It has often been said that only three things in life are certain life, death and taxes. Now it seems that you can add remakes to that list. The latest in a long and seemingly never ending parade of remakes is The Wolfman. It has been almost 70 years since the original, so the only shock should be it has taken this long. Hollywood is in remake fever now and even movies under 20 years old are being made. Many remakes bear little in common with their forerunner, while others seem to be shot for shot copies. The Wolfman manages to fall somewhere in between.
Starring Benicio Del Torro, Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt, The Wolfman is set in Victorian England and follows the originals plot throughout most of the movie. To divulge too much would spoil the plot for those who haven’t seen it. I do think the “twist” wasn’t really needed and was visible far in advance of it’s reveal. Still in a land of remakes, The Wolfman is better than most and wasn’t a total failure. To those who have not seen Lon Chaney Jr’s original, it is even more effective. Watched in concert with the original, its failures are more apparent. Still at the very least it paid respect to the classic and it appears the makers of The Wolfman have seen the original.
First let us discuss what was good about The Wolfman. One of the best things about The Wolfman was the scenery. The scenes of the village took me back to the glory days of Universal and Hammer horror. Towns were recreated beautifully and the fog shrouded forests and moors leant a eeriness not present in nearly enough films. It brought to mind the opening of An American Werewolf in London and more recently scenes from Dog Soldiers. Later in The Wolfman, the hirsute villain visits London. There are some absolutely gorgeous scenes of the wolfman atop buildings howling at the moon, or silhouetted against London Bridge. London feels so real you almost expect Sherlock Holmes to pop out and give chase to the beast.
Then there is the makeup, designed by Special effects guru Rick Baker. Baker has had experience with lycanthropes before The Wolfman remake. In 1981 he transformed David Naughton into An American Werewolf in London. This time he works his magic on Del Torro using a lot of the same materials and techniques he did back then. His wolfman is based on the work of Jack Pierce in the original and is both familiar and new. Del Torro while looking similar, looks more vicious and deadly. The actual transformation is done with CGI, which is disappointing as it would be interesting to see Baker work another onscreen change.
The Wolfman has its scary points and is a bit gory. There might not be enough gore for the Saw generation, but it should be more than enough for the average horror fan. It is definitely gorier than the original but that can only be expected. Some of the scares are cheap startle scares but when combined with the fog shrouded forest they are very effective. It is also very fast paced, which is becoming the norm in modern horror. While I prefer a good smart film to a fast action romp, the pace does make The Wolfman a fun film to watch. This is a big departure from the original and will likely have a lot of wolfman fans up in arms. Still you can’t take away its effect on the viewer. The Wolfman is a fun film to watch.
Still the The Wolfman definitely has some drawbacks. The biggest is the acting, especially of Del Torro. Watching the film without having watched the original Wolfman in several years, I felt Benicio’s acting was a bit flat compared to Chaney. After watching the original tonight, I like Del Torro’s effort even less. Benecio never made me feel sympathy for him the way Chaney did.
Chaney’s wolfman was a truly tragic figure, cursed not by any wrong doing but while doing a good deed. Just looking at Chaney’s tortured face made you feel for him. His voice was full of emotion, while Del Torro was flat. Benicio did try to emote through his facial gestures but he just couldn’t pull it off. Hopkins is good through most of the film but nearer the end I just stopped believing him. Emily Blunt just seemed to be wishing she was somewhere else. A high point of the acting came from Hugo Weaving as Inspector Abiline. He was believable and played the part of the hero very well.
Another low point of the film was the plot twist. There was really no need for it and it was telegraphed long before it came to pass. Possibly it was an attempt to play the beast off as a heroic character. This is shown at one point when he momentarily pauses before he attempts to kill his prey. This not only strikes a blow to the original but diminishes the tragic nature of Talbot. The Wolfman should be pure savage fury untempered by human emotion. It also renders the gypsies as totally unnecessary. One can only assume they were put in just as a homage to the classic Wolfman.
There were a few plot holes that bothered me. The most glaring to me was the fate of Talbot’s mother. Was she truly a victim of a wolfman, a suicide or just a murder? If she were truly a victim of the wolfman, then how did young Talbot survive? These weren’t a major point of contention however and shouldn’t ruin your enjoyment.
Overall The Wolfman was an enjoyable film. While not a classic, it is superior to most remakes recently released. Is it worth seeing in a theater? That depends on how bad you want to see a film. I think the wonderful scenery is best suited for the big screen, but if you have that at home I would wait for a Blu Ray release. Still the Wolfman is an excellent way to waste a Saturday if you have nothing better to do
