Crying ‘Wolfman’

To call a graphic, surrealistic werewolf movie a story of love would be an understatement. Plot-wise, "The Wolfman" is a near verbatim remake of "Wolfman" (1941), only relived with more realistic costumes and effects. Considering Anthony Hopkins' first appearance as a stone-cold werewolf may be the only advantage the remake has on the nostalgic original. Director Joe Johnston has a talent for taking both nightmarish and extraordinary fantasies and fusing them with real life circumstances, such as his earlier movies, "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" (1989), "The Rocketeer" (1991) and "Jumanji" (1995).

Hopkins (John Talbot) and Benicio Del Toro (Lawrence Talbot) star as father and son werewolves living with inner beasts. The story begins when a man is mysteriously slaughtered in the woods in 1880s London. To discover the truth behind his brother's mysterious death, Talbot returns home and is inevitably attacked by the Wolfman who killed his brother.

On the night of the next full moon, Talbot mutates into a werewolf and rampages through London with an unstoppable bloodlust. When Talbot is caught, his madness is blamed on insanity rather than lycanthropy — a mutative disorder. He is imprisoned in an institution and studied as a test subject. He is diagnosed as insane when he tries to explain the terms of his lycanthropic condition.

As the doctors treat Talbot, he is haunted by surreal, vivid hallucinations triggered by the voice of the beast within. On the night of the next full moon, he warns the doctors one last time of their present danger before he transforms and slaughters them all.

As father and son, Hopkins and Del Toro are as genuine as they are cutthroat. On screen, they fit like Marlon Brando and Al Pacino in "The Godfather" (1972), only a touch more ferocious. Slightly reminiscent of his role as Hannibal in "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991), Hopkins plays a maddened man who happily gives into his inner monster.

Del Toro's character, however, struggles with righteousness and releasing his carnal desires. Typically, Del Toro plays villainous roles in the spirit of vanity and indulgence such as Dr. Gonzo in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (1998) and Jackie Boy in "Sin City" (2005). However, unlike Del Toro's other roles, Lawrence Talbot is a representation of the self-righteousness in the heart of men.

Hopkins and Del Toro were surprisingly horrific in their werewolf costumes. The costumes and make-up are one of the strengths "The Wolfman" has compared to other werewolf movies like "American Werewolf in London," "American Werewolf in Paris," "Wolf" and "Teen Wolf."

One of the only reasonable excuses for remaking a classic of its time is to enhance the visuals. In the case of "The Wolfman," the costumes, blood, make up, wounds, cinematography, set design, location and special effects have all been innovated to the best of contemporary cinema technologies. The editing style, shot composition and overall artistic vision of "The Wolfman" are where the film shines the most.

Johnston's style meets naturalism and absurdity, particularly during Lawrence's captivity when he has hallucinations. This sequence is where the underlying message of the movie is conveyed, portraying a man's most suppressed desires, fears and obsessions. He has visions of his dead mother haunting him, statues speaking to him, he murders others in cold blood as a werewolf, his father attacks him and unreal creatures fester within his every thought. In an attempt to make the killer relatable, this psychological montage-like sequence takes the viewer inside the thought process of a man overpowered by his inner beast.

Critic's Conclusion: "The Wolfman" is, at best, a seamless horror classic reborn with cinematic innovations. This film is nothing monumental but does succeed in bringing back simple storybook entertainment to the screen. When a classic movie with the caliber of "Wolfman" is remade, they have a tendency to receive negative acclaim, such as Gus Van Sant's 1998 remake of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" (1960). However, "The Wolfman" unarguably contends with the original. It's hard to go wrong with beloved folklore, especially the tale of the werewolf, but "The Wolfman" offers nothing innovative or contemporary aside from the best locations, costumes and effects Hollywood can offer. "The Wolfman" is a fun and chilling movie but is a poor example of what twenty-first century filmmakers are capable of. C