An untimely visit to a nearby gypsy camp brings him face to furry face with the creature, and he miraculously survives a vicious attack. Scotland Yard investigator Abberline (an excellent Hugo Weaving) arrives to solve the puzzling homicides that plague the village of Blackmoor, and determines Lawrence highly suspect. As Talbot slowly begins a horrible transformation as a result of the cursed bite, he warns Gwen to flee as the moon grows fat and his animalistic urges increase. He finds some common ground with his father, who seems to know what hell his haunted son may be in for. When night falls, Lawrence shape-shifts into a monster and goes on his own gory rampage. As he is captured and blamed for the local slayings, he pleads for a merciful death before the lunar cycle again comes full circle.
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| PETA isn't quite sure how to handle this one. |
Joe Johnston – the film’s 11th hour replacement for original director Mark Romanek – does well to stick close to the classic source material, while peppering this timeless tale with a few new twists and turns. Despite the production problems during the shooting of this film, he manages to ultimately deliver a highly enjoyable finished product. There are minor flaws to be found; a lapse in fully realizing the romance blooming between Del Toro and Blunt, a few blatant (and unnecessary) computer effects distractions, and at times rushed pacing in areas that should have been further fleshed out with a few additional minutes of running time. Yet as easy as it could be to quibble over such minor infractions, this is after all a monster movie – and one of the best to come out of Hollywood in many years.
The period London setting, Danny Elfman’s menacing score, the gothic art direction and cinematography – all evoke the cinematic magic of Universal’s immortal slate of early 20th century spook-shows, as well as the more mature, more violent Hammer Studios horrors of the 1950’s and ‘60’s. Rick Baker’s werewolf transformation effects have a history all their own, and won him a special Academy Award for his work on 1981’s An American Werewolf in London. Similarities to that film can be found again here, but his practical makeup effects are shown in a gruesome new light with additional state-of-the-art CGI sweetening.
In an age where most “horror” movies are aimed squarely at the distracted teen demographic, The Wolfman is a bloody valentine to fans of a nearly forgotten era of old fashioned monster movie madness. In the days before “torture porn” and crude J-horror remakes, countless Saw-a-thons and other such nasty nonsense, Universal Studios fashioned the modern monster movie with classics such as Dracula, Frankenstein and the like. Now nearly a century later, it’s nice to know such a creature feature can still exist – in the hearts and minds of dedicated filmmakers, and in a darkened theatre near you.