By Reviews are in for Leigh Whannel’s reinvention of the Universal classics monster “The Wolf Man” and, unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to have gone down as well as his last attempt did.
With 66 reviews counted, the new take on the werewolf legend has pulled in a very mixed reaction of just 61% with a low average rating of 6/10. The top critics scores are decidedly lower at a terrible 42% (4.6/10). On Metacritic they’re pretty bad at 48/100.
That’s a long way from his 2020 reinvention of “The Invisible Man” which pulled in a 91% (7.7/10) on RT and was widely acclaimed. Still, “Wolf Man” is expected to do well – the film is tracking for a $17-21 million domestic debut from a budget of around $25 million.
Here’s a sampling of reviews:
“So it’s not an instant classic like The Invisible Man. I think we can all live with that. It’s still a scary and interesting movie about a wolf man, anchored by a haunting performance from Abbott, who understood the assignment and went for extra credit.” – William Bibbiani, The Wrap
“This isn’t a reimagining on the level of Leigh Whannell’s previous foray into the classic horror vaults, The Invisible Man. But there’s no shortage of intensity or gore, not to mention brisk efficiency.” – David Rooney, THR
“Whatever its strengths or weaknesses, every werewolf movie is ultimately judged by how well it handles the transformation and creature effects, and in that department, Wolf Man is a dud.” – Peter DeBruge, Variety
“The more Whannell strains to make his bigger points resonate, the more conventional the film’s narrative becomes — alas, this “Wolf” only scratches the surface.” – Tim Grierson, Screen
“The filmmaker dismantles the lore and delivers a bold new take on the werewolf, smartly refusing to explain its rules, but it’s so wrapped up in its underserved characters and subtext that it forgets to be scary.” – Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting
“There’s an excellent opening prologue sequence and a very smart final shot – but everything between is silly, misjudged and dull with dud storytelling, middling prosthetics and wide-eyed ‘I’m scared’ reaction acting.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“A semi-feral drama about parental fears that isn’t remotely scary enough to catalyze those concerns into the action it puts on screen, Wolf Man runs away from its potential with its tail between its legs.” – David Ehrlich, Indiewire
“At their best, werewolf pictures can be cathartic, romantic, tragic — a vision of our desires colluding with unchecked animal impulses. This Wolf Man, however, feels like a vague anecdote, devoid of human specificity.” – Bilge Ebiri, Vulture
“Slack when it should be terrifying, Wolf Man suffers from cheap sentimentality, laughably obvious script reveals, poor continuity and a creature that is less predatory than painful. Pity comes to mind.” – Mark Kennedy, Associated Press
Universal isn’t slowing down on these films though with a remake of the “Creature from the Black Lagoon” in the works with Whannell’s former “Insidious” and “Saw” partner James Wan producing.
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