Wolf Man—director Leigh Whannell’s reboot of Universal Pictures’ werewolf tale starring Jennifer Garner and Christopher Abbott—is new in theaters this weekend. How are critics receiving director Leigh Whannell’s reboot tale of the famed movie monster?
Rated R, Wolf Man is playing in Thursday previews before opening in theaters nationwide on Friday. The logline for Wolf Man reads, “A family at a remote farmhouse is attacked by an unseen animal, but as the night stretches on, the father begins to transform into something unrecognizable.”
Julia Garner and Christopher Abbott play Charlotte and Blake in Wolf Man, while Matilda Firth plays their daughter, Ginger. Whannell—who directed the hit reboot of the 2020 Universal Monsters tale The Invisible Man—co-wrote Wolf Man with Corbett Tuck.
Critics are split in initial reviews posted on Rotten Tomatoes, giving the film a 59% “rotten” rating based on 54 reviews. Since the film has yet to open in theaters, the Popcornmeter rating from verified RT users has not been posted.
How Are Individual Critics Reacting To ‘Wolf Man’?
In their critical breakdowns of Julia Garner’s and Christopher Abbott’s Wolf Man, many critics referred to other iterations of werewolf movies throughout the decades—including the original version of The Wolf Man starring Lon Chaney Jr.—while others recalled Leigh Whannell’s remake of The Invisible Man.
William Bibbiani is among the top critics on RT who have given Wolf Man a “fresh” rating. In his review for The Wrap, Bibbiani writes, “So it’s not an instant classic like The Invisible Man. I think we can all live with that. It’s still a scary and interesting movie about a wolf man, anchored by a haunting performance from Abbott, who understood the assignment and went for extra credit.”
Also giving Wolf Man a “fresh” review is Pete Hammond, who writes in his review for Deadline Hollywood Daily, “We have seen numerous variations on all this over the years… The list goes on and on since the 1930s and it is to Whannell’s credit that it still works to the degree it does.”
Among Wolf Man’s detractors on RT is Peter Debruge of Variety, who writes, “Whatever its strengths or weaknesses, every werewolf movie is ultimately judged by how well it handles the transformation and creature effects, and in that department, Wolf Man is a dud.”
Carla Meyer of the San Francisco Chronicle also gives Wolf Man a “rotten” review on RT, writing, “The film moves from quietly morose to spectacularly cheesy via special effects that split the difference between Chaney’s heyday and today, landing somewhere near 1980s Roger Corman.”
Another top critic on RT who gives the horror film a “rotten” review is Seth Katz, who writes for Slant Magazine, “Wolf Man neither embraces the fundamentals of the werewolf folklore from which it draws nor convincingly reinvents them.”
Wolf Man is playing in Thursday previews before opening in theaters nationwide on Friday.
Note: This ‘Wolf Man’ review round-up will be updated as more critics post their reviews on RT.
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