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The Wolfman
Leominster Movie Theater, movies, news

The Wolfman

I rarely go back over a movie I already covered but I thougth this need more attention, even more so since the BR is filled with material about the film

In 1941 Lon Chaney Jr gave us the greatest werewolf story ever with the Wolfman. It was silver screen horror brought to life the likes of which we had never seen before. Over the years we had other wolf films but none were as spooky and gothic as the original. Over the past 10 years we have had to suffer thru bad remakes of great horror movies that over acted the parts the actors were in or they were more about appeasing a teen audience that could not appreciate the original. At last we have one that holds up to its counterpart. The Vampire genre has been revived and reviled countless times. But it always seemed as the Werewolf always got the Silver bullet. Underworld and Twilight tried but lets face it those were more about Vampires than Werewolves.

 Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving star in this gothic horror thrill ride. It sets the films back in the late 19th century. del Toro plays Larry Talbot but since it’s the 19th century he’s called his proper name Lawrence. His father played by Anthony Hopkins summons him home to help find his missing brother. His brother was wed Emily Blunt’s character.  Lawrence then finds out his brother was killed by a monster. While helping a local gypsy clan. His brother was friends with, he is bitten and will become a werewolf. Hugo Weaving, is the inspector on the case but he shows how useless he is right in the beginning when it’s mentioned he worked on the Jack the Ripper fiasco a few years ago. Don’t count on him being much help! Interesting is that Hugo plays the good guy in this film, when most of his roles (Transformers, The Matrix) he plays an A-hole villain. The cast is top-notch and it shows with their performance thru the film. The director Joe Johnston (Jurassic Park 3) really put a lot of detail into the film with the Wolf Cane and ring that Talbot has in his possession, are the same from the film years go. The makeup is fantastic since the same team worked on Jon Landis American Werewolf in London.

With that being said the down side of the movie is the cgi. Why in 1980 during American Werewolf were they able to do a realistic transformation but here its cgi? Guy you won and Oscar for that, what happened?? The backgrounds as wonderful as they look are also cgi. This sometimes takes away from what this movie can be sometimes. My only other hang up is s gothic as it looks it’s not as gothic as the 41 film. That was in B&W and it really helps it a lot. All in all this is a great Horror Movie.  Now that the film is on DVD people can check out what they missed in theaters. The bonus Material consists extra footage which contains the origin of the silver cane-sword and also the uncredited and completely removed part played by Max von Sydow who was the original owner of the cane. There is a massive amount of Bonus content on this film, however if u dont own a Blue Ray Player you have to track down the 2 disk set only sold at Best Buy. The best Bonus material in my opinion is

  • “Return of The Wolfman“: See how Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and director Joe Johnston tapped into the tragic roots of the legend and cinematic lore to unleash a new terror
  • “The Beast Maker”: A detailed look at how legendary make-up wizard Rick Baker transformed a classic monster into a modern nightmare
  • “Transformation Secrets”: Whether transforming werewolves, producing hallucinogenic nightmares or recreating the fog-covered streets of Victorian London, we’ll see how the visual effects team created a haunting world of moonlit monsters and unsettling thrills
  • Written by Chris

    Writer and radio show host in Worcester Ma

    View all author posts →

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