After the incredible success of 2020’s The Invisible Man, Leigh Whannell reimagines another Universal Monster with his adaptation of Wolf Man.

Whannell’s retelling of this classic horror story follows Blake (Christopher Abbott). After the passing of his father, Blake inherits his father’s remote farm in the middle of Oregon. Blake and his father’s relationship was strained over the years, so he hasn’t been to the farmhouse in decades. Feeling a need to reconnect and repair the relationship with his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner), Blake suggest his wife and daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth) accompany him as he cleans his dad’s stuff out of the farmhouse.

On their way to the farmhouse, Blake sees a figure in the road, causing the truck to veer off the road and crash. As Blake and his family get their bearings, they hear the sound of a growling animal in the forest. As they try to make their way to safety, Blake is scratched by the creature.

As Blake and his family hide in the farmhouse from the unknown creature, Blake begins to show signs of sickness and body begins to change. Charlotte and Ginger struggle to find a way out as they’re trapped in the house with Blake as his body and behavior change rapidly, and dealing with the creature prowling outside the farmhouse.

As expected, Wolf Man delivers some great scares and some really gnarly body horror. One thing you won’t expect is how emotional the film is. There’s a real heart in this film between Blake and his family. Because the film spends time focused on Blake and his family, there is real tension when things with Blake start to turn bad.

The performances are great, especially Chris Abbott’s performance as Blake. Fans will pack the theater to see Wolf Man be a wolf man, however, Abbott’s strong performance is as you’re watching a man struggle with uncontrollable changes. He’s a prisoner in his own body. One of the most interesting and impacting choices Whannell makes is showing the transformation from Blake’s perspective. The audience can see what it’s like to slowly transform into something/someone you don’t recognize.

There are some jump scares and the usual horror tropes that will get audiences to jump out of their seats. The real horror is the grueling transformation. Those scenes are sudden and look incredibly painful. The sequence when Charlotte takes the bandage of Blake’s arm and he “reacts” will get a loud reaction from audiences.

One of the film’s best decisions is having the film intensify as Blake’s transformation intensifies. The more he changes, he more intense things become inside and outside the farmhouse. Whannell does a fantastic job trapping the audience in the nightmare Charlotte and Ginger are experiencing.

Wolf Man is a wonderful adaptation of a classic horror story. It’s not the sprawling story like 2010’s The Wolfman. It’s a stripped down story about a man and his family dealing with a mysterious creature an unknown illness. That approach to retelling Wolf Man makes the film feel more intimate and more terrifying at points. Wolf Man may not scare audiences to death, but it’s a very good start for 2025 horror films. Blumhouse and Universal are two for two. Let’s see what classic horror they resurrect next.  

Grade: B+