Wolf Man - JoBlo https://www.joblo.com/tag/wolf-man/ The JoBlo Movie Network features the latest movie news, trailers, and more. Updated daily. Mon, 03 Feb 2025 17:03:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 Wolf Man gets a digital release this week, reaches physical media in March https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-digital/ https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-digital/#respond Mon, 03 Feb 2025 17:03:11 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=823332 Leigh Whannell's Wolf Man reboot is set to receive a digital release this week, with a physical media release to follow in March

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The reboot of the classic Universal Monsters property The Wolf Man from Blumhouse Productions and The Invisible Man (2020) director Leigh Whannell reached theatres last month – and JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray wasn’t very impressed with it, giving it a 6/10 review that you can read HERE and describing it as “well-acted, but not very scary.” Clearly, he wasn’t the only one who was unimpressed. While The Invisible Man made over $139 million at the global box office, Wolf Man has been crawling toward the $30 million mark. Now, it has been revealed that Wolf Man is set to receive a digital release tomorrow, February 4th, with a physical media release to follow on March 18th.

The leads of this version of Wolf Man are Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, both of whom were in the 2011 film Martha Marcy May Marlene. Abbott is taking on the role of a man whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator. Garner is playing his wife. Sam Jaeger is also in the cast, along with child actress Matilda Firth, playing a character named Ginger: “Female, 10 years old, white. Blake and Charlotte’s daughter. Smart, precocious, and strong. When her family decides to leave the city for a quieter life in a remote area, she faces her biggest fear, the possibility of losing one or both of her parents forever.

When Wolf Man was first announced in 2020, Ryan Gosling was set to star in it – and in fact, it got rolling when Gosling pitched this take on the concept of The Wolf Man to Universal, and his idea was then fleshed out into a screenplay by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, a writing duo that previously worked on Orange Is the New Black. (Blum also happens to be married to Blumhouse founder Jason Blum.) At the time, it was said the story was “believed to be set in present times and in the vein of Jake Gyllenhaal’s thriller Nightcrawler with an obvious supernatural twist.” The final version of the script is credited to Whannell and his wife Corbett Tuck.

Whannell first signed on to direct the film in 2020, but dropped out the following year. That’s when Gosling’s Blue Valentine and Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance came on board. Gosling and Cianfrance both stepped away from Wolf Man early last year… and then Whannell came back. A collaboration between Blumhouse and Motel Movies, Wolf Man is being produced by Jason Blum. Gosling receives an executive producer credit alongside Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner, and Whannell.

Fangoria reports that Wolf Man is coming to 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD with the following special features: – UNLEASHING A NEW MONSTER: Explore Leigh Whannell’s dark and gritty take on one of horror’s most iconic monsters. Learn what inspired the visionary director to create this tragic tale of family, loss, and a night of absolute terror. – DESIGNING WOLF MAN: Director Leigh Whannell and prosthetic designer Arjen Tuiten, set out to create a Wolf Man unlike any seen before. Take a closer look at the conceptual designs, sculptures and prosthetic make-up that aided in the creation of a monster that stays with you long after the credits roll. – HANDS ON HORROR: Strap in for a breakdown of the film’s most thrilling action sequences. Cast and crew discuss how practical effects enabled them to capture raw and realistic performances of the most terrifying, heart-pounding scenes in the film. – NIGHTMARES AND SOUNDSCAPES: Transition into Blake’s perspective and witness the world through the eyes of an animal. Learn how sound design and VFX came together to highlight the enhanced hearing, vision, and complete abandonment of humanity that materialized during the transformation from Man to Wolf. – FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTOR/CO-WRITER LEIGH WHANNELL. Copies of the 4K and Blu-ray steelbook release are available for pre-order on Amazon.

Will you be watching Wolf Man when it gets a digital release, and/or buying a copy on physical media? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Wolf Man

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https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-digital/feed/ 0 Wolf Man gets a digital release this week, reaches physical media in March Leigh Whannell's Wolf Man reboot is set to receive a digital release this week, with a physical media release to follow in March aith,Arrow in the head,Christopher Abbott,Julia Garner,Leigh Whannell,The Wolf Man,Wolf Man,Wolf Man digital wolf-man-4k-steelbook https://www.joblo.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/wolf-man-Leigh-Whannell-monster.jpg
Interview: Leigh Whannell Talks Wolf Man, and what lies beyond Invisible Man and Upgrade https://www.joblo.com/interview-leigh-whannell-talks-wolf-man/ https://www.joblo.com/interview-leigh-whannell-talks-wolf-man/#respond Tue, 28 Jan 2025 17:03:47 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=821880 Thanks to An American Werewolf in London and The Howling, I’ve always deeply loved werewolves. Yet, sometimes, a movie will just connect to the viewer in a shockingly deep way. An unexpected way. Leigh Whannell‘s Wolf Man did just that for me. While...

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Thanks to An American Werewolf in London anThe Howling, I’ve always deeply loved werewolves. Yet, sometimes, a movie will just connect to the viewer in a shockingly deep way. An unexpected way. Leigh Whannell‘s Wolf Man did just that for me. While I’ve certainly seen some of the reviews that did not sing the movie’s praise, there is something about this very personal and frankly pretty sad film that worked for me. Ultimately, something about the tortured Blake was nothing like I’d expected, and the rather heartbreaking performance from Christopher Abbott resonated.

I’ve enjoyed all of Leigh Whannell’s directorial work. Even his turn in the director’s chair for Insidious: Chapter 3 brought some chills for me. Having been at this site for many years, I find it a fantastic experience interviewing Mr. Whannell. He’s always been incredibly kind to JoBlo and is one of the nicest fellows you’d ever run into. While we spoke with the filmmaker earlier, which you can see below, it was nice to get the chance to dig deeper into the feature and the connection that cinema can have with those sitting in the darkness.

Besides getting rather deep and personal with Wolf Man in this extended conversation, he opened up about his other films. The conversation led to other cool avenues, including my curiosity about returning to Invisible Man or Upgrade territory. Leigh is an incredibly gracious and talented filmmaker who always makes himself available and open for an excellent conversation. In other words, he’s a great guy!

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Weekend Box Office: Flight Risk lands at #1 while 2024 sequels hang on tight https://www.joblo.com/weekend-box-office-flight-risk-number-one/ https://www.joblo.com/weekend-box-office-flight-risk-number-one/#respond Sun, 26 Jan 2025 16:58:19 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=821580 Mel Gibson's Mark Wahlberg-starring Flight Risk took the #1 spot at the box office this week, bumping Mufasa from Pride Rock.

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Mel Gibson’s Flight Risk has taken off to become #1 at the box office this week, pulling in $12 million during its debut. This is a pretty unimpressive number to head the box office, and considering Flight Risk had a budget of $25 million, it has a bit of a way to go to recoup its expenses. But those that did check it out over the weekend no doubt did so in part to support Gibson, who hasn’t directed a movie since 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge.

Flight Risk’s take – which we knew would help it get to #1 this weekend based on early projections – would also mean the dethroning of franchise fare at the 2025 box office so far. Even though we’re still in January (yes, we’re still in January…), it’s worth noting that there have only been sequels at the top of the box office so far this year: Mufasa: The Lion King (a late 2024 release) and Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, with the former obviously being the dominant picture.

Now in its sixth week, Mufasa wouldn’t yet retreat entirely into the jungle, earning $8.7 million, which was good enough for the number two spot, its second bump there so far. It has now grossed $221 million domestically. As for Den of Thieves 2, that ended up dropping all the way down to #9, a 55% tumble. Indeed, Flight Risk would be the only non-holdover from previous weeks to crack the top five. The only key debut this weekend, Steven Soderbergh’s Presence, managed $3.4 million, putting it at #6.

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In the #3 spot was One of Them Days in its second week, taking in $8 million from its word of mouth, which helped it get #2 in its opening week. That spot saw it fending off returning sequels Sonic the Hedgehog 3, now in its sixth week, and Moana 2, in week nine. Those movies rounded out the top five with $5.5 and $4.3 million, respectively. Notably, both have already outgrossed their predecessors. Landing at #7 in its second week was Wolf Man, which underperformed in its debut weekend and disappointed in quality considering what had been done with Blumhouse’s The Invisible Man.

Oscar contenders also left their mark towards the bottom of the top 10, with A Complete Unknown – James Mangold’s biopic on Bob Dylan, earning eight nominations – landing at #8 with $3.1 million. Meanwhile, The Brutalist – which could be on its way to a Best Picture victory and Best Actor statue for Adrien Brody – coming in at the bottom spot with $2.87. That’s not an incredible showing for The Brutalist. Still, we’re glad it is finally opening up to more theaters (it added nearly 800 this week) after having peaked at just seven during its Oscar-eligible opening.

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Next week, we will see the wide releases of Universal’s animated Dog Man, the Briarcliff action flick Valiant One, and New Line horror Companion, which could get a little bump from IMAX. Worth mentioning, too, is You’re Cordially Invited. Even though it will be on Amazon Prime Video, You’re Cordially Invited is yet another reminder of the state of the theater vs. streaming war, as Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon would’ve made bank together back in the day.

As for the weeks after that, we won’t have powerhouse franchise movies until next month, with Captain America: Brave New World and Paddington in Peru arriving on February 14th (after Paddington’s run in its native U.K.). Additionally, The Day the Earth Blew Up is dropping on February 28th, letting us see just how well a Looney Tunes pic can do on the big screen.

What did you catch at the movies this weekend? Which movies do you expect to round out the top five next week?

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Weekend Box Office Update: Mufasa reclaims the top spot for the holiday weekend https://www.joblo.com/one-of-them-days-takes-first-place/ https://www.joblo.com/one-of-them-days-takes-first-place/#respond Mon, 20 Jan 2025 21:14:20 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=820496 Blumhouse’s Wolf Man is proving to be a major disappointment, with the poorly received werewolf flick only opening in third place.

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UPDATE: The 4-day-holiday estimates have come in from Comscore, and it looks like Mufasa: The Lion King was able to edge out One of Them Days to take the top spot. Propelled by holiday matinees, Mufasa made $15.5 million compared to One of Them Days‘s $14.225 million. The weekend’s big flop, Wolf Man, clawed its way to a third-place finish with $12.5 million. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 wasn’t far behind with $11 million, while Moana 2 was able to pull ahead of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera with an $8.1 million gross. That was all expected, given that school is out for Martin Luther King Day, so a lot of folks are taking their kids to see movies. Even still, this was one of the lowest-grossing MLK weekends on record, as last year Mean Girls and The Beekeeper proved to be breakout hits. Nothing this weekend even came close to the $33 million the Mean Girls musical made or even the $18.7 million The Beekeeper made in second place.

ORIGINAL POST: It looks like we have the first flop of 2025, with Universal and Blumhouse’s Wolf Man badly underperforming at the box office this MLK weekend. Industry insiders thought the movie would gross at least $20 million (we predicted $17 million). Still, toxic word-of-mouth (the C-minus CinemaScore rating is telling) has torpedoed the first major horror release of the year. It made only $10.5 million this weekend, which is good enough for a third-place finish. How bad did it do? It made less this weekend than the horribly reviewed Night Swim did a year ago, and only made less than a million more than Blumhouse’s poorly received Imaginary. Given that director Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man made $28 million on its first weekend back in 2020, the hope was that this would be a similar-sized hit. However, audiences do not seem to be responding to this grounded take, which eschews everything audiences love about the werewolf genre (silver bullets, full moons, etc.) in favour of a body horror vibe that’s derivative of The Fly and emphasizes family drama over scares.

Instead, the low-budget One of Them Days (which our critic loved), starring Keke Palmer and SZA, was a surprise word-of-mouth hit, grossing $11.6 million, which is good enough for a first-place finish. Mufasa: The Lion King was just behind it with only a $70k difference (according to ComScore), and it will likely finish ahead of the pack when the four-day-MLK holiday grosses are tallied up. So far, Mufasa has made over $200 million domestically after a slow start at the box office. While it will end its run with only a fraction of what the 2019 Lion King made, it’s had decent legs (or paws) at the box office. Its Christmas rival, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, fell to fourth place with $8.6 million, while last week’s champ, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, fell 56% to $6.6 million. It will likely end its run just under the $44 million made by its predecessor. 

The script Robert Eggers wrote for his remake of the horror classic Nosferatu has been officially released online

Disney’s Moana 2 made another $6 million-plus this weekend, for a total gross of $442.8 million. Nosferatu is closing in on the century mark, with the $4.3 million total putting it close to a $90 million domestic gross. A Complete Unknown has also held up well, making $3.79 million this weekend for a $57 million domestic total. If it winds up getting a lot of Oscar nods, it has a good chance of hitting $70 million domestically. Meanwhile, Wicked made another $3.55 million for an outstanding $464 million domestic haul (it will likely end its run just shy of $500 million), while A24’s Babygirl rounded out the top 10 with $2.02 million for a $25.3 million domestic gross.

We’ll be back tomorrow with a full wrap-up of the MLK weekend grosses and an update on how awards contenders like The Brutalist and September 5 are performing. 

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10 Great Werewolf Movies From the Past Decade! https://www.joblo.com/10-great-werewolf-movies-from-the-past-decade/ https://www.joblo.com/10-great-werewolf-movies-from-the-past-decade/#respond Sun, 19 Jan 2025 16:28:13 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=820476 With Wolf Man now in theaters, we're taking a look at ten fun werewolf movies from the past decade that deserve more love.

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Werewolf movies have been a staple of horror for decades, embodying the primal fear of losing control and becoming a beast. Whether it’s the gothic tragedy of The Wolf Man (1941) or the groundbreaking practical effects of An American Werewolf in London (1981), these films have cemented themselves as cultural icons. But here’s the thing about werewolf movies—they rarely go stale. Even the bad ones have a certain charm, tapping into the visceral thrill of seeing humans transform into monsters under the glow of a full moon. There’s something timeless about this subgenre, whether it leans into campy B-movie territory, deep psychological horror, or full-throttle gore. With Wolf Man (2025) now in theaters (and not doing too well), it feels like the perfect time to take a closer look at some of the most notable werewolf films from the 2010s to today. As someone who loves this genre so much I even made a short film about it, I can say these movies prove that the werewolf tale still has plenty of bite. From indie thrillers to offbeat comedies, these films showcase how the genre continues to evolve while staying true to its roots.

Honorable Mention: Werewolves (2024)

Director Steven C. Miller's horror film Werewolves, starring Frank Grillo, will be getting a Blu-ray release in February

Directed by Steven C. Miller

Werewolves plunges viewers into a world reeling from a catastrophic supermoon event that, a year prior, activated a dormant gene in humans, transforming those exposed to its light into ferocious werewolves. With nearly a billion lives lost during that initial night of terror, the supermoon is set to rise again, threatening a repeat of the horrors.  Wesley Marshall (Frank Grillo), a former military operative turned biologist, is racing against time to develop a cure—dubbed “Moonscreen”—to prevent further transformations. As the supermoon ascends, chaos erupts once more, compelling Wesley to navigate a city overrun by werewolves to protect his family and ensure their survival through the night.

The film is pretty much The Purge: Anarchy but with, well…werewolves, with its tense urban setting and brutal survival dynamics. Frank Grillo brings his signature tough-guy charisma to the role, embodying the kind of no-nonsense action hero Hollywood often forgets audiences love. His performance, paired with thrilling action sequences and gruesome practical effects, makes Werewolves a crowd-pleasing ride.

Hollywood should take note: in an age of box office uncertainty, low- to mid-budget action and horror films like Werewolves prove that audiences will show up for tightly crafted, entertaining genre fare.

10. WolfCop (2014)

WolfCop

Directed by Lowell Dean

WolfCop is exactly what its title promises: a hilarious and over-the-top blend of werewolf horror and buddy cop tropes. Lou Garou (a not-so-subtle nod to the French term for werewolf, loup-garou) is an alcoholic officer who gains supernatural powers after being transformed into a werewolf. But instead of being consumed by his curse, Lou leans into his new identity, solving crimes and ripping bad guys apart in equal measure.

The film’s charm lies in its unapologetic embrace of camp. From its DIY practical effects to outrageous set pieces—including a werewolf transformation during an act that’s definitely NSFW—it’s a film that revels in its absurdity. Underneath the gore and humor, though, there’s a surprising amount of heart, as Lou begins to redeem himself both as a person and as a law enforcer.

Streaming on Tubi

9. Another WolfCop (2017)

Another WolfCop

Directed by Lowell Dean

A WolfCop movie featuring Kevin Smith as the mayor and a poster inspired by Cobra?  Yeah, it has to be on this list.  Director Lowell Dean is back at it, taking everything fans loved about the first film and amplifying it in every glorious way.  Lou Garou returns, cracking open his cans of Dale Ale while facing a corporate villain intent on creating a brewery that hides sinister secrets. Packed with even more outrageous gore, over-the-top set pieces, and a heavy dose of self-aware humor, Another WolfCop firmly cements itself as a cult favorite.

One of the highlights is the introduction of even more bizarre characters and situations, including a werecat. The sequel doesn’t take itself too seriously, embracing its B-movie roots and delivering pure, unadulterated fun. Fans of films like The Editor and Psycho Goreman will also appreciate a very brief, yet welcome appearance by Adam Brooks.  If you enjoyed the first WolfCop, this follow-up is a must-watch for its unapologetic chaos, especially around the holidays.  Here’s hoping Dean continues the series.   

Streaming on Tubi

8. Bloodthirsty (2020)

Bloodthirsty werewolf movies

Directed by Amelia Moses

This Canadian indie gem takes a psychological approach to werewolf lore, focusing more on the human side of the transformation. Grey, a struggling musician, begins to experience strange animalistic urges after she isolates herself in a remote studio to work on her new album. These changes parallel her growing desperation to succeed, blurring the line between ambition and monstrosity.

Bloodthirsty thrives on its minimalist approach, relying on atmosphere and character development over spectacle. Lauren Beatty’s haunting performance as Grey anchors the film, capturing her vulnerability and increasing volatility. Combined with a moody soundtrack and stunning cinematography, this is a film that proves werewolf stories can be just as introspective as they are terrifying.

Streaming on Peacock and Tubi

7. The Cursed (2021)

A trailer has been released for the werewolf movie The Cursed (formerly known as Eight for Silver), coming to theatres next month.

Directed by Sean Ellis

Formerly known as Eight for Silver, this gothic horror film is a striking reimagining of werewolf mythology. Set in 19th-century France, The Cursed follows a cursed village where greed and betrayal summon a supernatural plague. The werewolves here aren’t your traditional monsters but are depicted with eerie, otherworldly designs that evoke dread and unease.

The film excels in creating an oppressive atmosphere, with lush cinematography capturing the foggy countryside and blood-soaked horrors. Boyd Holbrook delivers a standout performance as a pathologist drawn into the mystery, grounding the story with emotional weight. With its mix of historical drama and visceral horror, The Cursed feels both modern and timeless—a rare feat in the genre.

Streaming on Hulu

6. Howl (2015)

Howl werewolf movies

Directed by Paul Hyett

Howl takes the creature feature formula and places it in an enclosed, claustrophobic setting: a stranded train in the middle of nowhere. The story follows a group of passengers, led by a reluctant train guard, as they’re forced to work together to survive a nightmarish attack by feral werewolves.

What makes Howl stand out is its focus on survival dynamics. Each passenger brings their own baggage to the table, and the film takes time to explore their personalities before the carnage begins. The creature design is both grotesque and grounded, avoiding CGI in favor of practical effects that heighten the terror. With its breakneck pacing and tension-filled sequences, Howl is a thrill ride that never lets up.

Streaming on Tubi

5. Blackout (2023)

A trailer has been unveiled for Blackout, a werewolf film from genre regular Larry Fessenden that's coming to theatres and VOD

Directed by Larry Fessenden

Larry Fessenden’s Blackout is a moody, character-driven exploration of werewolf mythology set against the backdrop of a small town during a blackout. The story follows Charley, an artist struggling with his darker urges, as he faces the dual challenges of self-control and an increasingly paranoid community.

What makes Blackout unique is its emphasis on psychological horror and small-town dynamics. Fessenden brings his indie sensibilities to the film, crafting a deeply human story that examines guilt, morality, and the monster within. The practical effects, including gruesome werewolf transformations, are top-notch, and the film’s intimate scale makes its scares feel personal.

Streaming on Tubi

4. Werewolves Within (2021)

Director Josh Ruben's horror comedy Werewolves Within, starring Sam Richardson and Milana Vayntrub, is now on DVD and Blu-ray!

Directed by Josh Ruben

Based on a pretty decent VR game, Werewolves Within combines dark humor with a murder mystery. The rare comedic gem in the werewolf genre follows Finn, a forest ranger who arrives in a small, snowy town just as a series of murders sends the quirky townsfolk into a frenzy. As suspicions rise, Finn must navigate the chaos to uncover who—or what—is responsible for the killings.

Sam Richardson shines as the affable but awkward Finn, bringing charm and humor to the film’s offbeat tone. The ensemble cast, filled with eccentric characters, keeps the story lively, while the werewolf mystery adds a layer of suspense. With its clever dialogue and sharp satire, Werewolves Within is a fresh and highly entertaining entry in the genre.

Streaming on Shudder

3. Werewolf by Night (2022)

Werewolf by Night

Directed by Michael Giacchino

While technically a TV special, Werewolf by Night meets the Academy of Arts and Sciences’ definition of a feature film, clocking in at just under an hour—and what a film it is. Part of Marvel Studios’ exploration into horror, this black-and-white homage to classic Universal monster movies is both a stylistic triumph and a refreshing departure from typical superhero fare.

The story follows Jack Russell, a monster hunter hiding a dark secret, as he’s forced into a deadly hunt among his peers. Gael García Bernal delivers a haunting and heartfelt performance, bringing depth to the conflicted protagonist. The film’s striking cinematography and practical effects recall the golden age of monster cinema while adding a modern flair.

Werewolf by Night isn’t just a great Marvel project—it’s a fantastic werewolf film in its own right. Its mix of suspense, gothic atmosphere, and unapologetic homage to horror classics makes it a must-watch for genre fans.

Streaming on Disney+

2. Late Phases (2014)

Late Phases

Directed by Adrián García Bogliano

Late Phases centers on Ambrose, a blind Vietnam veteran who moves to a retirement community plagued by mysterious animal attacks. The film masterfully combines poignant drama with old-school horror, as Ambrose—a grizzled but determined protagonist—sets out to uncover the truth and protect his neighbors.

Nick Damici gives a powerhouse performance as Ambrose, capturing both his physical limitations and his indomitable spirit.  And, of course, our favorite stoner record store employee, Ethan Embry, is also a standout.  Seriously, this dude needs a resurgence. The film’s werewolf transformations are delightfully practical, harkening back to the genre’s heyday, while its exploration of aging and isolation adds emotional depth. Late Phases is a rare gem that balances heartfelt storytelling with bloody thrills.

Streaming on Tubi

1. The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)

The Wolf of Snow Hollow

Directed by Jim Cummings

The Wolf of Snow Hollow is a unique blend of dark comedy, mystery, and horror that revitalizes the werewolf genre. The story follows John Marshall, a small-town sheriff grappling with personal demons and mounting stress as he investigates a series of brutal murders that may be the work of a werewolf.

Jim Cummings delivers a standout performance as the tightly wound Marshall, balancing rage, vulnerability, and dark humor in equal measure. Adding gravitas to the film is the legendary Robert Forster, who plays John’s ailing father and the town’s retiring sheriff. Forster’s presence brings warmth and pathos to his scenes, making it a fitting farewell for the beloved actor in his final role.

The film’s witty script, inventive tone, and surprising emotional depth make it a modern masterpiece of the werewolf genre. With sharp writing and clever twists, The Wolf of Snow Hollow is a howling success that stands out among recent horror films.

Streaming on Hulu

Werewolf movies may not dominate modern horror like their vampire or zombie counterparts, but there’s plenty of fresh blood in the genre. Whether you’re looking for claustrophobic survival horror, psychological drama, or genre-bending arthouse, these films offer something for every horror fan.  Even if you aren’t into some of these on the list, there is an entire plethora of lycanthropic horror for free on apps like Tubi.  Dive in cautiously with some of those, of course.  

So dim the lights, embrace the full moon, and let these flicks show their teeth.

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Box Office Update: Wolf Man lands with a thud; hyped horror flick severely underperforming https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-lands-with-a-thud/ https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-lands-with-a-thud/#respond Sat, 18 Jan 2025 16:52:59 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=820432 The atrocious C-minus CinemaScore suggests horror fans are hating Leigh Whannell’s latest monster reboot

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Wolf Man

Typically, MLK Day weekend is a box office bonanza, but it seems that a potential, would-be blockbuster in the form of Wolf Man is seriously underperforming, cratering Hollywood’s hopes for a high-grossing weekend. Indeed, some box office forecasters believed the film would open in the $30 million range (we predicted a much more modest $17 million), but in the end, the film will be lucky to pass $12 million this weekend. In fact, at its current rate, the film won’t even come close to topping the weekend, with Mufasa: The Lion King in line for a solid $16 million gross, while the well-reviewed One of Them Days (which our own Tyler Nichols surprisingly loved), will come in second-place with Deadline estimating $14 million.

So what happened? It seems horror audiences were put off by Leigh Whannell’s grounded take on the classic monster, which ditched almost all of the elements people associated with (and loved) about the character – meaning no full moons or silver bullets. The result is a bit of a bore, and the CinemaScore has been a toxic C-minus, which suggests Wolf Man’s word-of-mouth is howlingly bad. Truth be told, Whannell’s movie is derivative of other, better horror films like The Fly. Why bother making a Wolf Man movie if it won’t feature the elements of the character that people love? Whannell’s take emphasizes generational trauma passed down by fathers, but was that a movie anyone needed or wanted right now? The Blumhouse movie simply isn’t scary or particularly entertaining, even if it is well-acted by star Christopher Abbott, who will likely emerge from this relatively unscathed.

Meanwhile, last week’s champ, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is down about 50% for an $8 million weekend, with it looking like it will be narrowly edged out by Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Thieves is performing nearly identically to the first film, meaning it should turn a nice profit for Lionsgate, who’s badly in need of a win, even if it’s a single or double rather than a home run at this point.

We’ll be back tomorrow with the full box office wrap-up!

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What Did You Think of Wolf Man? https://www.joblo.com/what-did-you-think-of-wolf-man/ https://www.joblo.com/what-did-you-think-of-wolf-man/#respond Sat, 18 Jan 2025 11:10:46 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=820382 The Wolf Man reboot from Leigh Whannell and Blumhouse is now in theatres and we want to know, what did you think of the film?

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The reboot of the classic Universal Monsters property The Wolf Man from Blumhouse Productions and The Invisible Man (2020) director Leigh Whannell is now in theatres – and JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray wasn’t very impressed with it, giving it a 6/10 review that you can read HERE and describing it as “well-acted, but not very scary.” Now, we want to know, what did you think of Wolf Man? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The leads of this version of Wolf Man are Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, both of whom were in the 2011 film Martha Marcy May Marlene. Abbott is taking on the role of a man whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator. Garner is playing his wife. Sam Jaeger is also in the cast, along with child actress Matilda Firth, playing a character named Ginger: “Female, 10 years old, white. Blake and Charlotte’s daughter. Smart, precocious, and strong. When her family decides to leave the city for a quieter life in a remote area, she faces her biggest fear, the possibility of losing one or both of her parents forever.

When Wolf Man was first announced in 2020, Ryan Gosling was set to star in it – and in fact, it got rolling when Gosling pitched this take on the concept of The Wolf Man to Universal, and his idea was then fleshed out into a screenplay by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, a writing duo that previously worked on Orange Is the New Black. (Blum also happens to be married to Blumhouse founder Jason Blum.) At the time, it was said the story was “believed to be set in present times and in the vein of Jake Gyllenhaal’s thriller Nightcrawler with an obvious supernatural twist.” The final version of the script is credited to Blum and Angelo, as well as Whannell and his wife Corbett Tuck.

Whannell first signed on to direct the film in 2020, but dropped out the following year. That’s when Gosling’s Blue Valentine and Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance came on board. Gosling and Cianfrance both stepped away from Wolf Man early last year… and then Whannell came back. A collaboration between Blumhouse and Motel Movies, Wolf Man is being produced by Jason Blum. Gosling receives an executive producer credit alongside Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner, and Whannell.

The Wolf Man reboot was given an R rating for bloody violent content, grisly images and some language. This isn’t the first time a reboot of The Wolf Man has been given an R rating, as the 2010 reboot that was directed by Joe Johnston and starred Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, and Emily Blunt was also rated R, for bloody horror violence and gore.

Now, let us know, what did you think of Wolf Man?

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Wolf Man Review: Well-Acted But Not Very Scary https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-review-not-very-scary/ https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-review-not-very-scary/#respond Sat, 18 Jan 2025 01:16:31 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=819810 Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man is so stripped-down that it doesn't really feel like a werewolf movie at all.

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PLOT: A man (Christopher Abbott) is scratched by a mysterious monster while defending his family. Soon, he begins to transform, endangering the people he was trying to protect. 

REVIEW: Wolf Man is co-writer/ director Leigh Whannell’s attempt to ground yet another of the classic Universal Monsters following his hit The Invisible Man. Like that movie, it works more-or-less as its own thing, separate from any established lore. While The Invisible Man was basically an elevated stalker thriller, Wolf Man is an attempt to take on body horror with heavy doses of family drama baked in. The result is a decent-enough thriller that lacks the thrills one might expect from a werewolf movie, opting for atmosphere and emotion instead. While it sports a terrific performance from star Christopher Abbott, it also totally lacks scares, making it a movie that might alienate horror fans hoping for something a little more edge-of-your-seat than what Whannel delivers.

It has to be said that the director does seem less interested in making a horror film than a drama exploring the deeper theme of generational trauma. As the movie begins, we see Abbott’s character, Blake, as a child, being raised by his survivalist father, Grady (Sam Jaeger), whose intensity and demands for obedience leave Blake estranged from him as an adult. When he finds out his father has died, he takes his family, including his workaholic wife, Charlotte (Julia Garner) and adoring daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth), to pack up his secluded home in Colorado. Of course, once there, they are attacked by a wolf that seems to stand on two feet and infects Blake.

Now, it should be said that Whannell dispenses with pretty much all the lore you’d expect from a werewolf movie, meaning no full moons or silver bullets. The transformation also seems to be a one-and-done thing, meaning once Blake becomes a wolf, there’s no way back. That makes it feel more like a generic monster movie, as it does away with the most interesting bit of werewolf lore, being that the hero transforms back and forth and has to live with the carnage he inflicts.

Wolf Man, Leigh Whannell, monster

Pretty much the only element this has in common with the original Universal Wolf Man is that, like Lon Chaney Jr’s Larry Talbot, Blake is exceedingly mild-mannered, with him an innocent victim of the curse who winds up being infected due to his own heroism, as he got hurt trying to protect his family. Abbott gets a solid showcase as Blake becomes more beastly, gradually losing the ability to talk, with the make-up effects used for the full werewolf much better than what we saw in early images. 

Given the remote settings, the movie is almost entirely confined to one location, with Abbott, Garner and Firth the only ones on-screen for ninety percent of the running time. Garner’s role as the breadwinning mom (Blake is a stay-at-home father) of the family initially seems one-note until she gradually becomes more active as the film goes on. Yet, the heart of the movie belongs to the relationship between Blake and his daughter, who is shown to have a special bond with him from the beginning and is the only thing allowing him to hold onto some shreds of his humanity. 

While it’s well-acted and shot, the fact remains that Wolf Man has one major failing – it’s simply not scary. Blake’s transformation is played for pathos and drama, and even if we know there’s another wolf around there stalking the family, the attack scenes are limited and shot so darkly that a lot of the werewolf stuff is hard to make out. 

As such, Wolf Man is a notch or two below The Invisible Man, a movie that had some really memorable scares, and the terrific Upgrade. It will likely pull in a solid crowd this weekend. Still, to me it’s another disappointing Wolf Man reboot (following the big-budget Benicio del Toro film) that’s forgotten what makes that iconic monster such a classic.

The first reactions to Leigh Whannell and Blumhouse's reboot of Wolf Man are now online, and they're very positive

Wolf Man

AVERAGE

6

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Leigh Whannell isn’t interested in The Invisible Man 2: “Let’s just leave it closed” https://www.joblo.com/the-invisible-man-2-leigh-whannell/ https://www.joblo.com/the-invisible-man-2-leigh-whannell/#respond Sat, 18 Jan 2025 00:58:28 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=820336 The Invisible Man 2 has been spoken about since the success of the first movie, but writer/director Leigh Whannell isn't into it.

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The Invisible Man 2, Leigh Whannell

Before Wolf Man, Leigh Whannell directed The Invisible Man. The horror thriller was a critical and commercial success, grossing $144.5 million on a budget of $7 million and earning rave reviews. That typically spells sequel in any language, but The Invisible Man 2 has yet to materialize. While speaking with THR, Whannell explained why he doesn’t want to develop another Invisible Man movie.

I can’t imagine gluing more story onto that. Sequels are mostly driven by the economics of Hollywood. ‘We scored, we did well, and let’s do it again. Let’s get them back there.’ And I’ve been a front-row viewer of that,” Whannell said. “I have also written two movies [Saw and Insidious] that have turned into long-running franchises with varying degrees of artistic success. I’m not going to pretend that every movie in the Saw franchise is … That film has become its own beast, and I sit outside of it now.

Whannell continued, “I was so happy with Invisible Man’s ending that I just don’t feel the artistic need to go forward with it. The financial need is something different. The studio might look at that and say, ‘Well, we feel like it should keep going because we want to make more money.’ But on an artistic level, I’m like, ‘That’s a nice closed door there. Let’s just leave it closed.’” I would agree. Not every film needs a sequel.

Although Whannell isn’t interested in The Invisible Man 2, Elisabeth Moss is down to return and has even been working on developing the project. “We are, I would say – and by we, I mean Blumhouse and my production company [Love & Squalor Pictures] – we are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” Moss said last year. “And I feel very good about it. We are very much intent on continuing that story, for sure.

As for Wolf Man, the film hasn’t been received quite as well as The Invisible Man. Our own Chris Bumbray found the film to be well-acted and shot, but it let him down in the fright department. “Wolf Man has one major failing – it’s simply not scary,” he wrote. “Blake’s transformation is played for pathos and drama, and even if we know there’s another wolf around there stalking the family, the attack scenes are limited and shot so darkly that a lot of the werewolf stuff is hard to make out.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s review right here.

Would you like to see The Invisible Man 2, or is Whannell right to leave the story alone?

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https://www.joblo.com/the-invisible-man-2-leigh-whannell/feed/ 0 The Invisible Man 2 isn't something Leigh Whannell wants to do The Invisible Man 2 has been spoken about since the success of the first movie, but writer/director Leigh Whannell isn't into it. Leigh Whannell,The Invisible Man,Wolf Man,Invisible Man 2 the-invisible-man-2 https://www.joblo.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/the-invisible-man-2.jpg
Wolf Man barks at the moon with $1.4M in previews as theaters brace for a sleepy MLK weekend https://www.joblo.com/wold-man-box-office-previews/ https://www.joblo.com/wold-man-box-office-previews/#respond Fri, 17 Jan 2025 17:43:07 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=820232 As the MLK weekend box office kicks off, Leigh Whannell's Wolf Man fails to transform its Thursday previews into big bucks.

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Wolf Man, One of Them Days, box office

Martin Luther King Jr. weekend is upon us, though people looking to celebrate could have other plans than heading to cinemas. How do we know this? The starting totals for two brand-new movies are off to a grim start. Then again, we’ve been surprised by dark horses before. Analysts said Leigh Whannell’s body horror film Wolf Man howled during Thursday previews with $1.4M, while Lawrence Lamont’s comedy, One of Them Days, led by Keke Palmer and SZA, banked $1.3M.

Wolf Man comes in low out of the gate. Still, the Blumhouse feature only cost $25M to produce before promotional materials. The horror movie starring Christopher Abbott (It Comes at Night, Possessor, Poor Things) and Julia Garner (Fantastic Four: First Steps, Ozark) could transform its 4-day holiday weekend total into $20M, but only if people show up. Wolf Man‘s Thursday total is slightly surprising, given the success of Whannell’s 2020 psychological thriller The Invisible Man, which earned a global total of $144M during its theatrical run. Positive word of mouth helped The Invisible Man make an impression on horror fans, and the film’s popularity has only grown with time. Unfortunately, reviews for Wolf Man are mixed, with some critics saying the movie lacks bite.

Sony’s One of Them Days could surprise us, as the film holds a 96% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with an Audience Score of 94%. Tyler Nichols reviewed One of Them Days for JoBlo, saying, “the laughs per minute were high,” while the film also presents engaging emotional stakes. The story focuses on best friends and roommates Dreux (Keke Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA), who discover Alyssa’s boyfriend has blown their rent money. The duo then finds themselves going to extremes in a race against the clock to avoid eviction and keep their friendship intact. Maude Apatow, Lil Rel Howery, Katt Williams, and Vanessa Bell Calloway star as primary cast members.

Are you going to the movies this Martin Luther King weekend? Do you think Wolf Man will find an audience in the coming weeks? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below, and enjoy your holiday!

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Interview: Leigh Whannell, Julia Garner, Christopher Abbott, and Beatriz Squeira Talk Wolf Man https://www.joblo.com/interview-wolf-man/ https://www.joblo.com/interview-wolf-man/#respond Thu, 16 Jan 2025 17:06:00 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=819813 We talk with Leigh Whannell, Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, and Beatriz Squeira about their impressive take on Wolf Man

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Ever since James Wan and Leigh Whannell introduced a little horror to the world with Saw, they have become exciting names in the horror genre. Mr. Whannell continues to impress from his directorial debut in the world of supernatural frights with Insidious: Chapter 3. From his excellent Upgrade to the wonderfully suspenseful and expertly crafted The Invisible Man – an absolute favorite of mine. And now, he brings us the impressive Wolf Man, the filmmaker’s take on the 1941 classic starring Lon Chaney Jr. Thankfully, Whannell offers up a terrific cast that includes Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, and Matilda Firth. And frankly, this one is such a personal take on the story that it struck a chord with this viewer.

Recently, we spoke to the cast, as well as executive producer Beatriz Sequeira. We also sat down for the first of our two-part interview with the man of the hour, Leigh Whannell. I sat down with Julia Garner – who you can look for in the upcoming Madonna biopic Who’s That Girl and The Fantastic Four: First Steps as the Silver Surfer. Julia brings a quiet strength to her performance as Charlotte in Wolf Man. It’s an impressive performance. And as for her co-star, the wonderfully talented Christopher Abbott, he spoke about taking on such a challenging character, both physically and mentally. Whannell impressed me with his casting choices here. It’s a very believable family portrayal, which makes the movie all the more chilling.

And finally, I spoke with executive producer Beatriz Squeira. Having talked to her before about last year’s effective, Speak No Evil, it was terrific to discuss classic monster tales. As well as what she is looking forward to when it comes to bringing frights to the big screen. And of course, sitting down with Leigh Whannell is always a joy. For part one of our conversation, we focus mainly on the film and the cast itself. Leigh, who co-wrote Wolf Man with his wife Corbett Tuck, brings a very personal touch with this take on this classic Universal movie monster. And it’s all the more involving because of it.

Wolf Man opens this Friday and I recommend seeing it with a crowd. It’s tense, scary, and even heartbreaking. It’s yet another solid feature from one of genre’s most exciting voices. Check out our review HERE.

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https://www.joblo.com/interview-wolf-man/feed/ 0 Interview with the director and cast of Wolf Man Interview with Leigh Whannell, Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, and Beatriz Squeira about their impressive take on Wolf Man Christopher Abbott,Julia Garner,Leigh Whannell,Sam Jaeger,Wolf Man,Interview: Wolf Man https://www.joblo.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Wolf-Man-Interviews.jpg
Box Office Predictions: Wolf Man to have a howlingly good opening https://www.joblo.com/box-office-predictions-wolf-man/ https://www.joblo.com/box-office-predictions-wolf-man/#respond Thu, 16 Jan 2025 14:13:39 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=819832 While it won't rank as one of Blumhouse's all-time openers, Wolf Man should have no trouble hitting first place at the weekend box office.

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Wolf Man, Leigh Whannell, monster

Blumhouse has had a lot of success opening horror movies in January. M3GAN was a blockbuster, as was Leigh Whannel’s The Invisible Man, and this year, they’ve got another horror flick that seems bound for a number-one finish. Indeed, Wolf Man, which also comes from Whannell, was initially one of the most anticipated horror titles of 2025. However, in recent weeks, the buzz around the film has cooled, with poor reactions to the movie’s new werewolf designs, and mixed reviews that revealed the film lacks scares and does away with a lot of the classic character’s lore.

Even still, the movie is set to dominate the box office, although its opening seems to be more in line with last year’s Night Swim ($12 million) than either M3GAN ($30.4 million) or The Invisible Man ($28 million). As such, I’m expecting Wolf Man will open with about $17 million, which, given its rumoured $25 million budget, will no doubt make it quite profitable for Universal and Blumhouse.

Last week’s champ, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, should slide into second place with about $9 million, which would help drive it to a final tally in line with the $44 million the original made. Of course, Mufasa: The Lion King, could overtake it and finish in second place, although I’m thinking it will hit about $7 million this weekend. The Keke Palmer/ SZA vehicle, One of Them Days, should slide into fourth place with about $5 million, while Nosferatu should be right behind it with $4 million as it closes in on $100 million domestically. Expanding Oscar films, including The Brutalist and September 5 should have solid runs that will put them on the bottom half of the chart. 

Overall, this seems to be relatively quiet given that it’s a holiday weekend (Monday is Martin Luther King Day) so it’s possible that if Wolf Man underperforms, one of the Christmas holdovers, like A Complete Unknown or Nosferatu might get a surprising boost at the box office. We’ll keep you posted as the weekend goes on!

Our Predictions:

  1. Wolf Man: $17 Million
  2. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera: $9 million
  3. Mufasa: The Lion King: $7 million
  4. One of Them Days: $5 million
  5. Nosferatu: $4 million

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Wolf Man and Kraven The Hunter star Christopher Abbott gives his impression on Kraven underperforming https://www.joblo.com/christopher-abbott-kraven/ https://www.joblo.com/christopher-abbott-kraven/#respond Thu, 16 Jan 2025 14:11:44 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=819829 While Abbott has his new horror-thriller coming out, the actor reflects on how Kraven just didn't seem to work out due to studio meddling.

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Christopher Abbott

Christopher Abbott has some big hairy shoes to fill as he follows the likes of Lon Chaney Jr. and Benicio Del Toro in his new film Wolf Man. The new Blumhouse horror movie from the director of The Invisible Man remake takes a similar route in reimagining the story of the Universal monster classic. Abbott would already be featured in a film recently where man and beast have a kinship — Kraven The Hunter, Sony’s latest offering in their Spider-Man villain solo series. Kraven, although it didn’t look like the trainwreck Madam Web nor Morbius was, still became Sony’s lowest-grossing Marvel movie.

Abbott would sit down with The Hollywood Reporter to promote Wolf Man when they inquired about the roll of the dice on movies like Kraven. Abbott responded,

Yeah, you never know, man. Absolutely. That’s the thing. This business is inherently the most collaborative art, and, essentially, the most expensive. So there’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen, sometimes, and whether that’s the actors, the director or whoever else is around, it takes a village.”

Abbott played The Foreigner in Kraven and his co-star, The Brutalist‘s Alessandro Nivola was dumbfounded with what happened with the studio’s dealings with the filmmakers as his experience was actually quite pleasant. Nivola attested, “I really don’t know what happened behind the scenes. On these kinds of movies, you hear about all the wranglings at the studio, and maybe there were too many chefs. I don’t know. I don’t know enough about what the process was beyond just my experience of being on set, which was really joyful.” 

While Nivola got to turn into a rhino in Kraven, in the film Wolf Man, Abbott makes the famous metamorphosis into a wolf. In this incarnation, while the make-up was there to help him immerse himself into the creature, he also talks about using his body language in the prolonged process that the movie takes in transitioning him from man to beast. Abbott explained, “Yeah, the progression is very gradual in this movie, so being able to play with how much he progresses was really interesting. It starts with just the fingers, and then it eventually just works its way up through the arms and the rest of the body. So there was a lot to keep track of, but it’s fun to play with physicality like that.”

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Wolf Man director Leigh Whannell says Heath Ledger’s Joker inspired new design https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-joker-leigh-whannell/ https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-joker-leigh-whannell/#respond Fri, 25 Oct 2024 00:06:35 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=804561 Wolf Man director Leigh Whannell says Heath Ledger's Joker inspired the new design and comments on leaked version of the creature.

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Wolf Man, Joker

After tackling The Invisible Man, writer/director Leigh Whannell set his sights on updating another iconic Universal Horror Monster: The Wolf Man. There have been many different incarnations of the Wolf Man character, but Whannell told ScreenRant that his version is unlike any that have come before it, adding that he even took inspiration from Heath Ledger’s Joker.

I lined up all the different versions, I had a PDF of everyone from Lon Chaney to David Norton in American Werewolf, The Howling, Dog Soldiers. I had every look in front of me, and I’m kind of staring at it, and I’m like, ‘All right, so where do I fit in?’” Whannell explained. “You know what a big inspiration to me was, was Heath Ledger’s version of the Joker. Not so much in terms of look, but I had a photo of him on my desk as the Joker because I really love what they did there with the character.

While Heath Ledger’s Joker is now a beloved take on the character, Whannell recalls the intense negative reaction when the first photos of Ledger in the role were released. “I find that so inspirational what they did with that character and how they approached it,” Whannell said. “And I was thinking [about] if I can take their approach to Wolf Man, and I think I did.

The Wolf Man director gave full credit to makeup artist Arjen Tuiten for the new design, saying that he had zero notes on the initial concept. “I was just staring at it for the first time, and I was like, ‘That’s it. It just looked perfect,’” he said. “Do you know what? I never had any notes. I was like, ‘That’s it, that’s what we should do.’ It doesn’t [happen often]. Usually in L.A., in Hollywood, it’s like, ‘Can we change this?’ S–t, every screenplay I’ve written has just been absolutely inundated with notes. But when I saw the maquette, the model that Arian had made, I was like, ‘There’s no notes I can give you that would [improve this].’

We still haven’t gotten a clear look at the new Wolf Man design yet, not even in the latest trailer, but the version that was seen at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios didn’t win over many fans (sort of like the initial reaction to Ledger’s Joker). In a separate interview with Gizmodo, Whannell indicated that that design was not their Wolf Man. “No, I mean, without spoiling anything, that’s not our Wolf Man,” Whannell said. “And I guess, movies have so many different people involved. It’s like this huge octopus with many tentacles and you can’t always control every single aspect of something. So sometimes something might get out there that doesn’t represent what you’re doing and it just falls through the cracks. So no, it doesn’t represent [our movie].

Wolf Man will hit theaters on January 17, 2025.

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The terrifying Wolf Man teaser trailer has us howling with anticipation for Leigh Whannell’s next horror thrill ride https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-teaser-trailer/ https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-teaser-trailer/#respond Fri, 06 Sep 2024 16:12:12 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=793719 Leigh Whannell and Blumhouse conjure a full moon of frights for the highly-anticipated Wolf Man teaser trailer.

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After making thin air terrifying again (sorry, The Happening, you tried) with 2020’s atmospheric and chilling horror film The Invisible Man, Leigh Whannell is taking another bite out of the Universal Monsters rogue’s gallery with Wolf Man. Before everyone logs off for the weekend, Whannell and Blumhouse hit horror fans with a Wolf Man teaser trailer, previewing the filmmaker’s latest bone-chilling horror film.

Today’s Wolf Man teaser trailer begins with footage of a praying mantis stalking an unsuspecting lunch, striking with lightning-fast speed as the meal feels fangs piercing its exterior. As the words Wolf Man steadily slash onto the screen, the footage shows a remote house in Oregon where a mysterious animal waits in the woods. While trying to adjust to their new lives, Christopher Abbott is attacked by what he says is a ferocious wolf-like creature standing on two legs. As the lycanthropy surges through his system, he changes, leaving Julia Garner and Matilda Firth to fend for themselves against a man driven mad by the full moon. The Wolf Man teaser displays what we love about Whannell’s film style: atmosphere, compelling performances, and a bone-chilling ramp-up to an all-out horror fest that promises to leave an impression.

Christopher Abbott , Wolf Man, teaser trailer

When Universal announced this project in 2020, Ryan Gosling was set to star in it – and it got rolling when Gosling pitched this take on the concept of The Wolf Man to Universal. Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo then fleshed out the ideas into a screenplay (Blum is also married to Blumhouse founder Jason Blum). The story was “believed to be set in present times and in the vein of Jake Gyllenhaal’s thriller Nightcrawler with an obvious supernatural twist.” The final version of the script credits Blum and Angelo, as well as Whannell and his wife, Corbett Tuck.

Whannell first signed on to direct the film in 2020 but then dropped out the following year. That’s when Gosling’s Blue Valentine and Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance came on board. Gosling and Cianfrance stepped away from Wolf Man early last year, and then Whannell returned.

Welp, I know what I’ll see during my birthday weekend next year! I’m a major fan of Whannell’s The Invisible Man, and I can’t wait to see what he does with my favorite of Universal’s classic monsters. How about you? What do you think about today’s Wolf Man teaser trailer? Is this what we can expect Abbott’s Wolf Man to look like? I highly doubt it.

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https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-teaser-trailer/feed/ 0 The terrifying Wolf Man teaser trailer has us howling with anticipation for Leigh Whannell's next horror thrill ride Leigh Whannell and Blumhouse conjure a full moon of frights for the highly-anticipated Wolf Man teaser trailer. Christopher Abbott,Julia Garner,Leigh Whannell,Wolf Man,Wolf Man teaser trailer christopher-abbott-wolf-man https://www.joblo.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/christopher-abbott-wolf-man.jpg
Wolf Man reboot delayed, bumping The Woman in the Yard off Universal schedule https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-the-woman-in-the-yard/ https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-the-woman-in-the-yard/#respond Fri, 29 Mar 2024 19:45:11 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=760504 The release of Blumhouse's Wolf Man reboot has moved from October to January, bumping their thriller The Woman in the Yard off the schedule

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The Wolf Man

Blumhouse Productions and The Invisible Man (2020) director Leigh Whannell are bringing us another reboot of a classic Universal Pictures property with Wolf Man, which had the perfect release date: October 25th, delivering werewolf action to the big screen just in time for Halloween. But Wolf Man only just started filming earlier this month, and the filmmakers clearly feel that they need more than seven months to get it ready for theatres. The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Wolf Man‘s release has been delayed, pushed back to January 17, 2025. The studio already had another Blumhouse project scheduled for a January 10th release, the Jaume Collet-Serra / Danielle Deadwyler thriller The Woman in the Yard… but with Wolf Man moving to January, The Woman in the Yard has been bumped off the schedule entirely. We’ll have to wait and see when Universal will decide to release that one.

When Wolf Man was first announced in 2020, Ryan Gosling was set to star in it – and in fact, it got rolling when Gosling pitched this take on the concept of The Wolf Man to Universal, and his idea was then fleshed out into a screenplay by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, a writing duo that previously worked on Orange Is the New Black. (Blum also happens to be married to Blumhouse founder Jason Blum.) At the time, it was said the story was “believed to be set in present times and in the vein of Jake Gyllenhaal’s thriller Nightcrawler with an obvious supernatural twist.” The final version of the script is credited to Blum and Angelo, as well as Whannell and his wife Corbett Tuck.

Whannell first signed on to direct the film in 2020, but dropped out the following year. That’s when Gosling’s Blue Valentine and Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance came on board. Gosling and Cianfrance both stepped away from Wolf Man early last year… and then Whannell came back.

The leads of the film are Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, both of whom were in the 2011 film Martha Marcy May Marlene. Abbott is taking on the role of a man whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator. Garner must be playing his wife, because her character is described as being a mother whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator. Their characters seem to have a 10 year old daughter named Ginger, as a casting call for that character was sent out a while back.

A collaboration between Blumhouse and Motel Movies, Wolf Man is being produced by Jason Blum. Gosling receives an executive producer credit alongside Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner, and Whannell.

The Woman in the Yard has been written by Sam Stefanak, who was previously a staff writer and story editor on the Netflix animated series F Is for Family, but details on the story are being kept under wraps. Blumhouse founder Jason Blum told Variety that he has been looking for the right project to do with Collet-Serra for over a decade. He said, “The Woman in the Yard is the perfect match, a film that’s ambitious in scope but modest in budget that combines Jaume’s vision with the incomparable Danielle Deadwyler.

Blum and Stephanie Allain are producing the film, while Collet-Serra and Deadwyler executive produce alongside Gabrielle Ebron, Scott Greenberg, and James Mora.

The Woman in the Yard got its January release date only after Universal moved Blumhouse’s M3GAN 2.0 from January 17th to May 16th.

What do you think of Wolf Man moving from October to January, bumping The Woman in the Yard off the schedule completely? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Danielle Deadwyler

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Wolf Man reboot from Blumhouse and Leigh Whannell is now filming! https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-reboot-filming/ https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-reboot-filming/#respond Mon, 18 Mar 2024 14:05:59 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=757723 The reboot of the Universal Monsters classic The Wolf Man, coming from Blumhouse Productions and Leigh Whannell, is now filming

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The Wolf Man

Blumhouse Productions and The Invisible Man (2020) director Leigh Whannell are bringing us another reboot of a classic Universal Pictures property with Wolf Man, which is set to reach theatres on October 25th – and yesterday, producer Jason Blum took to social media to confirm that Wolf Man is now filming! Blum shared a picture of Whannell on set, holding a clapperboard, and you can check that out at the bottom of this article.

When this project was first announced in 2020, Ryan Gosling was set to star in it – and in fact, it got rolling when Gosling pitched this take on the concept of The Wolf Man to Universal, and his idea was then fleshed out into a screenplay by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, a writing duo that previously worked on Orange Is the New Black. (Blum also happens to be married to Blumhouse founder Jason Blum.) At the time, it was said the story was “believed to be set in present times and in the vein of Jake Gyllenhaal’s thriller Nightcrawler with an obvious supernatural twist.” The final version of the script is credited to Blum and Angelo, as well as Whannell and his wife Corbett Tuck.

Whannell first signed on to direct the film in 2020, but dropped out the following year. That’s when Gosling’s Blue Valentine and Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance came on board. Gosling and Cianfrance both stepped away from Wolf Man early last year… and then Whannell came back.

The leads of the film are Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, both of whom were in the 2011 film Martha Marcy May Marlene. Abbott is taking on the role of a man whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator. Garner must be playing his wife, because her character is described as being a mother whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator. Their characters seem to have a 10 year old daughter named Ginger, as a casting call for that character was sent out a while back.

A collaboration between Blumhouse and Motel Movies, Wolf Man is being produced by Jason Blum. Gosling receives an executive producer credit alongside Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner, and Whannell.

Are you looking forward to seeing what Blumhouse and Whannell do with Wolf Man? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Wolf Man reboot: Blumhouse sends out casting call for young female character https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-casting-call/ https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-casting-call/#respond Mon, 18 Dec 2023 17:36:56 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=735087 Blumhouse has sent out a casting call for the Wolf Man reboot Leigh Whannell will be directing for a 2024 release

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Last week, it was announced that the Wolf Man reboot Blumhouse has been developing for Universal since 2020 is now on the fast track to production, aiming for an October 25, 2024 theatrical release. The Invisible Man (2020) director Leigh Whannell will be at the helm of this new take on the 1941 classic The Wolf Man, with Christopher Abbott (Possessor) on board to star. One character that hasn’t been cast just yet is a 10-year-old female named Ginger, and Blumhouse has sent out a casting call in search of the right young actor to fill the role.

Ginger is described as being “Female, 10 years old, white. Blake and Charlotte’s daughter. Smart, precocious, and strong. When her family decides to leave the city for a quieter life in a remote area, she faces her biggest fear, the possibility of losing one or both of her parents forever.” Blumhouse is hoping to find someone in the 9 to 11 range to play the role. The actor will need a valid passport, because filming is going to take place in New Zealand from March through May of next year. Anyone who fits the character description is encouraged to send their name, location, age, DOB, headshot, résumé, and reel (if available) to casting@blumhouse.com.

Abbott is taking on the role of a man whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator.

When this project was first announced, Ryan Gosling was set to star in it – and in fact, it got rolling when Gosling pitched this take on the concept of The Wolf Man to Universal, and his idea was then fleshed out into a screenplay by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, a writing duo that previously worked on Orange Is the New Black. (Blum also happens to be married to Blumhouse founder Jason Blum.) At the time, it was said the story was “believed to be set in present times and in the vein of Jake Gyllenhaal’s thriller Nightcrawler with an obvious supernatural twist.” The final version of the script is credited to Blum and Angelo, as well as Whannell and his wife Corbett Tuck.

Whannell first signed on to direct the film in 2020, but then dropped out the following year. That’s when Gosling’s Blue Valentine and Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance came on board. Gosling and Cianfrance both stepped away from Wolf Man earlier this year… and now Whannell is back.

Wolf Man is coming our way from Blumhouse and Motel Movies, with Jason Blum producing. Gosling receives an executive producer credit alongside Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner, and Whannell.

Do you know any young actors who will be answering the Wolf Man casting call? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

I like that this werewolf movie is going to have a character named Ginger in it, just because it makes me think of my favorite werewolf movie: Ginger Snaps.

The Wolf Man

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Wolf Man reboot from Leigh Whannell gets 2024 release date as Christopher Abbott takes the lead https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-2024/ https://www.joblo.com/wolf-man-2024/#respond Wed, 13 Dec 2023 19:14:41 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/?p=733897 Universal, Blumhouse, and Leigh Whannell are teaming up to bring us Wolf Man in 2024, with Christopher Abbott in the lead

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Back in 2020, it was announced that Ryan Gosling would be starring in a reboot of the 1941 classic The Wolf Man for Universal Pictures. Blumhouse Productions came on to produce the project soon after, with their The Invisible Man director Leigh Whannell signing on to take the helm. When Whannell left the project the following year, Gosling’s Blue Valentine and Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance came on board. Then Gosling and Cianfrance both stepped away from Wolf Man earlier this year. But that wasn’t the death knell for the project. In fact, we have just learned that it’s moving full steam ahead, with Whannell back at the helm and Christopher Abbott (Possessor) set to star in the film, which is aiming for an October 25, 2024 theatrical release!

Abbott is taking on the role of a man whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator.

This project first got rolling when Gosling pitched this take on the concept of The Wolf Man to Universal, and his idea was then fleshed out into a screenplay by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, a writing duo that previously worked on Orange Is the New Black. (Blum also happens to be married to Blumhouse founder Jason Blum.) At the time, it was said the story was “believed to be set in present times and in the vein of Jake Gyllenhaal’s thriller Nightcrawler with an obvious supernatural twist.” The final version of the script is credited to Blum and Angelo, as well as Whannell and his wife Corbett Tuck.

Wolf Man is coming our way from Blumhouse and Motel Movies, with Jason Blum producing. Gosling receives an executive producer credit alongside Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner, and Whannell.

I’m a big fan of Gosling, so I’ll always be disappointed that he didn’t stick to the idea of starring in Wolf Man through the production, but Abbott is a fine replacement and I look forward to seeing what Whannell will do with the concept. I thought he did a great job with The Invisible Man.

What do you think of Universal, Blumhouse, Leigh Whannell, and Christopher Abbott teaming up to bring us Wolf Man in 2024? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

Christopher Abbott It Comes at Night

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Top 10 Werewolves in films! https://www.joblo.com/lists-top-10-werewolves/ Fri, 17 Oct 2014 08:12:42 +0000 https://www.joblo.com/top-10-werewolves/ So…who else is pumped for David Hayter’s WOLVES next month? Well, to help get you nice and lathered up for what should be an action-packed horror extravaganza (Hayter did write X-MEN, X-MEN 2 and WATCHMEN), we thought it’d be a...

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So…who else is pumped for David Hayter’s WOLVES next month? Well, to help get you nice and lathered up for what should be an action-packed horror extravaganza (Hayter did write X-MEN, X-MEN 2 and WATCHMEN), we thought it’d be a cool idea to take a look back at some of the best werewolf characters to ever his the screen. Not werewolf movies per se – been there done that – but singular, well-drawn werewolf characters that have crouched, stood and leapt head and shoulders above the pack. Sound good? Groovy! Smash it up above to see who made the cut in our Top 10 Werewolves!

#1. LON CHANEY JR. (THE WOLF MAN)

You already know our steez…gold medals around here go to the OGs! So, when it comes to progenitive lycanthropy, not a single soul can trump the unrivaled Lon Chaney Jr. I mean look at that feral facial fur…dude’s a boss! Real shite, it’s easy to peep the cheesily outmoded makeup and FX of the Universal monster movie classic, but don’t front, without the fully committed performance of Chaney in said movie, we’d likely be entirely bereft of the rich, successive 70-year spate of werewolf fiction that arrived in THE WOLF MAN’S wake. The whole mythos is laid out…tropes we so readily associate with werewolf lore…turning into a wolf after being bit, changing during a full moon, dying via silver bullet only…all originated here with Chaney and the OG Wolf Man!

#2. DAVID NAUGHTON (AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON)

Come on now, aside from featuring in arguably the most mortifying werewolf transformations ever committed to celluloid, the pre-bitten character of David Kessler (played by David Naughton) is one funny mofo. The kind of dude you’d like hit the pub and pick up chicks with! Now, I could have just as easily gone with Dave’s onscreen pal Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne), who is equally cool and funny as a fish-out-of-water tourist. Only difference is that gnarly prolonged werewolf metamorphosis Dave suffers through. Props to writer/director John Landis and makeup maestro Rick Baker for rendering such a fully realized creation.

#3. OLIVER REED (CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF)

If you take away nothing else in this Top 10, please go out and find the cool character-driven Hammer Films production of THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF from 1961. I assure you, you won’t rue the move! See, the great Oliver Reed plays Leon, the orphaned werewolf offspring of a raped woman by a jailed beggar. We see Leon grow up, under the care of a man named Don Alfredo. But as he matures, Leon can’t help but reckon with his true identity. And that’s what makes the character so memorable…he’s a werewolf with a conscience! We seem grapple with his primal urges and animalistic nature, the emotional and moral conundrums that ensue. And of course, when the moon fills up, Leon needs to sate his bloodlust. Great performance!

#4. PAUL NASCHY (NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF)

Alrighty guys and ghouls, since this Paul Naschy dude (born Jacinto Molina Alvarez) – long heralded as the godfather of Spanish horror cinema – portrayed his own variation of the Wolf Man no less than a dozen times over three decades (as the character Waldemar Daninsky) , I’m afraid he’s credentials cannot be discounted out of the Top 10. Seriously, if there was a Werewolf Hall of Fame, Naschy would have to be there not far behind Lon Chaney Jr. Dude’s a dedicated lifer, first playing the part in the 1968 flick FRANKENSTEIN’S BLOODY TERROR and last playing it in the 1996 flick LICANTROPO. In my opinion, he was best in the ’81 joint NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF.

#5. KATHERINE ISABELLE (GINGER SNAPS)

Ginger snaps indeed! 14 years later and we still hold an eternal flame for Katherine Isabelle’s wonderfully wicked turn as the pubescent titular anti-heroine in GINGER SNAPS. What a nasty little flick…and even better performance. Those in the know not, much like Neil Jordan’s BROTHER HOOD OF THE WOLF (albeit less dreamy), GINGER SNAPS is more or less a filmic allegory regarding a young woman’s sexual appetite. More accurately, the violent werewolf transmutations Ginger undergoes is meant to parallel her menstrual rite of passage. Yup, it’s about a girl getting her period!

#6. JACK NICHOLSON (WOLF)

Ahh…what’s not to love about the laconic, eye-rolling Nicholson as he slowly morphs into an attitudinal middle-aged lycanthrope in WOLF? Come on, that scene where he gleefully pisses all over the snooty James Spader’s loafers in the john? F*cking priceless! Granted, the last act of the film devolves into a pretty standard state of horror platitude, but Jack’s character of Will Randall is a complex one, and director Mike Nichols directs the film around him as such. It’s an A-list horror film of elegance, which allows Nicholson a chance to really shade the character with multiple dimensions and elevate the material beyond mere B-movie dreck.

#7. MICHAEL PARE (BAD MOON)

Anytime we get a chance to cast some adoration toward our man Eric Red’s criminally under-seen werewolf picture BAD MOON, we do so. As it happens however, the great Michael Pare’s convincingly complex turn as Uncle Ted, an accursed mortal battling the werewolf blood that courses through his veins, is alone worthy as a standout lycanthropic portrayal. Dude kills it, literally! And I think what makes the turn so special is the subtle internalization and torment he keeps inside of him with weight of a secret. Pare plays the part with a palpable panic that makes you sympathize with him early on, and the evil menace later to detest him.

#8. EVERETT MCGILL (SILVER BULLET)

In one of the better Stephen King adaptations, Everett McGill lends a creepily credible dual-turn – as a force of both light and dark – in the 1985 flick SILVER BULLET. And that’s exactly what lands McGill a top spot, the rangy dichotomy. On one side, McGill fronts a benevolent facade as the upstanding Reverend Lowe, a well loved man of the community. Of course, it’s all a ruse to mask his true identity…that of a hulking, hirsute man-beast with huge fangs and insatiable thirst for human blood! It’s a multifaceted character grappling with both sides of the moral coin, realized wonderfully by the deft casting of McGill.

#9. MICHAEL J. FOX (TEEN WOLF)

“Hey I’m no different…than anyone else!” Yup, such a ludicrous line was so smugly uttered by Mike J. Fox under a pair of shades and an ungodly Cousin It-mountain-of-hair in TEEN WOLF…a horror comedy of semi-cult-status that has bred a far campier pack of feral beasts in MTV’s Teen Wolf series. Now, we all know little Scott wasn’t as cool as his epithetic-shirt-wearing pal Styles (What are you looking at, dick nose?), but in the end, he not only got to scare the living piss out of his adversarial bully-jock, he slammed dude’s hot blonde girlfriend before realizing his true match was, all along, the girl right down the street in Boof. Sly like a motherf*cking Fox!

#10. SYBIL DANNING (THE HOWLING II: YOUR SISTER’S A WEREWOLF)

Terrible movie, yes, but there’s no way in flame-roasted hell we’d omit the buxom Austrian goddess Sybil Danning from this here celebratory punch. Chick is too damn fine! So yes, all bow to the mighty Stirba…sexy werewolf queen extraordinaire! What I love so much about this unabashed B-level turn from Danning is how she embraces the camp and kitsch factor and just has fun with it. Not to be taken seriously, you can tell Danning is having a good time, which permeates the rest of the cast. Also, it’s a wise move to have her appear so gorgeous in human form before morphing into a sex-starved she-wolf of dastard delight.

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