THE WOLFMAN
Written by Joseph B. Mauceri   
RELEASING: Universal Pictures
SYNOPSIS: Lawrence Talbot’s (DEL TORO) childhood ended the night his mother died. After he left the sleepy Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor, he spent decades recovering and trying to forget. But when his brother’s fiancée, Gwen Conliffe (BLUNT), tracks him down to help find her missing love, Talbot returns home to join the search. Reunited with his estranged father (HOPKINS), Talbot sets out to find his brother…and discovers a horrifying destiny for himself.
He learns that something with brute strength and insatiable bloodlust has been killing the villagers, and that a suspicious Scotland Yard inspector named Aberline (WEAVING) has come to investigate. As Talbot pieces together the gory puzzle, he hears of an ancient curse that turns the afflicted into werewolves when the moon is full. Now, if he has any chance of ending the slaughter and protecting the woman he has grown to love, Talbot must destroy the vicious creature in the woods surrounding Blackmoor. But after he is bitten by the nightmarish beast, a simple man with a tortured past will uncover a primal side of himself…one he never imagined existed. (Provided by Studio)

CREW: Director - Joe Johnston; Screenplay - Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self; Based on the Motion Picture Screenplay by - Curt Siodmak; Producers - Scott Stuber, Benicio Del Toro, Rick Yorn, and Sean Daniel; Director of Photography - Shelly Johnson; Score – Danny Elfman; Special Makeup – Rick Baker; Editors - Dennis Virkler and Walter Murch; Costume Designer - Milena Canonero; Visual Effects Supervisor - Steve Begg; Visual Effects and Animation - Rhythm & Hues Studios, Double Negative LTD, and Level 256.
CAST: BENICIO DEL TORO… Lawrence Talbot; ANTHONY HOPKINS… Sir John Talbot; EMILY BLUNT… Gwen Conliffe; HUGO WEAVING… Aberline; SIMON MERRELLS… Ben Talbot; ART MALIK… Singh; GERALDINE CHAPLIN… Maleva; ANTONY SHER… Dr. Hoenegger; CLIVE RUSSELL… MacQueen.
OFFICIAL WEB SITE: www.thewolfmanmovie.com
**"REEL" Value:
Story:
$10.50
Direction:
$11.50
Acting:
$12.50
Editing:
$11.50
Production Design:
$12.50
Special Effects:
$12.50
Score/Music:
$12.50
Costumes:
$12.50
Value:
$12.00
- In the 1930s and ’40s, Universal Pictures released “Dracula,” “Frankenstein,” “The Mummy,” “The Invisible Man,” and in 1941 Lon Chaney, Jr. introduced audiences to THE WOLFMAN. Directed by George Waggner from an original screenplay by Curt Siodmak, THE WOLFMAN and Larry Talbot became a Universal staple in films like “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man,” “House of Frankenstein,” “House of Dracula” and, a personal favorite, “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein.” So after numerous films exploited the popularity of these characters Universal retired their classic monsters due to over exposure to celluloid.

Almost sixty years later Universal is attempting to resurrect the lycanthrope Lawrence Talbot in director Joe Johnston an Benicio Del Toro’s contemporary retelling of THE WOLFMAN. Academy award winner Del Toro, who plays Lawrence Talbot, is also one of the producers on the film and worked closely with Johnson to shape the look and feel of the project. Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self write the screenplay for THE WOLFMAN. In 1999 Self wrote the retelling of “The Haunting” and “The Road to Perdition,” and for me the real darkness of the tale comes from writer Walker known for his original screenplays “Seven” and “8mm,” and Tim Burton’s “Sleepy Hallow.”

THE WOLFMAN is a surprising monster treat, visually impressive due to exquisite costumes, epic and lush production designs, and some of the best werewolf and grisly special effects since “An American Werewolf in London.” Wait, “An America Werewolf in London,” as well as the horror classic “The Howling,” and THE WOLFMAN all featured the Academy Award winning special effects makeup of Rick Baker, who has an uncredited cameo in the film. The best special effects makeup is only as good and convincing as the actor in the latex. Benicio Del Toro does an excellent job selling the intensity of the transformation sequences, not to mention creating this torment character that Lawrence Talbot has become in this retelling. In fact, this is an excellent cast that makes THE WOLFMAN not simply a visual and special effects feast, but an exceptional cast that sells the intensity of this gothic drama.

While many of the genre fans, including myself, are quick to praise this new take on a cinema legend, in retrospection there are some shortcomings. I’ve been unable to confirm, but I have heard from some insiders that there was a longer cut of the film and a bunch of stuff that was shot that did not end up in the final version. Also, I have Walker’s original screenplay, which I have not read yet because I want to see the film first, and it seems much long then the finished film. I mention this because the problem with THE WOLFMAN is that it feels like chunks of the narrative are missing. There are payoffs in the story and dialogue that feel like they are missing setups in other places in the film. As a result there are some choppy edits in the film and the pacing grinds between transitions in a few places. Wherever the blame lies, the issues affect the quality of the directing, film narrative, and editing of the final film. That makes the difference between THE WOLFMAN being a fan favorite and a new horror classic.

Universal’s contemporary retelling of THE WOLFMAN is ripe with Academy Award winning talent that elevate the film above it being just another genre film. It is a delight to watch these masterful performances enhanced by epic settings, lavish costume designs, and a breathtaking blend of visual and special effects. These elements go a long way of compensating for the shortcomings in other areas of the film, but those shortcomings are noticeable enough to prevent THE WOLFMAN from reaching the status of an instant horror classic and in the end deliver audiences a flawed genre masterpiece.
** Based on the regular $12.50 ticket prices at a Manhattan theater Feb. 12th, 2010.