The Wolfman

2010
R
1h 43m

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

114K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer0:16

Dark Fantasy Werewolf Horror Drama Fantasy Horror Thriller

Upon his return to his ancestral homeland, an American man is bitten and subsequently cursed by a werewolf.Upon his return to his ancestral homeland, an American man is bitten and subsequently cursed by a werewolf.Upon his return to his ancestral homeland, an American man is bitten and subsequently cursed by a werewolf.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

114K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

4,609

242

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 4 wins & 8 nominations total

Videos12

Trailer 0:16

The Wolfman: Official Super Bowl Spot

Trailer 1:35

The Wolfman: Trailer #2

Trailer 1:35

The Wolfman: Trailer #2

Trailer 2:35

The Wolfman: Trailer #1

Clip 0:46

The Wolfman: Aberline Pursues The Wolfman Through The Streets Of London

Clip 0:44

The Wolfman: Sir John Defends Lawrence From A Mob At Talbot Manor

Clip 0:55

The Wolfman: Gwen Consults The Gypsy About The Curse

Photos222

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The bear owned by the gypsies was actually recycled animation from The Golden Compass (2007). The Polar Bear was changed into a Grizzly for this movie.

Goofs
Gwen regrets getting Lawrence involved, saying that if she had never sent him that letter, he would still be in New York. She sent Lawrence a letter when Ben went missing in the theatrical version, but in the extended cut she went to tell him in person instead. Yet the "letter" line is retained in both versions even though it doesn't make sense in the latter.

Quotes
[first lines]
Maleva: [voiceover] Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms, and the autumn moon is bright.

Crazy credits
In the Director's Cut, the Universal logo at the start is a CGI recreation of the one from the 1940s, as a homage to the time when the original "Wolfman" was made.

Alternate versions
The Unrated Director's Cut includes additional scenes not seen in the theatrical release:
The Universal logo at the beginning of the film is the 1940's logo used in the original "The Wolfman"
Ben Talbot's death is slightly longer.
An entirely new sequence showing Lawrence Talbot performing in a London play. Gwen Conliffe visits him in his dressing room post-show and interrupts a party to inform him that his brother Ben has gone missing. Lawrence dismisses her by saying that he cannot help as he is contracted to do 30 performances and is leaving for the States in the morning. This sequence creates an anachronism/goof later in the film as instead of mentioning her visiting him in London, Lawrence continuously references a letter that Gwen sent him which brings him to Blackmoor (as seen in the theatrical version).
As Lawrence travels by train to Blackmoor, there is a scene with an uncredited Max Von Sydow as an old man who gives Lawrence his silver wolf-head cane as protection (the cane that Sir John Talbot wields at the end of the film).
The tavern scene is slightly longer. After MacQueen's "melted down me mum's silverware" story, the villagers scoff at the notion of the killer being a werewolf, and blame the Talbots' misfortune on their dealings with the gypsies. One of the villagers calls Lawrence's late mother a "crazy gypsy whore", and Lawrence angrily confronts him and throws a drink in his face. After Lawrence is kicked out of the tavern, the villagers realize his identity.
When the posse fires into the hole after MacQueen's arm is ripped off, a rifle slug nails MacQueen in the chest, killing him. Additionally, there are a number of deleted and extended scenes:
After his attack, Lawrence has a short conversation with Gwen where she blames herself for the tragedy that has befallen the Talbots. Lawrence looks out the window and sees the posse that has come to round him up and tells Gwen to get his father while he goes outside to talk to them (the "you bear the mark of the beast" scene)
Lawrence's conversation with Singh is slightly longer. After Lawrence asks him why he never left Blackmoor, Singh explains that Sir John saved his life many years ago and that as a result he vowed to stay by his side.
The mausoleum transformation scene is slightly longer.
The London chase scene is longer. The Wolfman walks into a costume party / opera performance and is mistaken for a costumed patron. He attacks one of the patrons but is chased off by Aberline and his men.
Additionally, the Wolfman crashes a puppet theater performance in a park and kills the puppeteer. Aberline chases him out of the park and into the path of a steam engine (as seen in the theatrical version).
The final fight is slightly longer and sequenced differently than the theatrical version.

Connections
Edited from The Golden Compass (2007)

User reviews551

Review

Featured review

7/10

Good Fun, Polished Look

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

A remake of this sort is caught in a no-win trap. If it tries to reinvent the story entirely, it will make some fans upset for deserting the source material. But, on the other hand, coming too close to the original will have people saying there is no way to top the original (which may be true).

Benicio del Toro was the obvious choice for the wolf man, and he plays the part well. The cinematography and atmosphere are gorgeous, and the Elfman music is appreciated (and much more subdued than many of his scores). Rick Baker won another Oscar for his makeup here, and who can argue with that?

The reviews tended to be negative. Roger Ebert, no fan of horror, gave a lukewarm review of 2.5 stars, but then had to find a flaw regardless of any praise he had: "The film has one flaw, and faithful readers will not be surprised to find it involves the CGI special effects. No doubt there are whole scenes done so well in CGI that I didn't even spot them, but when the werewolf bounds through the forest, he does so with too much speed. He would be more convincing if he moved like a creature of considerable weight."

Granted, he is spot on. When you have Baker on your crew, there is no need for CGI (or at least not very much of it). There is no shame in using it when it honestly helps, but when it stands out like a sore thumb, maybe it is time to do a few reshoots.