The Wolfman (2010) Poster, Synopsis, Cast, Theatrical Trailer, Review - Upcoming Horror Movie

Plot: Upon his return to his ancestral homeland, an American man (Del Toro) is bitten, and subsequently cursed by, a werewolf.

Director: Joe Johnston
Writers (WGA): Andrew Kevin Walker (screenplay) and David Self (screenplay)
Release Date: 10 February 2010 (USA)
Genre: Horror | Thriller

Also Known As: The Wolfman (USA) (alternative spelling)
Country: UK | USA
Language: English
Color: Color
Filming Locations: Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
Company: Universal Pictures

SYNOPSIS

Universal Studios resurrects the classic lycanthrope with this tale of an American who experiences an unsettling transformation after returning to his ancestral home in Victorian-era Great Britain and being attacked by a rampaging werewolf. His brother having recently vanished without a trace, haunted nobleman Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) returns to his family estate to investigate. What he discovers upon reuniting with his estranged father (Anthony Hopkins), however, is a destiny far darker than his blackest nightmares. As a young boy, the untimely death of his mother caused Talbot to grow up before his time. Though Talbot would attempt to bury his pain in the past by leaving the quiet Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor behind, the past returns with a vengeance when his brother’s fiancée, Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt), convinces him to return home and aid the search for his missing brother. But something monstrous has been stalking the residents of Blackmoor from the nighttime shadows, something not quite human. Not even recently arrived Scotland Yard inspector Aberline (Hugo Weaving) can dream up a rational explanation for the gruesome spell that has been cast over Blackmoor, yet rumors of an ancient curse persist to this very day.

According to legend, the afflicted will experience a horrific transformation by the light of the full moon, their animal rage becoming far too powerful for their human bodies to contain. Now, the woman Talbot loves is in mortal danger, and in order to protect her he must venture into the moonlit woods and destroy the beast before it destroys her. But this isn’t your typical hunt, because before the beast can be slain, a simple man will uncover a primal side of himself that he never knew existed. Screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker pens a film directed by Joe Johnston and featuring creature effects by special-effects makeup legend Rick Baker. [D-Man2010]

Set in the late 1880s, the film keeps the plotline of the original, with Lawrence Talbot (Benicio del Toro) meeting his father (Anthony Hopkins) following the death (and in the remake, disappearance) of his brother. The film details events during Lawrence’s past that led to his estrangement from his father (which includes Gwen), and the setting is changed from the mythical Welsh village of Llanwelly to the English village of Blackmore and the city of London. The official synopsis states Talbot was traumatized by his mother’s death as a child, while Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt) is his brother’s fiancée. Following his brother’s disappearance, Talbot hunts a murderer, which turns out to be a werewolf, and the curse is passed on. [D-Man2010]

PLOT SUMMARY

Lawrence Talbot, a haunted nobleman, is lured back to his family estate after his brother vanishes. Reunited with his estranged father, Talbot sets out to find his brother… and discovers a horrifying destiny for himself. Talbot’s childhood ended the night his mother died. After he left the sleepy Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor, he spent decades recovering and trying to forget. But when his brother’s fiancée, Gwen Conliffe, tracks him down to help find her missing love, Talbot returns home to join the search. He learns that something with brute strength and insatiable bloodlust has been killing the villagers, and that a suspicious Scotland Yard inspector named Aberline has come to investigate.

CAST

Emily Blunt … Gwen Conliffe
Benicio Del Toro … Lawrence Talbot
Hugo Weaving … Det. Aberline
Anthony Hopkins … Sir John Talbot
Kiran Shah … Wolfboy
Geraldine Chaplin … Maleva
Elizabeth Croft … Ophelia
Art Malik … Singh
Sam Hazeldine … Horatio
David Sterne … Kirk
Branko Tomovic … Gypsy Man
Bridgette Millar … Gertrude
Michael Cronin … Dr. Lloyd
Emily Parr … Prostitute
Olga Fedori … Maleva’s daughter
Richard James … Doctor #2
Nicholas Day … Colonel Montford
Cristina Contes … Solana Talbot
Anthony Debaeck … Driver
Andy Gathergood … Villager 1
Catherine Balavage … Woman at Punch and Judy show (uncredited)
Andrew Care … Upper Class Gentleman (uncredited)
Sam Child … Policeman (uncredited)
Gergo Danka … The Gypsy Man (uncredited)
Tim Fitzhigham … Shakespearean Actor (uncredited)
David Keyes … Custodian (uncredited)
Robert Roman Ratajczak … Man in the Theatre (uncredited)
Alix Wilton Regan … Half-Eaten Girl (uncredited)
Natalia Ryumina … Lady in a Music Salon (uncredited)
Geoff Searle … Upper Class Gentleman (uncredited)
Pauline Stone … Villager (uncredited)
Stuart St. Paul … Man In Tux (uncredited)
John Styles … Punch and Judy Man (uncredited)
Christian Wolf-La’Moy … London Upper Class Gentleman (uncredited)
Damian Zuk … Hungry vagrant (uncredited)

REVIEW: Fun, Gory, A Little Uneven

The Wolfman is a very earnest remake, with few of the self-conscious conceits of modern horror movies. Which is both good and bad. As a period piece, it enables us to watch without inserting a lot of our own biases and preconceptions on the story and characters. However, anything that does remind us of our own lives then pulls at the suspension of disbelief necessary to watch a film based on the supernatural.

Such things as Benicio Del Toro’s accent. The story about an English kid sent to live in America would naturally make the audience pay attention to the way he talks, and when you scrutinize Del Toro’s speech, you realize he gets about a B+ on accent, but this still leaves about 10% of the familiar actor you know. Or Anthony Hopkins’ history. This is a guy whose most familiar role is a psychopathic cannibal; any nods to that in a movie about characters who lose control and eat humans are jarring.

The film is really well acted, and the story, while predictable, is well-told, with plenty of suspense, and empathetic characters. I could have done with a little lighter hand on the stuff that was meant to be suspenseful. There are no literal cat scares, but we get bird scares and dog scares and plenty of stuff put in to make us jump because of loud sound editing. The gore is amped up to eleven, with very graphic maulings, disembowelings, and beheadings, showing just about every way a body part can be damaged and/or severed by a set of claws and/or fangs.

A theme touched on briefly in the film is the question of whether lycanthropy is all in the brain. When we first meet Hugo Weaving’s character, we learn he had previously investigated “The Ripper,” and is convinced the crimes he is now investigating are similar. This is mentioned, then forgotten. I would have loved more of this, which would have meant more of Hugo Weaving, which is never a bad thing. When Del Toro’s character is captured and sent to the asylum, his “doctors” are convinced he is a psycho, that he believes he’s a werewolf but is really just a maniac whose delusions are triggered by the moon. This would have been a very interesting angle to pursue; if the audience was left with a question of exactly how much control a werewolf might have over its actions, how much man is left inside a wolf-man? A third instance of this is the ‘origin’ backstory; the first character to be infected with the wolf virus, as it were, has much more choice in the matter, and much more fault, and it could have been very interesting to see the character struggle with the blame for subsequent events. Even if it didn’t fit in the current story line, it would have made for a richer backstory, and richer character development.

THE WOLFMAN 2010 THEATRICAL TRAILER

THE WOLFMAN 2010 PHOTOS