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Whatever other plans you have, whatever else you're doing, y'all need to go see 'The Wolfman' right now. Seriously, like this minute. Stop reading this and go see it.
Okay. Back now? Awesome.
Because this movie is just marvelous. It is a brilliant.... I hesitate to call it remake. It's a 1930s/1940s horror movie that just happened to be made this year, that's all. It's dark and creepy and bloody and dramatic and I loved every minute of it.
I'm rather surprised, to be honest. I expected it to be fun, and gory, and a little cheesy, and instead I got drama and suspense and emotion and, yes, a decent amount of gore, but not enough to impair my enjoyment. And the things I loved about it aren't the things I usually love in movies. It's not complex in a story sense, there's no real B plot, it doesn't pass the Bechdel test, but the setting is gorgeous, the atmosphere is perfect, and the acting..... ooohhhhhh, the acting carries it from good to transcendent.
Two of the three male leads are actors that I was already inordinately fond of, and this movie has made me adore Benicio Del Toro as well. His emotional acting and body language are, in large part, what keeps everything from descending into a hideous cheese-fest - it takes a powerful actor to keep the classic arms-spread, chest-out, howling-at-the-moon pose from looking overblown and corny, but he manages it. Hugo Weaving was just icing on the Awesome Cake.
The reviews of this movie don't do it justice, I think because it's not a typical modern horror film. The suspense is more slow-build than jump-out-and-scream, the tension between characters is more subtle, even the makeup is more classic - it's traditional Wolfman, just smoothed over and polished, not edgy super special effects.
And it's great. And I love love love it. I'm still wiggling my toes with delight and shivering at how mind-blowingly cool the whole thing was.
Seriously. Go see it.
Okay. Back now? Awesome.
Because this movie is just marvelous. It is a brilliant.... I hesitate to call it remake. It's a 1930s/1940s horror movie that just happened to be made this year, that's all. It's dark and creepy and bloody and dramatic and I loved every minute of it.
I'm rather surprised, to be honest. I expected it to be fun, and gory, and a little cheesy, and instead I got drama and suspense and emotion and, yes, a decent amount of gore, but not enough to impair my enjoyment. And the things I loved about it aren't the things I usually love in movies. It's not complex in a story sense, there's no real B plot, it doesn't pass the Bechdel test, but the setting is gorgeous, the atmosphere is perfect, and the acting..... ooohhhhhh, the acting carries it from good to transcendent.
Two of the three male leads are actors that I was already inordinately fond of, and this movie has made me adore Benicio Del Toro as well. His emotional acting and body language are, in large part, what keeps everything from descending into a hideous cheese-fest - it takes a powerful actor to keep the classic arms-spread, chest-out, howling-at-the-moon pose from looking overblown and corny, but he manages it. Hugo Weaving was just icing on the Awesome Cake.
The reviews of this movie don't do it justice, I think because it's not a typical modern horror film. The suspense is more slow-build than jump-out-and-scream, the tension between characters is more subtle, even the makeup is more classic - it's traditional Wolfman, just smoothed over and polished, not edgy super special effects.
And it's great. And I love love love it. I'm still wiggling my toes with delight and shivering at how mind-blowingly cool the whole thing was.
Seriously. Go see it.
