Review | Wolf Man (2025)

Wolf Man sticks the landing with a chilling atmosphere, a great score, and edge-of-your-seat suspense. But stripped of all the tropes and iconography, it’s just howlingly good but flawed fun. 

The Wolf Man is a pillar of the Universal Monsters archive. From the earliest days when Lon Chaney Jr. first slipped into the iconic makeup, horror fans have been captivated by the character. After dozens of cinematic appearances, the monster is as beloved as it is an influential part of pop culture history. So, when Hollywood attempts to reboot the property, the weight of expectation is massive. Joe Johnson tried to terrify a new audience with his take on the property in 2005, and despite it paying homage to the original IP, it didn’t quite resonate with the audience. Sure, it has a cult following, but in a market judged by its financial success, The Wolfman didn’t hit the mark.

Fast-forward to 2025, and Leigh Whannell is taking on the director’s chair to bring his vision of the character to life. After achieving critical and commercial success with his take on The Invisible Man, all eyes are on the writer/director to deliver a gripping and grounded take on the property. But with his take providing a fresh approach for modern audiences, can the film do the unthinkable and capture lightning in a bottle? Or is this new iteration of the Wolf Man another howler?

REVIEW

Sadly, the answer isn’t as simplistic as you’d think. Leigh Whannell has delivered a gripping, edge-of-your-seat horror that ticks a lot of boxes and offers a commendable take on the property. But with its toned-down take on the character, the essence of the Wolf Man is lost in the mix. Sure, we have a wolf-like transformation and some primal behavior. But without the essential tropes and iconography, this take on the property has almost nothing to do with The Wolf Man or its legacy.

In truth, you could remove the Wolf Man from the story entirely and have your leading man infected with a feral, skin-eating disease. The outcome would be exactly the same, and this major flaw in the formula will have traditionalists rolling their eyes and wondering when their beloved werewolf will feature. Ultimately, the film sticks the landing with a chilling atmosphere, a great score, and edge-of-your-seat suspense. But with all the tropes and iconography stripped back, it’s just howlingly good but flawed fun.

HOWLING MAD

Overall, the film’s plot is executed with remarkable skill. Leigh Whannell showcases his incredible talent as a writer, crafting an intense screenplay that sets the stage for the unfolding events and the horror that awaits us. Unfortunately, the foundations of the Wolfman’s lore start to unravel from this point onward. We soon discover that a backpacker mysteriously disappeared in the Oregon woods many years ago. He contracted a disease from the region’s wildlife, which drove him to madness and transformed him into a feral being.

We begin our story with Grady Lovell (Sam Jaeger) and his son Blake stepping out from the safety of their farm in the Oregon wilderness to hunt deer. From the very first moments, we are captivated by Stefan Duscio’s stunning cinematography, which highlights the breathtaking landscape in all its splendor. The rolling mountains and endless forests are truly a sight to behold, but as darkness settles in, their beauty becomes more ominous, revealing the lurking terror hidden within. In no time at all, the father and son are pursued by a mysterious creature and barely manage to evade its attack by scrambling up into a hunter’s treehouse.

THE PACK

Thirty years later, Blake (played by Christopher Abbott) learns that his father has gone missing and has been declared legally dead. Struggling with his own crumbling marriage and the impact on his daughter, Blake decides to spend the summer at his father’s farm, hoping that this time away will help him mend his strained family relationships. He sets off with his wife, Charlotte (Julia Garner), and their daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth), driving a moving truck back to the isolated farm. However, their journey takes a dark turn when a mysterious figure suddenly appears on the road, causing an accident that alters everything. As Blake and his family find themselves in a desperate fight for survival against this creature that begins to stalk them, Blake is injured and starts showing unsettling signs of infection. Could it be that the real threat lies within him?

ISOLATION

From here, the film settles into its rhythm with Blake, Charlotte, and Ginger taking refuge in Grady’s deserted farmhouse; all the while, the creature stalks the exterior, looking for a way to get in. However, with Blake showing signs of infection and his ability to understand his family declining, his descent into madness begins. Whannell’s prominent flare for horror comes into play here and heightens the tension by plunging the farmhouse into darkness. Even with the lights illuminating the building, the dark recesses are used to great effect, which only adds to the feeling of uneasiness.

Those of us waiting for a few customary jump scares will be more than satisfied in these moments. However, Blake’s gradual decline really steals the show and ramps up the tension. While Blake wrestles with understanding what is happening to him, Charlotte and Ginger desperately seek an escape route while trying to prevent the creature outside from getting in.

THE CAST

In this compelling film with its minimal cast, the success heavily relies on the performances of the actors, and Whannell has made excellent casting choices. Christopher Abbott as Blake stands out brilliantly; his transformation from a devoted husband and father into a feral creature is genuinely captivating. Throughout the film’s thrifty one hour and forty-five minutes, Abbott skillfully conveys Blake’s anguish and uncertainty, which become the story’s emotional core. The choice to depict both sides of his decline adds depth to the character and offers insight into his heart-wrenching downfall.

There are moments when we experience the world through Blake’s altered lens, grappling with fundamental English language skills while his primal instincts emerge. Conversely, we also see the story unfold from Charlotte’s viewpoint, witnessing Blake’s descent into an increasingly animalistic and untamed state. It is here where the range of Julia Garner comes into play. Far more than the token wife, Garner fills Charlotte with dogged, resident qualities that create a protagonist we can root for.  We see her transform from a mother who struggles to connect with her daughter into the paternal powerhouse she needs to be, and the result is a triumph.

FAMILY MATTERS

At times, she is at odds with her role as a mother and a wife and is forced to choose between them when the going gets tough, but the performance of Matilda Firth sells the bond between them. Although her lines of dialogue are surprisingly limited, Matilda works wonders with the screenplay and adds an emotional weight to Ginger. Like Abbott, Firth sinks her teeth into the role and guides Ginger through her descent from an enamored daughter to a youngster terrified of the man she loves. The undertone of domestic abuse is evident here, but thankfully, it never oversteps its mark. When all is said and done, this is a film about relationships, which are crucial to Blake’s decline into the creature.

SETTING THE SCORE

Finally, any film worth its salt needs a suitably brilliant score to help resonate with the audience, and Wolf Man has a banger. Fresh off the back of his work on The Flash, Twisters, and Alien: Romulus, Benjamin Wallfisch steps up to the plate to deliver a genuinely haunting, powerful soundtrack. The composer has created an ominous score for the film that adds to the sense of dread and loss. At times, his cues are heartbreaking and poignant, while at others, they are downright terrifying, and his work only heightens the palpability of the tension oozing through the screen.

Wallfisch seems to be going from strength to strength in his filmography, and I look forward to seeing where his career turns next. But, for now, we can enjoy the terror his music brings to the Wolf Man.

VERDICT

Overall, with its sense of dread, chilling atmosphere, and shocking body transformation, Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man is a serviceable, if identityless, take on the property. Christopher Abbott leads his co-stars into the dark recesses of one of Hollywood’s most influential monsters. Still, sadly, with all the pomp and circumstance of the creature stripped away, there is almost nothing for longtime fans of the franchise to latch onto here. The character has no connection to the full moon, has minimal resemblance to a werewolf, and doesn’t even have the traditional howl.

For a film that carries the title of The Wolf Man, Whannell seems to have aimed to strip away the wolf from the man. The entire plot, its dynamics, and the film’s conclusion would remain unchanged even without the iconic name, leaving one to question why he took on this project in the first place. Unfortunately, the film could have been just as effective, featuring a generic skin-eating disease, which is the biggest disappointment. While it certainly excels in horror, suspense, and body transformation, a Wolf Man film devoid of the actual Wolf Man is a profound disservice to one of Hollywood’s most legendary monsters.

While it might hold your attention for a bit, for true fans of the franchise, this feels more like a howling disappointment. If you’re looking for a night in with The Wolf Man, head back to the 1941 classic because Universal’s classic monster is nowhere to be found in Whannell’s missed opportunity.

Wolf Man is howling in cinemas everywhere now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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