The Wolfman B+

I must say the sight of a werewolf in tattered pants and a button down shirt is as exciting to me today as it must have been when Lon Chaney Jr. first burst on the scene almost 60 years ago. The new version of the classic "Wolfman" certainly has its problems, but I found it to be a real howler (in a good way.)

The story gives us our first dose of gore galore right away when we see a man ripped to pieces before our very eyes while walking alone in the woods. When are characters in horror films going to learn it's never a good idea to walk alone, even if you're the hero. But that's beside the point. We soon find out our first victim was the brother of famous actor Lawrence Talbot, played by Benecio Del Toro. He comes back to his family's rural and imposing country estate presided over by a paunchy looking and cheerfully aging Anthony Hopkins.

Del Toro vows to get to the bottom of his brother's death, and follows the chatter from the local pub down to a camp of gypsies in the woods during a full moon. The townsfolk blame the gypsies circus bear for the recent deaths, but soon the meeting is broken up by our old pal the werewolf. Del Toro fights with it and is bitten. The gypsies stitch him up, and when the next full moon comes around he's howling for blood and displaying an aversion to silver bullets.

The werewolf transformations are this film's bread and butter and they do not disappoint. I for one don't want to see an instantaneous transformation. I want to hear those bones creek and see the arms, feet and face transform inch by inch.
And these are the best ones I've seen on screen since An American Werewolf in London.

The acting here is somewhat lazy though. Del Toro never really digs into the emotional turmoil behind his wolf bitten character preferring to coast by on his dark look and brooding eyebrows. Hopkins is on autopilot as the same old authority figure who may know more about the werewolves than he's letting on. And Emily Blunt has little to do as the love interest except look concerned and be a shoulder to cry on and fantasize about devouring.

That said, director Joe Johnston keeps things moving at a swift pace, and he knows how to make all the creaky doors, candlelight and moonlit chases by carriage and horseback seem thrilling again. This is how a re-imagining should be done.