The Wolfman

The Wolf Man (1941), starring Lon Chaney Jr. as a hulking, mythological creature known as the lycanthrope, or werewolf, ranks as one of the greatest horror classics. Set in 1891, this gothic remake stars Benicio del Toro (who also produced) as Lawrence Talbot, a British nobleman/Shakespearean actor returning home to Blackmoor, the decaying Victorian estate of his estranged father, Sir John Talbot (Anthony Hopkins), at the request of his missing brother's distraught fiancée, Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt). After his mutilated sibling is found dead on the misty moors—which terrifies the superstitious townsfolk—Lawrence discovers a strange medallion on the body, eventually leading him to an old gypsy woman named Maleva (Geraldine Chaplin). During his investigation, Lawrence himself is bitten, touching off an ancient curse that turns men into wolves when the moon is full—and ultimately attracting the attention of Abberline (Hugo Weaving), a suspicious Scotland Yard inspector. Although the screenplay is adapted from Curt Siodmak's original, The Wolfman winds up being an unfocused, cliché-ridden, and bizarrely edited effort. After the inexplicable departure of initial director Mark Romanek, Joe Johnston took over and much of the dark father-son drama was diluted with nightmarish insane-asylum sequences and heavy-handed CGI special effects (makeup wizard Rick Baker's shaggy monsters resemble Chewbacca). The overall result is a defanged hybrid that fails to capture the earlier version's savage effectiveness. An optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include deleted and extended scenes (12 min.) and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are the production featurette “Transformation Secrets” (15 min.), “Return of the Wolfman” on the franchise (13 min.), “The Beast Maker” on character creation (12 min.), two alternate endings (8 min.), the U-Control viewing option which provides access to behind-the-scenes footage and facts during the film, the BD-Live function (which includes a streaming version of the original 1941 film), and a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a solid Blu-ray extras package for an uneven horror reboot.] (S. Granger)