Wolf Man ★★½

UNIVERSAL Studios’ attempt to create a cinematic universe based on its monster creations hasn’t gone to plan.

The Mummy, released in 2017, was meant to kick off a series of films, creating a franchise the would culminate in an Avengers-like assembly climax.

But, while it was a decent action/adventure film, The Mummy didn’t capture public attention to the extent required for an expensive franchise.

The proposed next cab off the rank, featuring the Wolf Man, didn’t go anywhere, perhaps because the whole concept of a Monsterverse was flawed.

So it was back to the drawing board and allowing different creatives to pitch their remake ideas.

As luck would have it, one of those people was Australian Leigh Whannell, a horror specialist and co-creator of the Saw and Conjuring franchises.

Whannell’s 2020 version of The Invisible Man had a serious, modern angle in escape from domestic abuse and did well critically and at the box office.

So when the Wolf Man was again up for grabs you couldn’t blame the studio for returning to the Whannell well.

Unfortunately, things haven’t worked out this time.

The resulting Wolf Man is possibly the weakest of the three films, mainly because it offers little other than a basic horror storyline and werewolf transition.

Unlike The Invisible Man, this time Whannell doesn’t have anything more complex to say and the film suffers as a result. You could mount an argument that the film is also touching on theme of generational abuse but it’s a stretch.

Of course, a basic horror story can still be fine if it’s put together well, but The Wolf Man just feels like a ‘by the numbers’ exercise.

The film features two good actors, Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, but doesn’t give them anything out of the norm to do.

The transformation is also not at the standard expected nowadays and as for the werewolf vision, the less said the better.

The twist in the tale is also not unexpected.

There is, however, one good gory scene to look out for.

Watched at the cinema.