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John Allman

If you’ve ever wandered the aisles at the video store or surfed the DVR pay-per-view options and seen a bunch of movies that you’ve never heard of, chances are John has watched them. Why? He loves movies. All kinds of movies. Good, bad, so-bad-they’re good, even the truly unwatchable ones. He mostly loves horror and science-fiction and drive-in exploitation movies that most upstanding model citizens wouldn’t dare watch. Then he writes up his thoughts so you can decide - watch, don’t watch or avoid at all costs. Sometimes he even gets to talk to the cool folks who make some of your favorite films.

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The Wolfman

Posted Jun 7, 2010 by John Allman

Updated Jun 7, 2010 at 06:35 AM

The Wolfman
Genre: Horror/Remake
Directed by: Joe Johnston
Run time: 119 minutes
Rating: R
Format: Blu-Ray

The Lowdown: “The Wolfman” won’t win any awards for originality, but this update of the 1941 Lon Chaney Jr. classic is a hoot of a B-grade popcorn movie.

Set in the late 1800s, this gothic retelling keeps the original plot intact, but then plays liberally with its application. There are gypsies, spooky mist-filled moors, townspeople with torches and a very large beast stalking the countryside.

Stars Sir Anthony Hopkins and Benicio del Toro appear to be having a blast playing father and son, Sir John and Lawrence Talbot. Hopkins, in particular, keeps one eye winking knowingly at the camera – almost too much, as his line delivery easily and early on gives away a key plot development. Emily Blunt is the love interest, the woman promised to Lawrence’s brother Ben, whose disappearance prompts Larry to return from America to the stately English manor where he grew up. And the incomparable Hugo Weaving plays a police inspector intent on exposing the murderer as a man, not a monster.

There’s a wonderful set piece inside a dank, dark sanitarium where the inmates undergo intensive therapy. An even more awesome transformation scene set in front of the local government as they gather to hold court and decide Lawrence’s fate. There’s a full-body fight between two werewolves that never could have been shot 60 some years ago. And there’s blood and gore aplenty – decapitations, limbs ripped off, throats ripped out.

The script by Andrew Kevin Walker (Seven) effectively moves the action along, even if it isn’t nearly as razor sharp as his genius serial killer opus.

And director Joe Johnston does a fine job staging the big money shots.

Taken as a big, fun creature feature, “The Wolfman” is completely enjoyable. It’s not on par with classics from the werewolf genre like “The Howling” or “An American Werewolf in London,” but it is an above-average period-piece monster mash, the kind that horror fans haven’t had in quite some time.

The Stuff You Care About:
Hot chicks – Emily Blunt, pretty hot.
Nudity – Brief.
Gore – Yes.
Drug use – No.
Bad Guys/Killers – Beware the moon.
Buy/Rent – Buy it.
Blu-Ray Bonus Features – Exclusive: BD-Live Bonus Limited Time Presentation of “The Wolfman (1941)”; U-Control looks at Rick Baker’s makeup effects behind-the-scenes and the legacy and legend of the Wolfman in major motion pictures; Two alternate endings; pocketBLU-enabled. Additional: Deleted and extended scenes, featurettes.
On the Web – http://www.thewolfmanmovie.com/
Release Date - June 1, 2010