WOLF MAN (2025)

The werewolf horror subgenre is an oft-made favourite and I’m always willing to give ’em a go. Thankfully moviemakers have made numerous attempts, producing both good: The Wolf Man (1941), An American Werewolf In London (1981), Dog Soldiers (2002), and not so good: Underworld (2003), The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), Van Helsing (2004), etc. As well, we have the technically not so good, but enjoyable: Teen Wolf (1985), Silver Bullet (1985), Wolf (1994) and Wolf Man (2024), which joins this third category. It starts off strong, with a concise back story that demonstrates how one’s attempt to protect a loved one from trauma can create trauma all the same. We jump forward to present day with Christopher Abbott as a likeable dad trying not to traumatize his daughter the way his father did him, and he looks to be mostly succeeding. Enter wife Julia Garner, who usually brings fire to her work, however there’s no character to care about here beyond the exhausted wife. Daughter Ginger is forgettable and her once sweet callback is exhausted to the point of overkill, which is unfortunate because the father-daughter relationship is supposed to be the beating heart of the film. Still, the scenes showing the wolf man’s journey into madness are original and interesting, but they are cut short and we’re continually returned to the mother and daughter’s perspective, when all I wanted and all I ever want from a wolf man movie is to see a man violently morph into a full-on werewolf! Chintzy mutation scenes and boring family aside, not to mention a gross underappreciation for the audience’s intelligence, it’s still a fun watch, at least for the diehard werewolf movie fans.

WATCH OR NOT: WATCH

Additional musings: Even though it leaves a great deal to be desired, I appreciated the dismissal of the typical werewolf lore and rules.