The Wolfman

Roaaar!!

We always like Werewolves and Draculas, and that is one of the reasons I picked this movie to watch when I went to the cinema the other day. I have seen the movie's trailer before and it looked pretty good at that time. The wolfman itself is actually a remake from a 1941 classic horror movie. Check out the poster comparison between the 1941 version and today's version below:



Well, they look very different, don't they? It's nice to see where technology can take us now. Aside from the obvious difference in the Visual Effects technology, the plot has also been modified to meet the expectations of this era.

The story opens up with the death of a man named Ben Talbot who was attacked by a vicious animal-like creature in the Blackmoor woods. It is then clear to us that Ben was the brother of Lawrence Talbot (Benicio del Toro), a theatre actor who gets the news of his brother's death from the fiancee (Emily Blunt). Lawrence then decides to come and stay in Blackmoor to find out who or what killed his brother.

Upon investigating his brother's death, he soon hears rumors about the existence of a so-called 'foul' or 'cursed' creatures that comes out when the moon is full and can only be killed with silver bullets (it's a Werewolf, of course!). The villagers suspects that all of the murders happened in Blackmoor was caused by the Gypsies, which then leads Lawrence to visit the Gypsies' camp to ask some questions about his brother. When he is at the camp, fate has arranged him to meet with the creature causing so much ruckus. The creature obliterates the camp and kills so many in the process.Lawrence goes to chase the creature just to end up being bitten on the neck. The strange thing about the wound is that it heals so fast even though the doctor thinks that he will not make it. We all know why he heals that fast, don't we? The story must go like this because we must use poison to fight poison, thus we must become a werewolf to fight another werewolf. Is it that predictable?

During his investigations, we will also learn about what happened to young Lawrence that makes him live apart separately from his family. It turns out that one night, young Lawrence found his mother dead in the arms of his father. She seemed to try to end her own life. He was then locked up in an Asylum for around a year. Lawrence has even more problems when the police and villagers hear about his 'magically' healed wounds and decided to catch and kill him. Up to this point, all of the puzzles needed to solve the mystery in this movie are on the table. Do you think you can solve it? Who is the first werewolf that killed the villagers and Ben Talbot in the first place? What will happen to Lawrence in the end? Well, i bet most of you guys can figure it out easily. Interesting twists are provided near the end of the movie and don't worry because I will not spoil it for you. This piece of writing is spoiler-free.

Overall, the movie is quite entertaining. If you like Werewolves, this is a movie you should see. It has cool effects, Benicio del Toro is a good choice to play a werewolf, and the transformation is also satisfying to me. However, if you are the type of guy who can't stand blood and gore, there are some scenes you would like to avoid seeing in the movie. After all, it is rated R for its blood and violence.


Cast: Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving, Geraldine Chaplin.

Director: Joe Johnston

Genre: Horror, Suspense

Theatrical Release: Feb 12, 2010 Worldwide

Rating: R (Restricted)