The light of the full moon presents lethal danger in Wolf Man, and the only way to make it out of the forest alive is to survive the night.

This film is a retelling of the 1941 Universal monster film The Wolf Man. Beyond some surface-level comparisons to its predecessor, this reimagining directed by Saw and Insidious alumni, Leigh Whannel tells an original story of family drama and lupine legends.

The film begins with Blake Lovell (Christopher Abbot) receiving a death certificate in the mail for his father who went missing years prior. While a body was never discovered, this closure inspires him to move from the sunny streets of San Diego to his childhood home in the shadowy forests of Oregon for the summer alongside his wife Charlotte Lovell (Julia Garner) and their daughter Ginger Lovell (Matilda Firth). The stresses of life have strained his relationship with his family, and Blake fears following in the bitter and mean footsteps of his father. The trip is an opportunity to reconnect with his family, but under the light of a full moon, an unseen creature attacks Blake. After barricading themselves inside their home, the family realizes the danger may be locked inside alongside them.

Abbot gives a standout performance as a man rapidly losing his mind and body to a sickness he doesn’t understand. His hearing becomes garbled and he speaks in growled gibberish that makes communication fruitless as he becomes more and more bedridden. The theme of becoming more like his father due to this nightmare scenario isn’t subtle, but it serves its purpose as a throughline for the film’s plot.

Body horror comes with the territory of werewolf cinema, and Wolf Man exceeds its gruesome expectations. Fingernails and teeth break from flesh with ease leading to some truly cringe-worthy visuals as hair sheds and man becomes beast. A less confident film would confine the werewolf to obscured background shots, but this film takes pride in its prosthetics department and puts their accomplishment on full display.

Sound design furthers the effect of the horrific visuals. Wet gasping gurgles from the monster evoke a sense of desperation and fear. They don’t sound human because they’re not: they’re animalistic. Even when the monster isn’t on screen its presence is felt; and heard.

Despite much of the film being steeped in darkness, Wolf Man still showcases a vibrant moonlight color palette of blues, yellows and reds. These colors juxtapose the darkness with fleeting moments of safety to create a visually compelling film. When these colors aren’t on display, the darkness can often be too overbearing, making it challenging to tell what is happening on screen.

Static shots make up the bulk of cinematography until the action starts, where the style shifts to frenetic movements that add to the frantic panic the family endures. Chases feel like exactly that; horrific life-or-death gambits to reach safety, with the camera rushing to follow. There’s a particularly creative shot to showcase the sense of vertigo Blake feels where the camera slowly starts to turn on its side as he loses his grip on reality.

The film was originally announced in 2014 when Universal Studios planned for this creature feature to be a part of a shared cinematic universe of adapted classic horror films known as the Dark Universe, which would include movies such as The Invisible Man (2020) and The Mummy (2017) but the idea was scrapped before it could begin in favor for standalone films after the critical failure of The Mummy (2017), which was meant to begin the connection.

The attention to small details in this film leads to a visually compelling experience, but one lacking in depth with pacing issues in the first and third acts. Some chase scenes and moments of melodrama linger a bit too long, and the film ends abruptly, leaving viewers with a bafflingly strange message to leave the theater with.

Wolf Man isn’t a must-watch, but it’s a fun popcorn movie with some compelling ideas even if they don’t quite stick the landing. Viewers won’t leave theaters transformed by this film, but it makes for a solid weekend watch.