With the new movie “Wolf Man,” released last weekend on Friday, Jan. 17, Universal Pictures and Blumhouse bring a thrilling addition to the big screen. As audiences flock to their local theater, they are greeted with the smell of fresh popcorn and are ready for a bone-chilling movie experience.
With its release, “Wolf Man” seeks to engage both long-time horror enthusiasts and new ones too. The movie is about Blake, played by Christopher Abbott, and his family who were attacked by an unseen creature in the night. Once they escaped this animal, they enclosed themselves inside their Oregon farmhouse while it lurked around the outside of the house.
Later on, Blake begins to exhibit strange behavior and transforms into something unknown, which soon puts his wife, Charlotte who is played by Julia Garner, and daughter, Ginger who is played by Matilda Firth, at risk.
The film digs into the legend of the “Wolf Man,” a legend that can be traced back to an ancient Mesopotamian text from around 2100 BC. The character is also deeply rooted in folklore and previous cinematic reworkings of the film since the first comic came out in 1941.
The story explores the psychological and emotional ramifications of transformation, identity, and the struggle between humanity and primal instincts as Blake transforms from a human to a creature. The emotional depth adds layers to the horror genre, presenting not just a monster, but a flawed human struggling against his fate, of becoming the monster that was presented on the screen.
Visually, the film sets out to amaze viewers with cutting-edge special effects that bring the scenes of Blake transforming into a vicious creature to life. The cinematography plays a crucial role in making the setting have the eerie ambiance that it did, as the foggy forests help make the urban landscapes look shadowy and dark. The soundtrack adds a haunting appeal to the film by using contemporary music that goes well with the film’s tense moments.