The Wolfman
When a film finds itself pushed back and forth on the release schedule, rarely is it a good thing. This re-envisioning of the 1940s Universal classic with Lon Cheney Jr. is one such film where even people looking forward to it had to balk.
Thankfully, now that the film has seen the light of a movie screen, we can judge it on its’ own terms. Yes, the film’s liberal use of CG defies belief, but damn, this is the type of horror film we’ve been missing for so long. The film is a beautiful rendering of Gothic traditions in horror, with art direction, cinematography, and music (by Danny Elfman) that evokes the moods of those old Universal classics (as well as the Hammer films of the 50s and 60s) better than any film has done (although some, like “Interview With the Vampire,” “Sleepy Hollow,” and “From Hell,” have come close). That alone puts it in the upper-tier of modern horror films.
The film’s reverence to the original material of the earlier film is the other piece of that puzzle. Of course, when you have the writers of “Se7en” (Andrew Kevin Walker) and “Road to Perdition” (David Self) on board, you should expect a smart and dark script. And indeed it is, when Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro)- a stage actor who was traumatized as a child by the death of his mother- is forced to come back to the family home when his brother Ben goes missing. He has been asked by Ben’s fiancee Gwen (Emily Blunt) to return; sadly, by the time he arrives, Ben’s body is found, badly mutilated. Does the gypsy coin found on his person hold a key to the mystery? And what about Lawrence’s distant father John (Anthony Hopkins)?
Well, if you’ve seen the original film (and if you’re a horror fan at all, I hope you have at this point), or any of the trailers, I’m sure you know the answers already. I’d like to focus on how well Joe Johnston (a director best known for films like “The Rocketeer,” “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids,” “Hidalgo,” and the criminally underrated “October Sky”) pulls off the film. He captures the aura of exaggerated moods and melodrama of the original Universal films masterfully, allowing actors to sometimes go to the breaking point of over-the-top (Hopkins in particular, as well as a particularly self-centered 19th Century psychiatrist) while others are so morose and tortured (take a bow Mr. Del Toro) it’s a wonder we don’t see them kill themselves onscreen. But these are just the right notes for such a film. Look back at those black-and-white masterworks and you’ll see what I mean (Stephen Sommers really screwed the pooch with his bombastic “Van Helsing,” which was all of the former taken to 11).
As far as early-year surprises, “The Wolfman” is something of a pleasant one- a film where every element is balanced just right to create a gruesome (the film is rightfully R-rated, but doesn’t abuse it) and entertaining treat for the early part of the year. I still wish it’d come out closer to Halloween, but I’ll take a good horror movie any time of year.
