The Wolfman
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Simon Merrells
Rating: 2.5 STARS
As classic horror monsters go, the werewolf hasn't enjoyed nearly the amount of success as the vampire, zombie, warlock, demon or even mummy.
Sad because the werewolf is a truly tragic monster. He's a man whose inner demons are released without his consent. In this case, man's animal nature gets the better of him.
The Wolfman is based on the 1941 classic which starred Lon Chaney Jr. as Lawrence Talbot, the young nobleman who returns to his family home, is bitten by a werewolf and himself must deal with the curse.
Benitio Del Toro has been wanting to play the Wolfman for years. He is a huge fan of the classic Universal horror films and has a collection of many of the original posters including Chaney's The Wolfman. Del Toro brings his trademark brooding, mumbling anti-hero performance to the role of Lawrence Talbot, the prodigal son of Sir John Talbot (Anthony Hopkins) the father who sent his son to an asylum after the young boy witnessed something unthinkable. Just what that was you'll have to wait to see.
I really liked that Rick Baker's makeup stays true to the original Universal designs. When he transforms, Del Toro looks like Chaney but then the CGI takes over and he bounds over rooftops, fields and moors like an animal.
I know the film is called The Wolfman but I would have liked far more wolf and far less man. The wolf sequences are excellent especially the final 15 minutes when Del Toro's Wolfman meets the creature who infected him.
There's a love story.
Lawrence is called back to the family estate when a creature kills his brother Ben (Simon Merrells). Ben's widow Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt) begs Lawrence to find and kill the creature. We see there is chemistry between them and learn it was something Lawrence tried to hide when Ben and Gwen were courting. With his brother out of the way, Lawrence and Gwen....well you get the idea.
Will Gwen release the animal in Lawrence or tame it?
The Wolfman is not particularly scary but it is creepy and very moody. Hugo Weaving plays Detective Abberline who is assigned to find out what exactly is happening on the Talbot estate. And yes he is the same Abberline who hunted Jack the Ripper. This is the kind of fun the screenplay has with the story.
What you may ask in Anthony Hopkins doing in a horror film? Eating up more scenery than he did in Silence of the Lambs and that's for certain.
For horror buffs, an almost unrecognizable Geraldine Chaplin plays the gypsy woman who knows exactly what lies ahead for Lawrence when he is bitten one night near the gypsy camp.
