Wolf Man (2025) Review

The original 1941 movie The Wolf Man, starring Lon Chaney Jr. set the template for Hollywoods depiction of the werewolf for many years afterwards. It’s huge influence came be seen in the great tales of the genre from An American Werewolf in London to The Howling, Ginger Snaps and even modern classics like Werewolves Within.

After the enjoyable but unremarkable 2010 remake and the abortive attempts to bring the character back as part of their doomed Dark Universe, (find out more in my Invisible Man review!) it seemed Universal had lost their bite when it came to this particular shaggy wolf story.

Enter Leigh Whannell, who after dragging The Invisible Man into the modern era, set his sights on the Wolf Man. In his first Universal monster remake he managed to do something no-one else could – create a masterpiece that made the see-through mad scientist scary again. Because of this, it is no wonder that Blumhouse Productions would engage his talents a second time to fashion something fresh and frightening from the fur covered creature of legend.

Opening in the vast forest-filled mountains of Oregon, we are told that rumours abound of a virus dubbed ‘Hill Fever’ or ‘Face of the Wolf’ by the indigenous peoples, a virus that has already claimed a missing hiker. We also meet a young Blake Lovell, who while out hunting with his stern and over protective father Grady (The Handmaid’s Tale’s Sam Jaeger) encounters a strange and inhuman beast that scares the both of them beyond belief.

30 years later Blake (Christopher Abbott from Poor Things and Possessor) is a writer living in San Francisco and a father himself to, the aptly named (for a werewolf movie), Ginger (Matilda Firth), taking care of her while his workaholic wife Charlotte (Ozark star Julia Garner) focuses on furthering her career as a reporter.

Having not spoken or seen his dad in decades, Blake is shocked when a letter arrives declaring Grady officially dead after disappearing. Re-evaluating his life and realising his relationship is on the rocks, he decides to take his family to Oregon to the fam he inherited to spend time with the only people left in the world he cares for.

After a long drive through the forest the family get lost. But the worst is yet to come, as they crash their van off the road when Blake is distracted by a huge misshapen but familiar figure caught in his spotlights.

Stalked by this monstrosity, the trio manage to escape the accident site to the remote farm. But once inside, they realise that Blake’s Injury may be worse than they thought especially as it is a scratch from the very beast that is trying to kill them.

Perfectly balanced, Whannell’s script, which he co-write with his wife actress Corbett Tuck, employs jump scares and tons of tension all wrapped around a firm dramatic centre that leaves time for character development that ultimately adds a payload of pathos and emotional pain to the story.

The title of Whannell’s movie is more important than first appears. This film is about a Wolf Man – not a werewolf  – and all traces of the supernatural are eradicated to create something that feels more real than the folk tales found before. Without wolfsbane, silver bullets or full moons, in many ways the film fits more comfortably into the virus or infection movie genre, offering a truly original spin on lycanthropy.

The theme that runs through the film is a parents desperation and determination to protect their child at all cost from the pain and suffering of the real world. In the opening we see how loss has sent Grady down the path of punishment and threats in an attempt to scare his son into staying safe. As an adult, the echoes of these actions haunt Blake causing him to lash out and shout at Ginger when danger strikes, even though he is aware this is not the father he wants to be.

Sadly the film also lays bare how some events are too huge and too traumatic for any adult to shield their offspring from. Set over one night while the family try to fight off the creature outside, we also go through Blake’s transformation inside his old family home.

Unlike the effects-driven set pieces in many other werewolf tales, this metamorphosis is slow and upsetting with Blake moving through many stages before he is completely consumed by the wolf within.

Whannell uses several great cinematic tactics to convey Blake’s suffering, from gross body horror moments such as when he gnaws at his own arm covered in wounds, to the innovative way he discovers his hearing has been enhanced, to the constant physical alterations culminating in a bone crunching final body change.

Most artistically demonstrated of all is the loss of his humanity, seen several times, including when we shift from his wife saying how much she loves him into Blakes point of view. From his perspective both his loved ones have become glowing-eyed, misshaped forms, making meaningless noises. As he desperately cries out that he ‘can’t understand her’ we move back to discover in the real world he is just as unintelligible to them as they are to him.

The addition of displaying both internal and external factors to Blake’s deterioration is both original and powerful, as we witness him turn from a loving dad to a murderous monster. It can also be seen as a moving metaphor for losing someone to Alzheimer’s, or any disease that strips those closest to us of their personality and self control.

Succeeding once again in bringing one of the classic Universal monsters bang up to date, Wolf Man is as much a tragic family drama as it is a fear filled creature feature showing its audience that like nature, which can be both beautiful and deadly, life can be as painful as it is joyous.

Movie Rating:

Wolf Man trailer