Tweet
Released by: Universal Studios
Released on: March 1th, 2025.
Director: Leigh Whannell
Cast: Julia Garner, Christopher Abbott, Sam Jaeger, Leigh Whannell, Benedict Hardie
Year: 2025
Purchase From Amazon
Wolf Man – Movie Review:
Director Leigh Whannell, who co-wrote the script with his wife, Corbett Tuck, opens his 2025 film, Wolf Man, in the mountains of Oregon in 1995 after a hiker disappears. The locals wonder if the disappearance had something to do with a virus that has been infecting some of the animals in the area. Around this time, a man named Grady Lovell (Sam Jaeger) takes his son, Blake (Zac Chandler), on a hunting trip where they witness a strange, anthropomorphic creature in the woods.
Cut three decades into the future to the present day and Blake (now an adult played by Christopher Abbott) is married to his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) and is a father to their daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth). Despite the fact that Blake hasn’t been in touch with his father for years, he’s inherited the older man’s temper and works to keep it in check as best he can. He isn’t always successful, and this is starting to affect his marriage and family life. When he learns that Grady is missing and presumed dead after receiving a death certificate in the mail, he inherits the home he grew up in and decides it might be therapeutic to take his family there to unwind for a spell.
Along the way, they meet a local man named Derek (Benedict Hardie) who helps them find the old place but on the way, the family is run off the road by a fast-moving creature of some sort. Blake’s arm gets scratched in the encounter and Derek winds up dead. Blake gets his family into the house and prepares to defend them, but soon realizes that the scratch on his arm is infected and that the infection is spreading very quickly. As Blake’s body starts to change, and not for the better, he gets attacked by a monster that manages to slide its arm through the dog door and grab him. Charlotte beats the creature with a hammer and sends it on its way, but Blake’s condition is going downhill fast and he’s soon more animal than man.
More of a psychological body horror thriller than a traditional werewolf film, Wolf Man is really well-made. Whannell’s direction is strong and the film benefits from quick pacing but never at the cost of character development. The production values are impressive across the board, from the set design to the special makeup and gore effects, really emphasizing that aforementioned body horror angel, and the sound design employed in the movie is excellent (make sure you watch this one with a proper surround sound setup to really take advantage of this aspect of the movie). The cinematography is impressive throughout much of the film, really doing a great job of capturing the remote environment where most of the movie takes place, but closing in on the action effectively when the movie needs it to, so that those scenes have the necessary impact.
The performances are strong across the board. Abbott is very good in his role, bringing some palpable inner conflict and emotional turmoil to his character, while Matilda Firth delivers a solid turn as his daughter. Julia Garner is the real star of the show, however. She’s excellent here, playing Charlotte very believably, to the point that we can certainly understand her frustration with her husband later on, but also so that we can believe she truly cares for him once his body starts to change and he begins to lose control.
Wolf Man – UHD Review:
Universal Studios brings Wolf Man to UHD in an HEVC encoded 2160p high-definition transfer with HDR framed at 2.39.1 widescreen. Shot digitally, the image is pristine, obviously there’s no print damage, dirt or grain to note. Much of the film takes place inside some dimly lit, grubby looking locations and often times at night, but detail stays impressive even when much of the frame is bathed in shadows. Skin tones look spot on and black levels are reference quality. Detail is noticeably stronger than the included Blu-ray disc in the set, there’s stronger texture and more depth to the image. The HDR10 really makes the colors look fantastic here as well, and it’s hard to find anything to complain about here. This is pretty much reference quality from start to finish.
English language tracks are offered in Dolby Atmos as well as a French-Canadian Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 and Latin American Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 tracks, with optional subtitles available in English SDH, French Canadian, and Latin American Spanish. As to the quality of the audio, that Atmos track is phenomenal. You’ll notice subtleties in the background of various scenes, and during the more action intensive sequences the mix explodes and pulls you right in. This happens frequently throughout the movie, but even when the jump scares are used, the levels aren’t boosted so high that it seems wrong. There’s some seriously impressive directional effects used throughout the movie and it all comes through with crystal clear clarity. As you’d expect for a brand new feature film from a major studio, there are no problems with any hiss or distortion to note at all. Again, reference quality.
Extra features start off with an audio commentary from Leigh Whannell that's delivered with a good sense of humor. He talks about co-writing the film with his wife, what went into the production design and how much he appreciated the work that his crew did, what was shot on a soundstage and what wasn't, casting the film and what it was like working with the actors on the production, some of the thematic elements that the film explores, the deliberate pacing of the movie, the visual effects required for the movie, how the best piece of advice he ever got regarding filmmaking "at the end of every single shoot day, go up to every member of the crew and shake their hand and say thank you." He also talks about why certain shots are laid out the way they are, how the cast sell the body horror elements of the movie so well, the use of sound in the movie, what went into choreographing the action scenes, trying to do something different with the werewolf concept, what was changed to certain scenes in post-production, references to the original Universal Horror Wolfman movie and lot smore. There's some dead air early on but once he hits his stride, this is an interesting listen.
There are also a few featurettes here, starting with Unleashing A New Monster, which runs eight minutes. This is made up of cast and crew interviews and behind the scenes footage and it explores the relationship between the director and his cast and crew, what went into trying to do a different take on the wolfman idea, how the movie explores grief, building the sets, the production design needed for the movie, the cinematography employed for key scenes and more.
Designing Wolf Man spends nine-minutes going over the practical makeup effects work that Arjen Tuiten brought to the production. This one also features a lot of cast and crew interviews and behind the scenes footage as well as insight from Whannell discussing the collaborative nature of their relationship and wanting to lean away from the "furry dog look" of other wolfman films.
Hands On Horror is a seven-minute featurette that is made up of cast and crew interviews as well as behind the scenes footage that shows what went into how practical effects and stunt work were used to create some of the more intense, horror-centric scenes featured in the movie and how the team tried to keep things as realistic as possible while still providing plenty of action and scares.
Nightmares And Soundscapes spends seven minutes covering, with cast and crew interviews and behind the scenes footage, the use of sound in the movie and how the film shows events in its narrative mainly from the wolfman's perspective and how the soundscape created for the movie tries to replicate what an animal would see and hear.
In addition to the UHD and Blu-ray discs, this release also comes with an insert containing a code that can be redeemed for a digital copy of the movie and a slipcover.
Wolf Man – The Final Word:
Wolf Man is a really solid modern day take on a horror staple. Loaded with impressive acting, great effects work, impressive production design and strong direction, it’s a well-made mix of drama, tension and body horror. The UHD/Blu-ray combo from Universal Studios features some decent extra features and gives the movie a great 4k presentation. Recommended!
.
