Movie Review: Wolfman

The idea of a remake of one of the most classic horror films of all time, “Wolfman,” was an exciting prospect to many horror film buffs, but unfortunately, like its main character, it suffers from its own curse.

The curse of the seemingly rushed remake.

The film stars Benicio del Toro as the tortured Lawrence Talbot, a famous Shakespearean actor in the 1890s who comes home for his brother’s funeral after his body is found in a ditch mangled and torn apart. He vows to his brother’s widow Gwen (Emily Blunt) that he will find out what happened to his brother.

His search leads him to a gypsy camp, where he takes his brother’s medallion to the gypsy Maleva, who originally gave it to him. She warns him that a great danger is coming, and just then a werewolf attacks the camp. Lawrence goes out to fend the creature off and is subsequently bitten by it.

Several nights later, the curse takes full effect as Talbot transforms into a werewolf, leaving a trail of blood and suffering in his wake.

As with most of Universal’s recent ventures into films with a supernatural element, the makeup, special effects and sets in this film are superb.

The forests were dark and endless, with soup-thick fog and trees that seemed to reach out and grab the characters as they rushed through. Talbot’s transformation into the wolfman is a visual triumph. He is a horrific creature to behold.

But the acting, namely del Torro’s portrayal, left something to be desired. The lines he spoke  came off emotionless, but the character is supposed to be a tortured soul, haunted by the fact that he is cursed to transform into a bloodthirsty creature every full moon. We see this in the original, but not in the remake.

The film was also too short. It is hard to surmise just what a curse becoming a werewolf is if it only happens twice throughout the whole movie. It didn’t have to be three hours, but maybe 30 more minutes and more time passing with him dealing with his curse would have made his agony more apparent.

When it comes down to it, “Wolfman” could have been much better. But if all you are looking for is a special effects show with enough blood and guts to cover the entire theatre floor, this is your film.