THE FILM
Universal Monsters, once a pantheon of hauntingly human fears and grotesque grandeur, have suffered a strange fate in the hands of contemporary filmmakers. From the ambitious flop of The Mummy (2017) to the success of The Invisible Man (2020), the legacy of these creatures has been reinvented, re-imagined, and often, tragically, undercut. The latest in this lineage, Wolf Man (2025), directed by Leigh Whannell, should have been a triumphant return to the dark, eerie legacy of lycanthropy. Instead, it feels like a muddled, half-hearted stumble, a creature feature without the creature.
For all of its marketing promises, Wolf Man is anything but monstrous. The film begins with an enticing premise: Blake (Christopher Abbott), a man desperate to repair his fractured life and marriage, relocates his family to a remote Oregon farmhouse; a place of his own troubled childhood. Yet, instead of a campfire legend or a terrible curse, we are given a virus. Yes, a virus. As if the underwhelming specter of a werewolf’s fate were no longer suitable for a full moon, Whannell and screenwriter Corbett Tuck have turned lycanthropy into a vague, feeble contagion that behaves like a bad flu with a few deformities and superhuman abilities. Gone are the dark hallucinatory transformations, the terror of the full moon rising in a sky that is never quite as empty as we’d like. In its place, Blake’s gradual descent into his lupine form resembles not an ancient curse but a bloated metaphor for middle-aged health decline, with the occasional oddity; heightened senses, a spasm of violence, a biting-off-your-own-arm moment, sliced in for flavor.
One might argue that reinvention is essential, but Whannell’s take is no reinvention. It is a hollow shell of a werewolf movie. The classic tale of a man cursed by the moonlight is stripped of its mysticism and terror, reduced to a clinical unraveling that could easily be about any number of psychological breakdowns, only with more fur and a few awkwardly placed wolfish traits. Instead of the familiar anguish of transformation; the grotesque twisting of flesh, the gut-wrenching howl; the film offers only underwhelming moments of semi-deformation. Blake’s evolution is not one of pain or torment, but of slightly sharper teeth, some thicker hair on his chest, and a few unfortunate fingernail replacements. These barely register as monstrous. The transformation scenes, which have historically been among the most visceral and iconic in the horror genre, are nothing but a missed opportunity, leaving us with little more than a cosmetic afterthought of a werewolf.
The narrative, such as it is, hinges on Blake’s increasingly unstable behavior, his deteriorating relationship with his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner), and their daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth). Abbott, usually a compelling actor, seems stranded here, unable to summon any of the emotional turmoil that could elevate his character from everyman to tragic figure. The family’s reaction to his creeping transformation is equally limp; there’s no palpable fear, no overwhelming sense of dread as the man they love starts to devour himself from the inside out. For a film about a man losing control, the stakes remain stubbornly low. The “climax,” a final showdown between two werewolves, is laughable in its lack of intensity as if a high school drama club had choreographed the fight.
At the core of the problem is a lack of urgency. Where The Invisible Man managed to build tension and suspense through a careful study of isolation and creeping paranoia, Wolf Man seems content to plod along without generating any real scares or thrills. Instead, we are treated to long stretches of boredom, punctuated by nonsensical flashes of color and sound that aim to signify Blake’s heightened senses but instead feel like the fevered visions of a filmmaker who has lost track of what made these stories frightening in the first place. The film seems unaware of its own tonal identity, stumbling between a family drama, a weak thriller, and a low-budget body horror movie, without ever committing fully to any of them. In one particularly absurd moment, Blake’s heightened sense of hearing is symbolized by the loud screeching of a spider crawling across the floor, an audacious decision that undermines any sense of dread. It’s as if the film is mocking the very notion of horror, refusing to even try to evoke the kind of visceral fear that made Wolf Man (1941) a genre-defining classic.
Ultimately, Wolf Man fails to fulfill any of the promises inherent in its premise. It’s neither an engaging character study nor a chilling horror film. Rather, it’s a missed opportunity, a creature stranded between genres and ideas, lurching toward something unidentifiable and unscary. When the credits roll, all that lingers is a faint disappointment, a howl that fades into the distance, far from the monstrous legacy it should have upheld. Wolf Man might not be worth your time, unless you’re in the mood to watch a film that’s lost its bite; stuck in a state of permanent, unremarkable transformation. Shoot it with a silver bullet and put it out of its misery.
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THE VIDEO
The 2025 release of Wolf Man presents a multitude of issues, both narratively and in terms of character and dialogue. But the question remains: how does it fare visually, especially with Universal’s new 2106p UHD 4K release, complete with HDR10? In many ways, the film seems buried in its own shadows. Much like its theatrical counterpart, the visual design is drenched in darkness, with only fleeting glimpses of natural or stage lighting to break through. The entire color palette takes on a muted, mossy green and brownish hue, creating an almost oppressive atmosphere that renders it difficult to discern much of the action, particularly when a creature is lurking in the depths.
When daylight filters in, as in the opening scene or during the brief appearances of the so-called “Wolf-O-Vision,” the lighting shifts slightly, introducing amber tones and the occasional flash of vibrant green from the trees, or curious purple and silver glows in more supernatural settings. The HDR10 implementation does its best to bring some clarity to these darker corners, the farmhouse, and the barn, providing deep, inky blacks with little to no noticeable crush. Yet, despite these technical efforts, the film never quite embraces color. One can only wish for a bit more visual vibrancy, especially when faced with the spectacle of a werewolf rendered in either overly polished CGI or absurdly charming practical effects.
When the scene lightens, detail is sharp: textures come into focus, and for a brief moment, one can make out the subtle artistry of makeup applications or the grain of the farmhouse’s wooden beams. But for the majority of the film, it’s a challenge to make out facial expressions or distinguish the finer details in the costumes or set design. Universal’s 4K presentation is undeniably solid from a technical standpoint, but the source material, so entrenched in shadow, creates a rather laborious viewing experience. Perhaps next time, the filmmakers might consider giving us a bit more light, or at least a splash of color, to match the supernatural horrors on screen.
THE AUDIO
If there’s one undeniably exceptional aspect of Wolf Man, whether in terms of its overall execution or Universal’s 4K release, it’s the impeccable Dolby Atmos track. Simply put, it’s a triumph, and the film’s audio design is as chilling as it is immersive, creating an atmosphere of tension and dread from the first frame to the last. Every creak of the floorboards, every whisper of wind, and the ominous crunch of branches snapping beneath an unseen footfall is rendered with extraordinary clarity. The footsteps in the leaves, in particular, carry a visceral punch that feels almost tactile. The sound design takes full advantage of the sonic space, with moments like a spider skittering up a wall; captured in the eerie, hyperreal Wolf-O-Vision, resonating with a spine-tingling precision.
When a creature begins to stalk its prey, the soundstage expands with pinpoint accuracy across every speaker, delivering an immersive experience that engulfs the viewer. The low-end bass delivers a satisfying rumble, its deep growl never quite veering into the oppressive or overwhelming, but always present, like the growl of something lurking just beyond the shadows. Dialogue remains pristine and intelligible throughout, bolstered by optional English subtitles that ensure no line is lost in the film’s atmospheric haze. There are moments in Wolf Man, however uneven the film itself may be; where the Dolby Atmos track stands as a true demo-worthy experience, offering a level of auditory craftsmanship that elevates the viewing experience in ways that the visuals can’t quite match.
THE EXTRAS
- Audio Commentary with Leigh Whannell – Unfortunately, he doesn’t discuss what went wrong with the film.
- Unleashing a New Monster (HD, 8 Mins.)
- Designing Wolf Man (HD, 9 Mins.)
- Hands-On Horror (HD, 7 Mins.)
- Nightmares and Dreamscapes (HD, 7 Mins.)
THE ULTIMATE WORD
Wolf Man fails to strike a single meaningful chord in its attempt to reimagine the horror genre. What could have been a thrilling transformation into terror instead becomes a clumsy, mangled beast of a film; bereft of compelling characters, coherent storytelling, genuine scares, or any of the cinematic pleasures one might hope for. Visually, the 4K HDR10 presentation offers a crispness that’s hard to ignore, yet the pervasive darkness of the film’s aesthetic hampers the viewing experience. It’s as though the source material itself is a slave to darkness, and while the image may look technically proficient, it’s often lost in an unyielding murk that obscures the details.
Where this 4K release of Wolf Man truly excels is in its Dolby Atmos audio track; an exceptional achievement that stands in stark contrast to the film’s visual and narrative shortcomings. The sound design is immersive and precise, with a dynamism that’s absolutely demo-worthy. It may be the only reason to consider adding this release to your collection. As for the bonus features, they do little to enliven the experience. Instead of offering any sense of fun or deeper insight, they serve only to underline the film’s failure to engage. For those seeking an excellent audio reference, this might still be a worthwhile purchase, but as a complete cinematic package, it’s a silver bullet to the head; dead on arrival.
