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Wolf Man proves that… if you go down in the woods, today… you’re a dumbass.
Harking back to 1995, a passage of text appears too quickly to take in about how the titular lupine was first spotted in the Oregon woods back in 1995, leading to Grady (Sam Jaeger) taking his young son, Blake (Zac Chandler) out and about on a hunting holiday.
Fast-forward to the present day, and we learn that with Blake now grown up, and now played by Christopher Abbott, his Dad has since gone missing, but finally, he’s been declared dead, so along with Blake’s wife and daughter – Charlotte (Julia Garner) and Ginger (Matilda Firth) – they can put it all behind them and go for a family trip to… er… the same woods.
Yeah, that sounds like a sensible idea!!!
So, back in the land of the Wolf Man, the family come across an old friend of Blake’s, Dan (director and co-writer Leigh Whannell, who also brought us Upgrade), the meat freezer is full of expired meat which would only entice Homer Simpson, and for some time, this film is a case of “tell, don’t show”, as the creature is only shown briefly at first.
However, it does bring us an engaging creature feature that’s not going to win any awards for original screenplay, but is certainly entertaining for the 91 minutes before the long 12-minute end credits begin (why so long?!) and that’s more than you can say about a lot of new films these days, even if a lot of the acting in this is simply all about looking shocked.
Still, if Wolf Man is to revive Universal Pictures’ Monsters Universe, it’s certainly a lot better than the disastrous false start with Tom Cruise’s The Mummy, in 2017.
There are no mid- or post-credits scenes.
Wolf Man is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 103 minutes
Release date: January 17th 2025
Studio: Universal Pictures
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 (ARRIRAW (4.5K), Anamorphic Panavision)
Rating: 7/10
Director: Leigh Whannell
Producer: Jason Blum
Screenplay: Leigh Whannell, Corbett Tuck
Music: Benjamin Wallfisch
Cast:
Charlotte: Julia Garner
Blake: Christopher Abbott
Ginger: Matilda Firth
Grady: Sam Jaeger
Young Blake: Zac Chandler
Derek: Benedict Hardie
Dan: Leigh Whannell
Man: Milo Cawthorne
SFPD: Rob MacBride
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.