The Wolfman's turn

Film review: The Wolfman

MANILA, Philippines - It is now the Wolfman’s turn. Now I do not know if there is a difference between the werewolf and the wolfman but since this piece is about The Wolfman, the new film that stars the Academy Award winning Benicio Del Toro (Traffic), then I will refer to this horror film creature as the wolfman for this piece.

I also say it is now the wolfman’s turn because one of his relations, the vampire has already hogged the limelight for quite sometime now. Vampires are everywhere. Books, movies, TV, music, fashion, etc. I won’t be surprised to find out that there are now people who think the vampire is real. All of us can certainly do with some change, so why not a wolfman?

Del Toro’s Wolfman is a remake of the Lon Chaney’s classic. They say that the best wolfman was Chaney. He was also the best Frankenstein, Mummy, etc. Del Toro is following in the footsteps of a master. He has the makings of one. Del Toro is always a delight to watch. In fact, he is one of those actors who can turn in a good performance even when in a bad movie. And he has excellent company here.

Del Toro is Lawrence who deserted his British country estate roots for the U.S. of A. after his mother was savagely killed by an unidentified creature. He has now been asked to return after his brother met the same fate. Playing his sinister father is Anthony Hopkins (Silence Of The Lambs). His dead brother’s fiancée is Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada). There are also Geraldine Chaplin (Dr. Zhivago) and Hugo Weaving, (Lord Of The Rings).

You ask. What is Latino Del Toro doing playing the heir to a decaying English manor with Hopkins as his father? Granted that he already has the dark, brooding looks of a possible wolfman, this is still casting that addles the mind. The script provides an explanation. Lawrence is an actor who has stayed in America for a long time. That is why he has no British accent although there was some bit of that while he was contemplating Yorick’s skull in a production of Hamlet. Accept that. Put your question out of the way and prepare to enjoy yourself. That is, if you like getting scared.

I like it that The Wolfman is a gothic horror story where the moon is not romantic but ominous. It is in those moors, crags and gloomy candle-lit castles where beasts like him belong, not in the school cafeteria. I like it that the tale is set in the 19th century when the neighborhood pub was the main source of news or gossip and there was no media magnifying the news. I like it that secrets seem to haunt all the characters of the piece and they prefer to keep these to themselves. All these remind me of the old Hammer films. Remember, those could send shivers up one’s spine with only the slightest movement in the shadows. I miss those. So it is nice to see The Wolfman going back to the basics.

This does not mean though that director Joe Johnston has totally disregarded the fact that the moviegoers of today see horror flicks differently. Besides, having an A-listed cast in the remake of a classic certainly provides him with an ample budget for the special effects. So he also serves up lots of blood and gore and even bodies mangled by canine teeth. A Wolfman on a rampage can come up with lots of those. And what amazing fight scenes. Godzilla and whoever he fought with in those Japanese movies cannot hold a candle to these dueling wolfmen.

The Wolfman is a look back at the original premise of the creature. This time though, it is without the sexy encounters, Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pffeifer in Wolf, the beefcake bod, New Moon of the Twilight series, and the fun, Michael Jackson’s Thriller video. It is not a pretty sight but then such tales were never meant to be.

Get your horror kick with this one.