The Wolfman (2010)

Director: Joe Johnston

Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving

More info: IMDb

Tagline: When the moon is full the legend comes to life

Plot: Lawrence Talbot's childhood ended the night his mother died. His father sent him from the sleepy Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor to an insane asylum, then he goes to America. When his brother's fiancée, Gwen Conliffe, tracks him down to help find her missing love, Talbot returns to his father's estate to learn that his brother's mauled body has been found. Reunited with his estranged father, Lawrence sets out to find his brother's killer... and discovers a horrifying destiny for himself. Someone or something with brute strength and insatiable blood lust has been killing the villagers, and a suspicious Scotland Yard inspector named Aberline comes to investigate.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? YES!


#3 of 31 Days of Horror 2010.

NICE! I can't believe all of the negative hype between critics and audiences kept me from seeing this in the theater. To be fair, they saw the theatrical cut and I just watched the director's cut on Blu-ray. I thought it was fantastic. The performances were great (Benicio's could have been more livelier, however). Hopkins was fun as always and Weaving needs another movie with his character. He was a blast.


The effects (except for the STUPID and unnecessary CGI bear - really? Is it just that expensive to hire a fucking bear?) were good. I liked the throwback look to the 1941 original. Hell, there were a lot of callbacks to that one - the wolf cane, the quoting of the legend on the tombstone, lots of plot points - this is how you do a remake. Tell the same story with a few things added and there you go.



I almost forgot, Danny Elfman's score. WTF? It was really good for a change. I've been a huge fan of his since the beginning but his scores lately have been far from memorable. With this one he's got that Wojciech Kilar BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA (1992) vibe that's ideal for this film. The word is his score was yanked after re-shoots to change the tone of the film but was, obviously, re-instated. Asshole producers.


It kills me that when I built my computer earlier this year I neglected to add a Blu-ray drive. I wasn't forward thinking enough to see the necessity to grab screen shots. There's a scene where Hopkins and Blunt are on the stairway and he's got this wonderfully blank stare on his face that's just priceless. I got the disc from Netflix which doesn't have any extras on it. That's almost OK because, when the price is right, I'll purchase it. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I recommend it but only the director's cut.