Wolf Man movie (2010)
So I finally watched the remake of the 1941 classic Universal monster movie, The Wolfman. That one was my favorite of the old Universal Monsters that included Dracula, Frankenstein and the Mummy. Larry Talbot was the most sympathetic of those characters and I just felt so sorry for him. Lon Chaney, Jr really showed Larry's guilt as he started to figure out what he had become and realized that he was killing people. He started in the movie as a cocky, flirty gadabout and in less than an hour and a half, became a tortured victim that just wanted to die.
The look of happiness on Larry's face when he is finally killed (by his unsuspecting father, no less) is a great ending shot for that movie. And yes, that is a spoiler, but if you haven't seen the original by now, you probably already know all the spoilers anyway.
So I Netflixed the remake and let it sit for about a month before I watched it. And this is my take on it. Just realize that everyone has their own opinion and taste in movies. not everyone will agree with me. Even though I'm right. I'm really just going to give the parts that bugged me.
The good news is, the full moon in Blackmoor is only for one day as opposed to the usual three. But don't worry, the werewolves make up for it by going on real rampages, killing at least a dozen people each time. And the deaths are nice and bloody (but not realistic at all) for those that like their horror movies soaked in gore.
At one point, Lawrence goes on a rampage as the wolf man through the streets that reminded me of An American Werewolf in London. Afterwards, the wolf man heads to London from Blackmoor and gets there in one day. Now it could be argued that the wolf man escaped from the asylum IN London, but they have a shot of the wolf man looking at London Bridge that really makes it look like he was heading to London. So, the wolf man gets to London in one day. Lawrence goes back to Blackmoor and it takes him a month. The wolf man is very speedy.
The asylum that he escapes from could have been a very good concept. Lock Lawrence up because people died and he was covered in blood claiming he was a werewolf when he killed them. Was he a real werewolf or was he nuts? Where they failed on this one is that they showed us Lawrence's transformation to the wolf man and the rampage he went on killing folks before the did the asylum scenes. They should have kept us guessing. (Semi-interesting point: The was-he-or-wasn't-he plot was one of the original concepts of The Wolfman tossed around in the 1940's.)
Turns out, Sir John (Lawrence's daddy) is the werewolf that bit him. Um, why did they think this twist was needed? It removed the impact of Sir John being the one to kill Larry..er, Lawrence. Lawrence finds out that daddy is the werewolf and tries to tell the authorities and even after two rampages with high body counts that include decapitations (a favorite of the director) nobody believes Lawrence. Not even after he transforms in front of a room full of doctors and the main cop in the story (Hugo Weaving).
Speaking of daddy the werewolf, other than showing off the make-up (which was excellent) and CGI (which wasn't), what was the point of the shirts vs. skins fight between the wolf man and the werewolf (aka Lawrence and Sir John)? It was just stupid and did nothing to move things along.
Lawrence comes to town at the request of his brother's fiance after Ben (the brother) get's killed by the werewolf. Gwen (the fiance) is a bit of a slut. She falls for Lawrence pretty damn quickly for a girl that just lost the man she was going to marry. But that's okay, she's the one that shoots the wolf man with the silver bullet.
Which makes me wonder; why did Lawrence transform back to a human after he was shot if he wasn't dead yet? So he could have his unemotional death scene dialog?
But there's more good news! The last person Lawrence bit and let live as the wolf man lived! We can have a sequel with Hugo going all wolfy for our entertainment. Oh joy.
But I did like a few things. The transformation scenes were great. Classic Rick Baker. Much more horrific than the 1941 transformation (though for what they had to work with, that was amazing for it's time). I also liked the wolf man cutting through the folks that had tortured him in the insane asylum. It just served them right to get their liver ripped out or their head knocked off. Karma, monster style. Also, they did have the wolf-head cane from the original, though it just played a cameo part in this version.
My bottom line? It really wasn't that bad, but if you love the original version, this one is a very bad disappointment. If you never saw the original, you might like it. If you saw the original and thought it needed more blood and violence and less character development (especially from Larry/Lawrence) then you probable will like this one.
Me? Major disappointment. Will not be adding this to my collection unless it's given to me as a gift.
Next up, I might finally watch the Clash of the Titans remake.
The look of happiness on Larry's face when he is finally killed (by his unsuspecting father, no less) is a great ending shot for that movie. And yes, that is a spoiler, but if you haven't seen the original by now, you probably already know all the spoilers anyway.
So I Netflixed the remake and let it sit for about a month before I watched it. And this is my take on it. Just realize that everyone has their own opinion and taste in movies. not everyone will agree with me. Even though I'm right. I'm really just going to give the parts that bugged me.
The good news is, the full moon in Blackmoor is only for one day as opposed to the usual three. But don't worry, the werewolves make up for it by going on real rampages, killing at least a dozen people each time. And the deaths are nice and bloody (but not realistic at all) for those that like their horror movies soaked in gore.
At one point, Lawrence goes on a rampage as the wolf man through the streets that reminded me of An American Werewolf in London. Afterwards, the wolf man heads to London from Blackmoor and gets there in one day. Now it could be argued that the wolf man escaped from the asylum IN London, but they have a shot of the wolf man looking at London Bridge that really makes it look like he was heading to London. So, the wolf man gets to London in one day. Lawrence goes back to Blackmoor and it takes him a month. The wolf man is very speedy.
The asylum that he escapes from could have been a very good concept. Lock Lawrence up because people died and he was covered in blood claiming he was a werewolf when he killed them. Was he a real werewolf or was he nuts? Where they failed on this one is that they showed us Lawrence's transformation to the wolf man and the rampage he went on killing folks before the did the asylum scenes. They should have kept us guessing. (Semi-interesting point: The was-he-or-wasn't-he plot was one of the original concepts of The Wolfman tossed around in the 1940's.)
Turns out, Sir John (Lawrence's daddy) is the werewolf that bit him. Um, why did they think this twist was needed? It removed the impact of Sir John being the one to kill Larry..er, Lawrence. Lawrence finds out that daddy is the werewolf and tries to tell the authorities and even after two rampages with high body counts that include decapitations (a favorite of the director) nobody believes Lawrence. Not even after he transforms in front of a room full of doctors and the main cop in the story (Hugo Weaving).
Speaking of daddy the werewolf, other than showing off the make-up (which was excellent) and CGI (which wasn't), what was the point of the shirts vs. skins fight between the wolf man and the werewolf (aka Lawrence and Sir John)? It was just stupid and did nothing to move things along.
Lawrence comes to town at the request of his brother's fiance after Ben (the brother) get's killed by the werewolf. Gwen (the fiance) is a bit of a slut. She falls for Lawrence pretty damn quickly for a girl that just lost the man she was going to marry. But that's okay, she's the one that shoots the wolf man with the silver bullet.
Which makes me wonder; why did Lawrence transform back to a human after he was shot if he wasn't dead yet? So he could have his unemotional death scene dialog?
But there's more good news! The last person Lawrence bit and let live as the wolf man lived! We can have a sequel with Hugo going all wolfy for our entertainment. Oh joy.
But I did like a few things. The transformation scenes were great. Classic Rick Baker. Much more horrific than the 1941 transformation (though for what they had to work with, that was amazing for it's time). I also liked the wolf man cutting through the folks that had tortured him in the insane asylum. It just served them right to get their liver ripped out or their head knocked off. Karma, monster style. Also, they did have the wolf-head cane from the original, though it just played a cameo part in this version.
My bottom line? It really wasn't that bad, but if you love the original version, this one is a very bad disappointment. If you never saw the original, you might like it. If you saw the original and thought it needed more blood and violence and less character development (especially from Larry/Lawrence) then you probable will like this one.
Me? Major disappointment. Will not be adding this to my collection unless it's given to me as a gift.
Next up, I might finally watch the Clash of the Titans remake.