Reviving an old franchise, especially one tied to people’s cherished memories, is no easy task. With the help of Blumhouse, Universal is giving it a solid effort with Wolf Man. It worked well with 2020’s The Invisible Man, which offered a fresh take on the concept. From the trailers, this year’s Wolf Man seemed poised to do the same, presenting a new perspective on the classic tale of werewolf transformation. To some extent, it succeeded.
The problem, however, is that while the film introduced some intriguing ideas, it neglected one of the most critical elements of a horror movie: being engaging. It felt drawn out and dull, failing to captivate while also straying too far from the source material to resonate on multiple levels. Not to say it was bad, but what ideas it did bring to the table felt overshadowed by odd design and story choices that detracted from the overall feel of the film.
But I’m getting ahead of myself—let’s start with what the film is about. Wolf Man (2025) tells the story of Blake Lovell (Christopher Abbott), who, after some unspecified issues, has been estranged from his father. Now living in New York City with his wife, Charlotte (Julia Garner), and young daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth), Blake struggles to make a life for his family. However, they are all slowly growing apart—expertly depicted through shot composition—and are no longer as connected as they once were.
That changes when Blake learns the state has declared his father deceased, leaving him to inherit the family land and home. Blake decides this could be the perfect opportunity to clear out his old home in the middle of nowhere in Colorado and use the time to reconnect with his family. Of course, nothing goes as planned. What should have been a straightforward trip to his childhood home quickly spirals into chaos when, after a truck crash, his family is stalked by an unknown beast determined to devour them all. To make matters worse, Blade seems to be becoming sick from a scratch, slowly transforming him into something unknown.
Honestly, the setup is solid, and wastes no time dropping the audience into the world of this cat and mouse game between the family and this beast. It quickly sets the stakes, and gives a sense of how hopeless everything the family is facing truly is. What is even better is the slow transformation of Blake into the titular Wolf Man. It is gradual, and uses perspective to show how he is slowly losing touch with his human life, showing how everything is becoming much more dreamlike, with the ability to communicate slowly fading as the film progresses.
The problem is that while the transformation is intriguing in concept, it doesn’t progress beyond that. This interpretation of Wolf Man runs a brisk 1 hour and 43 minutes, but it feels much longer due to the pacing. The action begins about 15 minutes into the film, but everything that follows feels dragged out. The transformation takes up the rest of the runtime in a slow and painful process that, while featuring some fantastic body horror shots, fails to effectively set the stage for what’s to come.
This is not the fault of the actors. Both Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner deliver strong performances, convincingly portraying the struggles and pain their characters face, despite the absurdity of the situation. However, their efforts are undermined by a script more focused on depicting the transformation’s progress than providing an engaging story for the audience to invest in.
As viewers, we know from the title what is going to happen. Watching the characters make poor decisions and fail to recognize the increasing danger Blake poses—especially as they repeatedly leave their young daughter alone—becomes frustrating. The drawn-out pacing leaves the audience waiting impatiently for the inevitable moment when Blake finally loses all his humanity. While this approach works as a setup to build tension, it is stretched to an excruciating degree, stripping away much of the intended horror and suspense.
Adding to the disappointment is what I can only describe as one of the worst modern takes on a wolf man design. Watching the film, I was reminded of Cronenberg’s The Fly, where body horror effectively showcases a character’s gradual transformation. However, in Wolf Man, there is no real payoff. The final design feels like an updated version of the 1941 Wolf Man, with modern makeup effects, but it ignores decades of progress in werewolf storytelling. For example, An American Werewolf in London achieves far more in terms of impactful design and execution.
It feels as though the filmmakers were inspired by the early transformation sequences in other films, but once they reached that point, they stopped pushing the concept further. This lack of commitment to fully realizing the creature diminishes the film’s impact. The final creature design comes across as half-hearted and messy, undermining the suspense and horror the movie aims to deliver.
That’s not to say this iteration of Wolf Man is a complete failure—it’s just a messy one that doesn’t feel truly horrific or like a werewolf movie at all. It works as a slow-burn body horror film but never resonated with me as something I’d recommend to friends or want to revisit. While the performances are strong, the script fails to deliver, and the creature designs fall flat, leaving me more bored than horrified.
There are good ideas in Wolf Man, but poor design choices and ineffective use of the effects budget ultimately undermine the film. The potential for something compelling was present, but it never feels fully realized, leaving the end result all the more disappointing. I had high hopes for this one and was excited to revisit some classic Universal horror. However, unlike 2020’s The Invisible Man, the 2025 Wolf Man fails to meet the level of quality we’ve come to expect from Blumhouse’s Universal horror revival.
