Wolf Man

Okay, decent start to the year!

Now am I just a little tiny bit of a Universal Monsters fan? Well I'm the only critic who actually liked Sofia Boutella's The Mummy so you could say mayyyyybe, but fanboy or not this was an interesting movie. I'm sure people will do what they do best on the internet, bitching and moaning, about how fundamentally different this iteration is but I got news for you nightshade if you want a classic werewolf movie I recommend gazing at the last 90 years of cinema! It's 2025 mothertruckers they gotta do something original, and original is what we got! Set in a remote area of Oregon a father, mother, and daughter traverse to a very isolated farm to gather and sort the effects of a dead relative, but on the way get thrashed by a rabid animal that stands on two legs and pretty soon poppa ain't looking so good. Now the crux of this movie believe it or not is a drama with horror elements, and if you can stretch your disbelief more it...actually kinda works. We spend enough time with this family unit to get to know them, their dynamic, and and their feelings before we even get to the mist filled forests of Oregon and the slow transformation of our main character takes the tragic lens of werewolves to a whole other level and area. And some would argue it takes away all the mysticism of werewolves, equating it more to a disease akin to zombies but I don't hold any grievances with that! There's no shot of the full moon, there's no full on transformation sequence, there is barely a body count, and yet! Despite it all is an enjoyable film. Now I had a smidge of faith due to the director Leigh Whannell who also helmed The Invisible Man which I loved to the moon and back, and that fluid tilting camera style mixed with some pretty slick cinematography especially when we get more or less "wolf vision" carries over. It's a very good looking yet seemingly low budget film, hell the vast majority of the movie takes place between three locations that are throwing distance from each other and a very minimal cast, so I feel it could potentially make some profit. Christopher Abbott and the relationship with the daughter played by Matilda Firth singlehandedly made me want to see everyone make it out, and God bless him for going through the painstaking process of prosthetics! Julia Gardner also nails the emotional state from grief stricken to survive no matter what, and you could make an argumemt the movie is more about her than Chris but I'll leave that for you to decide. The actors didn't slack, they commit and wanted to give some dimension to a monster movie and coupled with the script and direction, I feel they succeeded! It's a modern reimagining that doesn't look down on the original or try to surpass it, but take it down a different avenue with a unique story. I respect that, I can recommend it too. 3 stars, 7/10, thumbs up from me!

In Retrospect: The Invisible Man

Does it hold up on a second viewing?

Well with most mystery movies and horror movies, your first initial emotional experience will be different from the second and so on number of viewings, thus leading to more critical analysis of the movie. But I still say I love The Invisible Man, even if the scares don't get me it still holds my attention, and regarding the fact the villain cannot be seen it still makes your eyes dart around wondering where he is. Elisabeth Moss is acting her heart out, her character really going through hell and back again before she gets out of it and she potrays it so well. I heard people's voices of confusion regarding the identity of the Invisible Man, but I personally saw it as a duo act to keep up the illusion of Adrian's death. Even if the story doesn't do it for you, the way the movie is shot is excellent, the slow pans are a fascinating but highly effective decision on the director's part. I still gush over the ending, it really was everything I wanted it to be and while this is no doubt a self contained movie, to see Elisabeth Moss back would be a real treat. Apparently they got Ryan Gosling cast as The Wolfman, an interesting choice but one I can see working, Larry Talbot is a very nice, more laid back, everyday kinda dude which is what I get from Ryan outside of his acting roles. I find these movies to be very important to get younger people, at the very least aware and at the very best interested, in the classic Universal Monsters. It's a niche yes, but an important cornerstone of horror movies to this very day and still a pop culture giant. It really is the perfect movies to introduce kids into this genre, because while younger generations see Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers as classic horror icons they can't really watch them due to the blood and nudity, and the classic monsters could very much be enough to spook them without traumatizing them. That's how I watched them, back when I was 8 years old and obviously it worked considering my stance on horror has done a total 180° since I was that young. And really the fact that people still want to tell these stories with these characters dare I even say icons, to this day is the true victory. I still very much like The Mummy but I can see where Universal stumbled and am so happy they haven't given up on it. But The Invisible Man is still a fine movie, beautifully shot, very well acted, still holds some suspense and more importantly your attention even on multiple watches. Thumbs up from me without a doubt!

Birds Of Prey next, very much enjoyed it while still accepting it's faults, will it continue to do so? Probably yeah, I'm an easily amused and fun loving individual.

The Invisible Man (2020)

This was a goooood movie.

I wasn't disappointed a bit leaving the theater, this is how you modernize a classic horror film. Yeah, it kinda breaks my heart we won't have the Dark Universe crossovers but then again Universal has shifted gears and is still willing to give us modern retellings of the Universal Monsters so I'm still going to be on board. And I feel they executed this premise perfectly, as much as I love the original it feels more like a comedy with the characters themselves experiencing the horror than the audience, but this film does it right. It's pretty much a horror movie already, with a young woman named Cecillia who escapes the clutches of her mentally abusing boyfriend and yet still feels like someone is watching her and starts psychologically and physically attacking her. I mean that's kind of brilliant, having a obsessive control freak stalk you is pretty horrific as is but then we add on the element of him being like a super genius in the fields of optics and constructs a suit which renders him completely unseen and that just makes it more scary. This film does understand the notion of what you don't see is far more scary than what you do see, and doesn't waste opportunities with it. Yeah, the movie still relies on the jumpscares but I chalk that more up to modern horror cinema but it does still get on my nerves. If movies just cut the ear raping racket of indistinguishable noise and simply let the visuals work I feel it can be vastly improved. Regardless the effects are done really well, and the film knows when to build up suspense and when to just let loose and run wild, which I very much appreciate. You can tell Elisabeth Moss is not screwing around, this woman acts like she's going through the 9 circles of hell and back again, she just goes for it and is the reason why the movie works so well. Really every performance is done seriously and feels real, with particular love going to Aldis Hodge I mean that guy is great. I just had such a great time seeing this, and really was impressed with how they handled everything, from the premise, to the mechanics, to the story flow, and even the ending gave me everything I wanted, it works so very well. But it does make me wonder what could be next cause you have to remember, the Universal Monsters are majorly in the gothic horror department, so how could they do modern retellings of classic characters? How could they do Dracula? How could they do The Wolf Man, or The Bride, or The Mummy? I'm not saying every movie has to be set firmly in reality and be very serious, but the question does arise. My bet would be doing Creature From The Black Lagoon next, it's a buyable premise that a creature who has survived millions of years of evolution living in the Amazon without change and is soon discovered by explorers could do so well, and be a very entertaining movie. The main thing they need to do is keep it horror centric, make it scary, make it unsettling, make it horrific. That's what they did here, and if Blumhouse wants to keep making classic monster movies with Universal then have a ball my friends cause I'll be there opening day everytime showing my love for the golden age of horror films. 4 stars, a solid 8/10, and I will be waiting for the next one to premeire.