Wolf Man (2025) - A Visceral Take on the Classic Monster

I cannot control what’s happening to me.

Wolf Man transformed into theaters in 2025. Upon learning that his father has passed away, a family travels to the remote farmhouse. A ferocious creature attacks them. As the night stretches on, Blake endures a horrible transformation he cannot stop.

Wolf Man is not your generic creature film. Opinions on the film have been a wild storm of mixed reactions. I went into the movie with a fresh perspective. Wolf Man takes its own creative pathway to create a different perspective choice.

Julia Garner, Christopher Abbott, and Matilda Firth play a family of three. Each actor does a great job, though dynamics aren’t explored enough. The dialogue and interactions are weirdly portrayed. There is tension, but the characters still love each other.

Remember the saying, actions speak louder than words? Writers attempted to make it a family drama with Blake and Charlotte discussing their marriage. Ginger, their daughter, doesn’t do much in the way of the usual kid horror tropes. She’s always put into another room for safety.

Most were expecting a full-on werewolf transformation horror film, but Wolf Man takes a different approach by telling the story through Blake’s perspective. The film focuses primarily on his slow, agonizing transformation into the sinister beast. In my opinion, that is scarier. This concept is driven entirely from the human-to-wolf perspective. Blake has lost control.

He can no longer communicate or understand others. His family has a strange appearance with lights glimmering in their eyes. Christopher Abbott did research for the role, specifically on how to manifest the wolf’s body language. The makeup took two hours to apply.

Wolf Man is directed by Leigh Whannell who is well-known in the horror movie realm for his work on Saw and The Invisible Man. Once again, Whannell proves that he understands how to craft horror from a place of tension and unpredictability.

He drew from other horror films for inspiration with this film. Whannell also drew Blake’s inability to communicate based on a friend who suffered from ALS. The body diminishes, but the mind stays sharp.

Whannell and his wife Corbett Tuck co-wrote Wolf Man. The writing is not the film’s strongest element. The plot is straightforward and at times thin, with supporting characters that serve more as emotional anchors than fully developed individuals. The film occasionally struggles with pacing and interactions between characters.

Whannell also agrees that viewers will have mixed reactions to the wolf's makeup. It is practical and not CGI. Prosthetics were used which were described as incredible and difficult to work. The film’s commitment to practical effects deserves praise. Films have been getting too carried away with CGI. All horror films should implement different elements.

The process of how Wolf Man was made is really interesting. The behind-the-scenes process is just as important to a film because there are several secrets. Tension is built through disorienting cinematography and immersive sound design. Editors reversed dialogue when Blake was trying to make sense of the human language.

The makeup of the wolf is terrifying, including its protruding teeth and glassy eyes. That’s not the only gnarly makeup effect. The transformation sequences are long and drawn out. Designs for gruesome bloody injuries are both incredible and disgusting. I looked away at the awful sight of Blake eating his own body parts.

Wolf Man is scary and intense. I jumped a couple of times. Know what you are getting into before watching this movie. It’s not a film for kids. Horror fans should put it on their watch list.