The Wolfman

A Gruesome Film Lacking in Originality

The trailer for this movie has promise and it looks like a classic remake of an old myth.  The trailer was better.  It is hammy, corny, and gruesome if you like your blood to resemble tomato sauce.  Ultimately, it’s a waste of good actors. Hopkins’ character is bland and over acted. Del Toro has wolf-like features and would have been perfectly cast if there was a decent storyline.

Despite this, the production and visuals are impressive. Misty, dark moors and the massive, dilapidated mansion add to the atmosphere of the movie.  It doesn’t try to be something different.  The story is simple; long lost brother arrives home to find out how and why his brother was killed, is bitten in the meantime by a wolf and battles with his beastly characteristics when it starts to take hold of him.

It is gory with plenty of ripped off limbs and there are enough jumpy scenes to frighten and entertain.   As the movie progresses the scare factor becomes comedic and a fight scene between two werewolves is almost as corny as it gets.  The werewolves resemble Chewbacca’s brothers in English gentlemen’s ripped clothes.

Many old movies have been remade and sometimes better than the original but there are some that shouldn’t be remade, this being one of them.  It is very hard to outdo the original classic werewolf movie, The Howling, which scared me to the bone.  This is classified as horror; make up your own mind, when it goes to DVD.

Rating: 2/5