubber limbs and plenty of corn syrup. If you’re the type of person who laughs at slasher movies, this film delivers more than a few delightfully over-the-top moments. In terms of quality werewolf violence,The Wolfmanis an unironic favorite.
Finally, the film does an impressive job of staging its clunky, embarrassing melodrama against an elegantly-realized backdrop of the moody-ass English countryside. The production design and costumes are quite good, resembling a slightly more modern version ofTim Burton’sSleepy Hollow.The Wolfmancreates an appreciably rich tapestry of pale shadows, looming forests, severe architecture, and eerie moors; in other words, the perfect playground for a murderous shapeshifter. The film briefly shifts to the streets of London for an absolutely thunderous werewolf rampage, and the digitally-recreated city is fantastically creepy, loaded with gas lamps struggling against the cloaked rooftops and sinister alleys with dim, feverish light. The film is face-punchingly operatic in a way that I find appealing, because sometimes I like my horror to be “Edgar Allan Poe shopping for chokers at Hot Topic” in terms of obviousness.
At the beginning of our journey together, I said thatThe Wolfmanis not a good movie. While I recognize the things that make this statement true – the bad acting, the disjointed pace, the inexplicable sequel tease promising audiences aWolfman 2starringHugo Weaving– I’m not sure I actually believe it. In many ways it is a lovingly-made tribute to the original film, successfully recreating the look and feel of the classic monster movie with some exceptional craftmanship and a significant dose of modern R-rated menace. It’s dumb as all hell, but it looks great, and the werewolf scenes are an absolute blast to watch. Also, the Academy needs to create an awards category for “Most Open-Hand Slap Decapitations in a Two-Hour Period” and giveThe Wolfmanseveral of those Oscars immediately.
KEEP READING:Why ‘The Howling’ Succeeds By Throwing Out the Book’s Most Intense Scenes
