Wolf Man (2025) Non-Spoiler Review

"Dying is one of the easiest things you can do"

Very early In Wolf Man (2025) this line is uttered with quiet, jaw-clenched fear towards someone who is not afraid enough of the danger lurking in the woods.

The Wolf Man, like all Universal Monsters, has achieved fame most horror creatures can only have nightmares about.

However, ubiquity often comes at a price. If you ask younger audiences about Wolf Man then Twilight, Fruit Brute, Monster High and the haggard Dad in Hotel Translyvania may be the first thing to come to mind.

Some may ask, why would you find the Wolf Man scary in 2025?

I am pretty sure that director Leigh Whannell took that question personally.

While the movie flirts with deeper themes and hints at different readings, the script, the acting, the setting, special effects are all in service to one central idea (immortalized in this iconic Tumblr post):

"Wouldn't it be #$&?ed up if there was a half-man/half-wolf that tried to kill you in the woods? And wouldn't it be even more $&#@ed if when that wolf bit you, you also turned into a half-man/half-wolf??"

This is not some cheap "modernization' of the Wolf Man with a ham-fisted societal metaphor retrofitted on the poor beast's muzzle. This is Wolf Man stripped down to brass tacks and built back up to a 1 hr 40 minute all-killer no-filler creature flick designed specifically to show WHY you should be scared of the Wolf Man.

The movie knows it treads well-worn ground and tries at every junction to break expectations with fresh takes on werewolf tropes, well-earned jumpscares, and constant shifts in danger to make sure you don't get too comfortable.

We spend the absolute bare minimum time needed to establish the family dynamic of the Dad named Blake (played by Christopher Abbott), mother Charlotte (played by Julia Garner) and their daughter played Ginger (played by Matilda Firth) before dropping them right into danger.

Some of these early family scenes cannot escape hints of sappiness. But when you see Blake talk with glassy-eyed shock because the creature "stood on two feet" and you believe his fear? You can see why they rushed to get there. While the performances may not be groundbreaking, they are extremely grounded. The movie does a great job at making the family, their flaws and their conflicts believable through the conflict brought by the situation. With a veritable flood of horror movies about terrible people dealing with something worse, a generally alright family trying their best in a horrible situation is a breath of fresh air.

The horror in this movie is equally split between the horror of facing a werewolf and the horror of becoming one. The latter is where Wolf Man (2025) really tried to break away from the pack. Whannell uses every tool at his disposal to drag the audience into embodying the terror of what a werewolf transformation could be like. One scene in particular used brilliant sound design for a transformation reveal that left me cackling at its ingenuity.

From growls to ambient wood noise, to the gut-wrenching sounds of transformation, Sound designer P.K. Hooker and his sound team bring an S-Rank performance throughout the entire film. Special attention must also be given to the masterwork of practical special effects and creature work by effects designer Arjen Tuiten. He and his team make sure the body horror in this film is brutal, visceral, and brilliantly effective.

My only complaint comes from what feels like unrealized potential. Unfortunately, the production/budget limitations do come to bear on the film. It's not felt in the fairly contained setting (which serve the drama and tension well) but in the narrative heft. It feels like if this movie just had another 15-20 minutes to give some characters a little more depth or to double down on some of its secondary themes, it would transform from a great creature feature into something truly special.

Established fans of the classic furry-faced monster are in for a real treat with enough meat on the bone to keep you satisfied. But, if the Wolf Man is something that didn't interest you before, I don't think Wolf Man (2025) will be the movie to change your mind.

However if the scent coming off the film seems tantalizing, I'd recommend sinking your teeth in. You may uncover a hunger for something you've never craved before.

Disclosure: I received a free ticket to advance screening of this movie from a Blumhouse fan list, but they did not request I review it.

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