Halloween 2025: September 28th

 

The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025)
 

When it was announced that Lionsgate was rebooting Bryan Bertino's generally well-liked 2008 home invasion thriller, “The Strangers,” that was standard entertainment news. These days, some old movie or property gets a relaunch announced about every week. When it was revealed that Lionsgate was planning a whole trilogy based off this mildly popular movie from sixteen years ago, it seemed like putting the horse before the cart but that's also hardly unprecedented in Hollywood. Except all three films were already written and would be shot back-to-back. A risky proposition, as the first might flop, sticking the studio with two sequels there's no demand for. Especially since these movies were being directed by Renny Harlin, whose days as a blockbuster hit-maker have long, long since passed. Well, “The Strangers: Chapter 1” made 48 million against an 8 million dollar budget, giving Lionsgate the confidence to release “Chapter 2” in theaters this September. Despite most people having hated the previous one. I thought “Chapter 1” wasn't totally without its merits and so I foolishly give this second part of the trilogy a look. 

And so we return to the small town of Venus, Oregon, where Maya and her husband had their AirBNB invaded by a trio of masked murders. Having survived the night of torment, the battered and injured Maya awakens in the nearest hospital. She is questioned by the local sheriff, who strikes her as suspicious. That night, she hears screams from the hallway outside her hospital room. The Strangers have followed her and are determined to finish the job they started. Despite having stitches in her gut from a prior stab wound, Maya is chased all around the hospital and the surrounding area. She takes shelter in the woods, the ceaseless pursuit by the three maniacs on-going. Maya becomes increasingly convinced that the entire town is in on these murders, which seem to have gone back years ago. 

Every slasher movie fan will recognize that portion of the film, when most of the warm bodies have been cleaved through. When it is only the killer and the final girl left, a long fight for survival erupting between the seemingly unstoppable murderer and the one young woman that has escaped their wrath thus far. Ya know, the part of “Halloween” when Laurie Strode is in the house by herself with Michael Myers. “The Strangers: Chapter 2” essentially attempts to build an entire movie around this portion of the slasher formula. The Strangers are stalking and chasing Maya and they won't stop until they've caught her. It's not the worst idea for a movie. The first act of “Chapter 2” recalls “Halloween II” with its hospital setting. Sequences in which the girl hides inside a morgue storage locker or behind big metal jugs in the basement aren't half-bad. While watching these moments, I found myself wondering if perhaps this might actually work. 

That otherwise quite good scene of Maya in the cold storage locker, the lead Stranger lurking inches away from her face, is cut short when an orderly sticks his head in and subsequently gets axed. This, unfortunately, sets up a pattern that nearly the entire movie then follows. Maya will be chased by the killers to a new location: A random horse ranch, a derelict car sitting in the middle of the forest, the AirBNB from the previous movie, an apartment where her nurse and three roommates are living. A person or a few will appear to help her. They will reveal a tiny tidbit of information about the bigger picture here before the Strangers appear again, murdering them and starting the cycle again. By the third time “Chapter 2” is repeating this cycle, when a detective is introduced only to be unceremoniously offed in the very next scene, this blatant repetition has become unintentionally funny. By the fourth time it happens, it has become tedious. The sequel feels the need to throw multiple vehicular chases between these identical set-ups and pay-offs.  

“Chapter 2” essentially repeating the same scenes over and over again until it reaches a feature length run time is not the only sign that this entire trilogy enterprise might have been a misguided affair. Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland's script often feels like an obnoxiously drawn-out tease for something more interesting. A random old woman or that aforementioned detective promise to reveal the truth before being silenced. The sequel constantly toys with the possibility that the quartet of shifty weirdos that help Maya out are connected to the murderers. These are narrative red herrings, cut short so the film can have the heroine run and hide and sometimes fight-off the unflappable villains again. It reminds me of all those shitty streaming series. Ya know, the ones that are six or eight hours long but truthfully only had enough real story for two hours, necessitating extensive padding and repeated hints that the plot might genuinely move forward at some point. The script's desperate attempts to stretch this premise out eventually lurches towards unintentional comedy. Would you believe me if I said this sequel to the reboot/remake of “The Strangers” features in the middle of the runtime, for no particular reason, an extended sequence where someone is attacked by a feral hog? It's true and it's stupid and it's also, perhaps not coincidentally, the only time this movie truly reaches any degree of schlocky amusement. 

Since watching “The Strangers: Chapter 2,” I can't decide if this out-of-the-blue homage to “Hogzilla” is made more or less silly by the subsequent reveal that it's also part of the masked killers' master plan. Part of what made Bertino's “The Strangers” effective was that we knew nothing about the titular menace. They struck without explanation, their motives unknowable and their justification totally random. That spooky bit of ambiguity clearly won't do in our era of fan wiki lore dumps and explainer videos. Since some jack-ass exec decided this story had to be three movies, “Chapter 2” can't actually tell us much about the Secret Origins of the Strangers. The brief glimpses we get are not compelling. Some sort of devil-kid little sociopath pact or whatever, with shades of Mormonism, that isn't as creepy as the briefest suggestion of a Manson-like cult from the original. Truly, did even the biggest fan of “The Strangers” actually care about how Tamara is? Or what the greater significance behind Pin-Up Girl's choice in mask? Explaining what these three want and where they come is obviously antithetical to what makes them scary but I guess we shouldn't expect subtle from a lame-brain attempt at brand extension like this. Harlin's trilogy has clearly failed in intriguing us about the story behind the Strangers. When a mask comes off in the final scene, it plays as if this is a shocking revelation. Instead, I found myself asking “who the hell is that?” before vaguely connecting it with a background player in an earlier scene. 

My earlier comparison of these newer “Strangers” to a half-assed streaming show is apt. The movie ends with an on-screen “To Be Continued” ellipses and a preview of the next film, truly following in the footsteps of bad television. What we can expect next time, promises to finally answer how the town's history and Richard Brake as the creepy sheriff tie into all of this, are not exactly promising. “The Strangers: Chapter 2” isn't the most wretched motion picture I've seen this fall. Madelaine Petsch has about twelve lines of dialogue in the entire movie. Instead, she gives a mostly physical performance, her final girl on the run nearly the whole time and taking an improbable amount of punishment. That's kind of interesting. (Though a gratuitous shot of Petsch in her underwear suggest she probably wasn't cast for her acting.) The stalking through the hospital and horse stables aren't bad, before we understand that the sequel has no further tricks up its sleeve. I didn't despise it but it's surely not good. Also not good has been the box office so far, suggesting “The Strangers: Chapter 3” might wind up going straight-to-Tubi. But I guess I'm on the hook for that piece of shit, since I've watched the other two already. They should include a few more feral hog attacks in that one. [5/10]

 

Nazareno Cruz and the Wolf (1975)
Nazareno Cruz y el lobo, las palomas y los gritos

Back in the days before birth control, when infant morality was high and large families were often necessary to operate farms, having seven or more kids was not so uncommon. Nor was the possibility of that seventh son begetting seven sons himself. Where exactly the idea that such an individual was blessed or cursed in some way began, we can't say. The belief likely has its roots in Mesopotamia, where seven was a sacred number, which was reflected in Christian concepts like the seven deadly sins. Whatever the origins, the superstition has spread throughout many different cultures and taken many forms. In England and Ireland, the seventh son of a seventh son was said to be healers or to have psychic visions. Italian folklore speaks of a seventh son able to ward off snakes. Not every example was so lucky. Seventh sons were also often said to be cursed, to become vampires or werewolves. The latter idea would inspire Argentinian director Leonardo Favio to create “Nazareno Cruz and the Wolf.” The film would become very successful in its home country, the most popular locally made film in Argentinian history by some measurements.

The heavily pregnant Fidelia prepares for the birth of her seventh child. Her husband and her six previous sons set out to tend to the herd in a thunderstorm. The subsequent flood results in each of them drowning. The local lechiguana warns her that, should the child be a son, he will be cursed to become a werewolf. Fidelia does have a son, whom she names Nazareno Cruz. Despite the hardships of being raised by a single mother and told his whole life that he's cursed, Nazareno grows up to be a boisterous, kind man that is loved by all who meet him. While at a bonfire party one night, he meets the beautiful maiden Griselda. The two immediately fall in love. Afterwards, Nazareno is approached by a mysterious stranger. The man informs him that the curse Cruz has heard about his whole life is real. Now that he's fallen in love, he will become a wolf at the next full moon. The stranger says the curse can be avoided, and he'll receive treasures untold, if Nazareno gives up his love for Griselda. Recognizing the traveler as the devil himself, he refuses the offer. And as the moon rises in the night sky the next night, Nazareno Cruz becomes a bloodthirsty beast.

"Nazareno Cruz y el lobo" is introduced in voice-over by one of the supporting characters, as a story that happened to a friend of his. This presents the film's story as exactly what it is meant to be, a legend told via word-of-mouth and spread down through the generations as oral tradition. The film is obviously informed by concepts from local folklore. The premise of the cursed seventh son of a seventh son, an old witch who speaks of both God and the devil, Satan himself appearing with an impossible trade: All of these are archetypal ideas, older than any one tale itself. Fittingly, the characters and narrative turns in "Nazareno Cruz" are mythic in their broadness. Nazareno is a joyful man, always singing and dancing, a jolly young man accepted anywhere. The old witch, played by a toothless and sunken-eyed Nora Cullen, is the perfect mental image of an old but wise crone. Griselda is an utterly pure maiden, angelic in her beauty and grace. When the two make love, it is depicted as a frolic among the fields and by a waterfall, the young lovers free of sin in their devotion to each other. 

In accordance with this, "Nazareno Cruz and the Wolf" is told as a fairy tale with an operatic emotional range. There are a lot of shouted lines of dialogue or sustained moments of laughing or yelling. When Nazareno first meets Griselda, it results in several minutes of the camera gazing at her while the sweeping romantic theme from Juan José García Caffi and Jorge Candia plays. That cascading choir piece of music plays repeatedly, alongside the score's other oversized leitmotifs. The characters will often repeat their dialogue, as if they are also reoccurring melodies within a song that establishes their simple roles in the story. When Nazareno decides he could never give up his lady love, it results in a long sequence of the two messily kissing in the waves. This kind of bigger-than-life execution can be a bit hard to enjoy but, once you get on its wave-length, it's interesting. 

Like many operas, “Nazareno Cruz and the Wolf” is also a tragedy. From before he was born, the title character was told he was cursed. Despite doing everything in his life to prove these accusations wrong, being the best version of himself he can be, Nazareno is still destined to become a wolf. In comparison to the overwrought emotion of every other scene of the film, the sequence devoted to the wolf stalking a herder is unusually quiet and unsettling. The suggestion seems to be twofold. First off, that any man – no matter how well-liked or virtuous he might be – is still capable of evil acts. After this murder occurs, Griselda reassures her father that her lover is a good man. However, everyone else has already decided from his first breath that he was destined to be this monster. “Nazareno Cruz” could be a rumination on how we are all victims of fate. It could also be read as a story about how what we call “fate” is more the machinations of the society we live in. 

To call “Nazareno Cruz y el lobo” a riff on classical folk lores is an accurate statement. The script – written by Favio and Jorge Zuhair Jury, based on a radio program by Juan Carlos Chiappe – actually seems to hearken back to pre-Christian indigenous mythology in Argentina. This is noticeable in how the old witch is called the Lechiguana, a word taken from the Mapudungun language. Unless most depictions of those who converse with spirits or know of the occult, this witch is not an evil figure. She is a neutral one. She refers to God and the devil in a similar way, saying either can bring bad luck depending on the weather. This holds through with the film's depiction of the devil. He tempts Cruz with gold and asks him to give up his earthly love. At the same time, we later see this same figure – who goes so far as to admit he's the devil – as a benevolent leader of an underground system of other magical beings. This devil is an ultimately sympathetic figure, attempting to take the protagonist out of a world that will never accept him fully. 

If you are like me and are fascinated by all the permutations folklore has taken around the world, “Nazareno Cruz” will probably be to your liking too. The operatic approach to the story is likely to rub some people the wrong way. You might get annoyed hearing the same lines of dialogue repeated or find the music overbearing. However, I was quickly caught up in this one. Juan Jose Stagnaro's cinematography is strong, often providing a smooth sense of movement to many scenes. The performances are all strong. That this story resonated so much with Argentinians in 1975 surely says something about the culture that I, as am outsider, is unable to see. Despite its standing in its home country, the film has been obscure in America. At least it can now be watched with a decent transfer and strong subtitles, thanks once again to the folk horror archivists at Severin. It's well worth seeking out. [7/10]
 

The Twilight Zone (1985): Examination Day

When it first started airing, the 1985 revival of “The Twilight Zone” would feature multiple stories in each episode. Rather than evenly split each hour between two twenty minute narratives, the length of the segments would vary. Some episodes would squeeze in as many as three stories.  This presentation wold eventually be dropped and it's not too hard to see why. When squeezing in multiple scenarios of uneven length, it meant one segment was bound to overshadow the others. This is the case with the sixth episode. Most of the hour is taken up by “A Message from Charity,” a cute but distinctly not macabre tale of telepathic romance between a teenage boy in the eighties and a puritan girl in the 1700s. But nobody remembers that one. Instead, the ten minute short that precedes it, “Examination Day,” made a much stronger impression on audiences. Not long ago at all, I saw a TikTok going on about how shocking its twist ending remains. 

Like “The Obsolete Man” and a few classic “Zone” episodes before it, “Examination Day” takes place in some weird sci-fi future. In this setting, everyone in the country is forced to undertake an intelligence exam when they turn twelve years old. Little Dickie Jordan, a bright and enthusiastic boy, is hoping to do well on the test. His parents, Richard and Ruth, are much more hesitant. Something as them worried. The day after his birthday, Dickie is taken to a government facility and given a truth serum, to make sure he doesn't tell any lies on the test. To say what happens next would take most of the punch out of this one but it's hard to discuss the episode much otherwise. So, look away now if you don't want a forty year old TV show spoiled for you: Dickie's parents are informed that their son scored too high on the intelligence test and, in accordance with government laws to keep the public servile and content, the boy has been executed. 

The sci-fi setting of “Examination Day” seems hopelessly dated to modern eyes. The gift Dickie receives for his birthday, that has him so excited, is a small television that he can talk to his friends on. In addition to that rather analog form of communication, the silver jumpsuits everyone wears and shiny, glowing buildings surely seemed like an example of retro-futurism even in 1985. The same could be said of the golly-gee-aw-shucks attitude of the little boy and that his name is Dickie. Despite these flaws, “Examination Day” does have a timeless message. Namely, that those in power will always frown upon anyone who asks questions. We haven't had a government that regulates IQ yet – give the current administration another year – but it hardly seems like that far of a leap. The death of a kid, especially one as adorably precocious as this one, is still a shocking incident. The way this announcement is coldly delivered to the parents makes the ruthless efficiency of this slaughtering system all the more brutal. “Examination Day” may not be much more than its twist but it is an effective twist. [7/10]

The Addams Family: The Addams Policy

Here's an episode of “The Addams Family” that builds its plot around some of the show's memorably bizarre props. “The Addams Policy” starts with the family playing with their latest acquisition: A hand-held flamethrower. While attempting to light Gomez' cigar, Uncle Fester accidentally sets the stuffed polar bear in the living room ablaze. Distraught, Morticia immediately seeks out their insurance agent. That turns out to be Mr. Digby, last seen living next door and now in the employ of old Mr. Henson. Digby is natural confused and frightened by the Addams' antics. Henson is so enraged by his employee agreeing to insure the eccentric Addams that he immediately fires him. Gomez and Morticia's solution is to simply open up their own insurance office, with Digby's name on the door. Naturally, the family has an equally quirky reaction to such a mercenary business.

As I've drawn closer to the conclusion of season two, how formulaic “The Addams Family” could be has become more apparent. I'm not talking about the reliance on running gags or guest stars getting freaked out. Those have always been a part of the show. Instead, a lot of season two episodes seem to be revolving around the set-up of sticking the family into an otherwise routine job or premise. We had “What if the Addams ran a school?” not that long ago and “What if Morticia was a decorator?” before that. This episode is “What if the Addams ran an insurance company?” It leads to the expected bits, of the family insuring only the most uninsurable rejects or Fester dressing up and playing doctor with a disguised Mr. Henson. I'm not saying I didn't chuckle from time to time – Cousin Itt has an amusing cameo in this one – but the repetitive quality of these ideas are beginning to show. 

I do admire the show bringing back various supporting players, despite how interchangeable many of them can be. I mean, how many different roles and jobs has Mr. Henson had at this point? I guess he's back in the insurance game now. Similarly, Digby seems weirdly unfamiliar with the Addams family, despite having lived next door to them fairly recently. Still, the ghoulish family tormenting these stuffed shirts are still easily the best part of “The Addams Policy.” Morticia relentlessly grilling Digby over what other animal a pile of ash might have been besides a bear is a nicely extended joke. Fester repeatedly shocking the man with his electrical powers is surprisingly mean-spirited too. If there's anyone we should be breaking down with stern-eyed interrogations and electrical torture, it's probably insurance salesman. The main cast and their reliably sharp delivery of various cheesy one-liners remain entertaining, despite the show starting to feel a little uninspired in its ideas. [6/10]

Halloween 2025: September 17th

 

The Toxic Avenger (2023)

Troma Entertainment has always prided themselves on being crude, ridiculous, offensive, salacious and independent. Despite that, a Hollywood-ized version of their trademark character has been in development for thirty years. Shortly after the hyper-violent and perverse “Toxic Avengers” films were inexplicably turned into a kid-friendly cartoon and toy line, New Line Cinema bought the movie rights to “Toxic Crusaders.” In 2006, Lloyd Kaufman would publish a novel version of the story that promised a big budget remake was in development. By 2010, Steve Pink of “Hot Tub Time Machine” had signed on to direct, Arnold Schwarzenegger was in talks to play Toxie's mentor, and a PG-13 rating was promised. Both had dropped out by 2016, with DreamWorks animation director Conrad Vernon now attached. Two years later, Legendary Pictures acquired the rights with Macon Blair writing and directing. The previously sanitized adaptations were discarded, as Blair promised to make a movie that was true to Toxie's roots. He achieved this too well, it seemed. Despite starring recognizable actors, the reboot's content made distributors nervous. After two years on the festival circuit, Cineverse put the movie in thousands of theaters without an MPAA rating. This did not replicate the unrated success the company had with “Terrifer 3” last year but at least Blair and company can rest assured that they made an uncompromising re-imagining of “The Toxic Avenger.”

The city of St. Roma's Village, New Jersey is owned and run by pharmaceutical mega-corp BTH. Their drugs give customers horrible diseases. Their factories pump chemicals into the water supplies. The townsfolk live in fear of the mob, who directly work with BTH CEO, Bob Garbinger. Winston Gooze is a humble janitor for BTH, a single dad trying to raise his step-son, Wade. Winston learns that he has a terminal illness. Treatment exists but, of course, his insurance doesn't cover it. Desperate, he tries to talk to Garbinger at a company event only to be kicked out. With no other options, he dips his mop in some caustic chemicals and tries to rob his work place. He gets mixed up with a whistleblower attempting to expose the company and winds up shot in the head by BTH's personal hit squad/nu-metal band. His body is dumped into the chemical infested lake, which interacts with his tumors in a unique way. Winston is transformed into a hideously deformed monster hero of superhuman size and strength. Acts of vigilante justice make him beloved among the populace and hated by BTH. Winston must team up with the revolutionary if he hopes to expose the company, stop Garbinger's evil scheme to steal his blood, and save Wade. 

That major studios were determined for so many years to make a proper superhero epic out of "The Toxic Avenger" is especially bizarre. The Troma brand is built upon a particular aesthetic and attitude that has grown only more willfully abrasive as the years have gone on. Despite having the backing of Legendary's private equity money, Macon Blair and his team have done a shockingly good job of maintaining the maximalist Troma tone. This "Toxic Avenger" is packed with bodily dismemberment, profanity laced dialogue, freakish practical creature effects, a fatal fisting, and includes one (1) urinating mutated monster dong. The movie is intentionally cheap looking, with a lot of janky digital effects interacting with all that fake blood and rubber intestines. The script includes the kind of anti-capitalist humor Lloyd Kaufman is known for, depicting its corporate CEO as a cartoonishly corrupt, self-involved man-child who is openly in cahoots with organized crime. There are vague shout-outs to hot button topical issues like cancel culture, police brutality, nerd entitlement, and social media. More than anything else, Blair's movie is unendingly loud, self-aware, hyperactive, and obnoxious. It's never as crude as a home-grown Troma movie would be. The reboot is noticeably short on sex, nudity, violence against women, paraphilias, and slurs. However, this still looks and feels like a Troma movie with some semblance of a budget that inexplicably stars actors you've actually heard of. 

As well defined as the Troma brand is, most of the movies featuring their logo are also acquired productions made by lunatics far outside the Hollywood system. Films like “Redneck Zombies” or “Beware! Children at Play” are also packed full of bizarre digressions and weird in-jokes. The kind of dumb shit that makes the director and his friends giggle that anyone outside that social circle – the entire audience – will not understand. That would likely be removed by the creative process of a bigger production. Surprisingly, Blair's “Toxic Avenger” captures this feeling as well. The little brother of the main villain is a hunchback named Fritz, a Universal Monsters reference, that inexplicably manages an Insane Clown Posse/Slipknot-like rap/rock group. These guys are a surprisingly big part of the film, their individual band members getting defining gimmicks. Like the corpse paint wearing DJ who speaks in an indecipherable language subtitled with obscure symbols. Or the parkour dancer dressed like the Zodiac Killer. In his adventure, Toxie also meets a raving homeless man who is prone to elaborate rants or going on unrelated digressions.

It's weird and specific in a way a mainstream superhero movie assuredly is not. Did I personally find it amusing? Sometimes. Blair's script is so loaded down with screaming and swearing that it becomes overwhelming immediately. The reboot also replicates Lloyd Kaufman's nihilistic world view, in which the entire planet is a corrupt and stupid place pressing down on a handful of decent people. (Who are also ultra-violent mutants, usually.) However, there is enough pointed weirdness here that I chuckled a fair amount. A running gag that Winston's exact condition is never specified is well done. Toxie's pee having an acidic quality comes back around nicely. The comedic timing is too often off. Decent gags, like an attempted seduction going awry in all the right ways or the reveal of what's under a particular mask, feel off-balance in how they are delivered. However, I did laugh a fair number of times, so I suppose I got my money's worth.

What might keep the movie truly afloat is a cast trying awfully hard to invest this utterly manic material with some heart. Kevin Bacon, as the Peter Thiel-like villain, focuses hard on bulging out his eyes and being perpetually awful. That's the tone a lot of the supporting players go with, probably because it's what the material demanded of them. However, Peter Dinklage is utterly sincere as Winston. He's such a kind-hearted guy trying his best – if beaten down by a relentlessly cruel world – that you kind of don't buy his transformation into a blood-thirsty do-gooder. Jacob Tremblay, as the ambiguously autistic step-son, is game for the crazier elements of the script while acting like he's in a far tamer film. Weirdly, the relationship between Toxie and his kid is the heart of the film and that element works surprisingly well. It certainly works better than the subplot of Taylour Paige as the left-wing agitator seeking to expose the evil corporation. That entire element of the film is also played largely straight and never quite integrates with the rest of the story. 

What the film noticeably is not is a parody of modern superhero movies. The only time the reboot stops to comment on the formulas popularized by Marvel is in a piss-take on the entire concept of a post-credit scene. Which is also maybe the best joke in the whole movie. I can see why absolutely every big distributor looked at this film and passed on it. Not only because its content. Despite its proudly trumpeted unrated status, I only think two gags truly exists outside the boundaries of modern, R-rated gross-out comedies. No, the movie is also kind of a slapdash mess, never as funny as it wants to be or as bold as it needs to be. However, I'm still glad this motion picture exists. I laughed and smiled a good number of times throughout its runtime. If nothing else, the sheer unlikeliness of a “Toxic Avenger” movie starring actors that have been nominated for Emmys, Golden Globes, and Teen Choice Awards is a novelty that's hard to overlook. I would assuredly take this messy, off-balanced, and clearly personal take on Toxie over whatever a remake squeezed through the mainstream blockbuster meat grinder would've looked like. Better an off-kilter half-success than the face of independent adolescent punk-rock horror/comedy splatter becoming more slop for the streaming factory. [7/10]
 

Spellcaster (1988)

Recently, I had to make the extremely heartbreaking decision to cut SiriusXM from my monthly budget, deciding I can no longer justify paying for radio. This means I had to say goodbye to 1st Wave, the station devoted to “classic alternative and New Wave.” Truly, how will I get through my daily commute without hearing “Never Say Never” by Romeo Void and “Major Tom (Coming Home)” by Peter Schilling every morning? Jokes aside, I did grow fond of that station's on-air personalities during my years of being subscribed to the service. Especially recent Hollywood Walk of Fame recipient Richard Blade. Best known for his role as a DJ on influential and beloved California radio station KROQ, Mr. Blade did make a few attempts to break into other branches of the media over the years. Among his handful of mostly music-related acting credits is “Spellcaster,” a Charles Band production from 1988 that features most of the things you associate with Charles Band productions filmed in the eighties. In other words, the Halloween Horror-fest Blog-a-Thon has presented me with an unlikely chance to put a face to the accented, high-energy voice I'm now no longer hearing on a regular basis. 

Presumably because they don't have parents, orphans Jackie and Tom are working in a crappy fast food restaurant. They recently entered a contest through Rock-TV, their favorite music video centric cable station, and are elated to see they've been selected. The two are flown out to an obscure corner of Europe, to a sprawling castle owned by the mysterious Mr. Diablo. People from all over the world have been invited to participate. Video jockey Rex seems to be hosting the event, partially as an advertising effort for pop star Cassandra Castle. (Whose career is taking a downturn lately because of her alcoholism.) A check for a million dollars has been hidden somewhere in the castle. The first person that can find it, gets to keep it. However, it soon becomes apparent that something unusual is happening here. People are starting to disappear or act oddly. As the weekend goes on, Jackie and Tom are witness to bizarre monster emerging from the shadows and attacking people. It turns out that the contest is connected to Cassandra and the unseen Mr. Diablo. 

If the internet is to be believed, “Spellcaster” would begin production in 1986. That's right around the time Charles Band bought an actual fucking castle in the countryside of Rome, a 12th century structure known as Castello di Giove. This is also around the same time that Empire Pictures, his then production company, started to collapse into financial disarray. This might explain why “Spellcaster” has what can be called a loose plot. The film is largely devoted to the various characters wandering around the castle, trying to have sex with each other until some sort of monster appears to kill or attack them. The biggest problem with this set-up is that none of the characters are all that distinct. The easiest way to tell the various players in “Spellcaster” apart is by their accents. There's a French girl, an English girl obsessed with hunting, a sleazy Italian guy. The difference in voices is especially important as several of the women are varying shades of blonde, making it easy to mix them up. Aside from their nationalities, the cast members are given few other defining characteristics. You know things are bad when the token fat guy, obsessed with food, is one of the more fleshed-out participants. 

The impression that “Spellcaster” was an almost improvisational production is also supported by its creature effects. John Carl Buechler was Band's go-to monster guy during this period, supervising the creation of many slimy, wrinkly, weird creatures for motion pictures ike “Ghoulies,” “Troll,” and “TerrorVision.” Those films had some sort of unifying visions behind their monstrosities though. In “Spellcaster,” the cast members explore the castle until some sort of threat emerges from the shadows or curses them. There are plenty of cool and fun ideas here. A sequence where a large, wooden throne springs to life and devours the person sitting in it isn't bad. A suit of armor comes to life. Upon being decapitated, a flying, flesh-y worm beast pops out.  A painting depicting a horned creature embracing a maiden leaps into reality, providing the film with its most comic book-like beastie. I can enjoy all of this stuff for its ingenuity, the gooey and slightly cartoonish latex and rubber being a joy to behold in its own right. But it would've been nice if there was more rhyme or reason to the how and why of these things appearing. 

Richard Blade plays the VJ, Rex, a character that is essentially a rather sleazy horn-dog who seems most interested in getting into the pop star's pants than the contest he's supposed to be hosting. Said pop star is portrayed by Bunty Bailey, most famous for her starring role in a-ha's “Take On Me” music video. The above-the-title talent in “Spellcaster” is Adam Ant, formally of the Ants and probably the most visible of the New Romantic style in the early eighties. All of which suggests that “Spellcaster” was designed to cash-in on the popularity of MTV at the time. This forms the closest thing the movie has to an actual point. Clearly, Cassandra Castle is miserable about something. She's so dependent on booze that she licks it up off the floor at some point. Throughout the film, people are tempted by the offer of money, sex, or fame. When Jackie finally confronts Diablo in the last ten minutes – the only time Mr. Ant is actually on-screen – he is quickly revealed as a Luciferian figure of some sort. Yes, he purchases souls in exchange for the fulfillment of fantasies in the most diabolical of ways. The observation that the entertainment industry, and the music world especially, is comparable to a deal with the devil is nothing new. “Spellcaster” certainly doesn't have any fresh thoughts on the idea, the epilogue leaving the viewer unsure of how these soul-selling agreements work. It remains the sole semi-coherent premise in a movie that feels more like a bunch of unrelated ideas tossed together.

“Spellcaster” was directed by Rafal Zielinski. This was his first horror movie, as he seemed to specialize in ribald farces like the “Screwballs” trilogy or “Recruits” before this. You can still tell that titty comedies is what Zielinski had experience with. Aside from the many goofy touches in the film, an air of horniness floats over all of “Spellcaster.” Not the fun kind either. There's at least two sequences of a woman luring a man in with a sexy shower or bath before pushing him out of her bedroom, leaving him sexually frustrated. Later, one of the rejected men gets more insistent in demanding sexual services from a random female. There's also a scene where some rotting mummies yank down the top of a body double clearly bustier than the actress she's posing as. I guess we can assume the film is criticizing men who feel entitled to women's bodies. The entire movie is a bit too leering and corny to accept that. Yes, one can't help but declare this to be one of those old eighties movies that come across as rather “Rape-y” to modern eyes. 

Intended for release in 1987, “Spellcaster” got caught up in Empire's money problems. The movie would sneak out onto TV in 1989 before a VHS release followed in 1992. By which point, the extremely eighties aesthetic of the entire production must have seemed quite dated. I don't know what Adam Ant was up to by then but it certainly wasn't burning up the charts. Ant's character mostly appears as a set of hands vamping around a crystal ball, suggesting Band was only able to get the pop star for a day or two of filming. This exposes “Spellcaster” as another low-budget rip-off job. (Also apparent in the song that plays over the end credits, which definitely was not sung by Adam Ant but could be mistaken for him if you aren't paying attention.) There is a certain charm to its goofier touches and those rubbery monster effects. The film simply doesn't hold together as anything but a handful of set-pieces with a lot of padding otherwise though. Not Richard Blade's best work, in other words. [5/10]

In Search Of...: Moon Madness

Last year, I declared “In Search Of...” to be, for me personally, the most relaxing television series that could conceivably be called “horror.” Which does not mean that the show didn't tap into the same sort of hysterical paranoia and doom-saying as any of today's pseudo-scientific, quasi-documentary programs. A typical such example, identifiable as from the later seasons because of Leonard Nimoy's uneven mustache, is the episode “Moon Madness.” It sees “In Search Of...” examining the long-held belief that the full moon causes people to act in erratic ways. The episode presents Arnold L. Lieber's 1978 book “The Lunar Effect: Biological Tides and Human Emotions” as the main evidence for the scientific credibility of this often-discussed idea. Lieber presented the theory that, since the Moon's cycle can effect the planet's tide, it can also effect the level of water in our bodies. He supposedly correlated the crime statistics in his city with the new and full moons, as proof of this idea. 

For its credit, “In Search Of...” does bring on lauded astronomy professor, and founding member of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, George Abell. Abell and his extraordinary beard expose this idea as bullshit. Humans are so tiny and minute that any conceivable effect the moon's gravitational pull could have on our brain chemistry is negligible. A mosquito on the shoulder exerts more gravitational weight on us than the moon does. Despite that – as Nimoy's most famous character would say – highly logical conclusion, “Moon Madness” is still packed with alarming recounting of homicides, robberies, and general criminal acts, that the script insists rises and falls with the waning and waxing of the lunar body. These factoids are paired with footage of erratic urban activity, emergency rooms, and newspaper headlines. Any kid watching this half-hour when it was new could conceivably be tricked into believing that the moon was coming to fucking kill them.

The interviews with Mr. Lieber are supplemented by footage of him looking at very important seeming charts, computers, and case files. Still, it's obvious that wouldn't make for much of an exciting half-hour of television. That's when “In Search Of...” does what it did best and bring up a bunch of barely related but fascinating digressions. A sequence is devoted to the idea that primitive men hunted better during the full moon. That their female counterparts noticed their fertility changing on a monthly cycle, not unlike the moon's. The story of 18th century Edinburgh cabinet maker William Brodie, who was a deacon by day and a burglar by night, is brought up. Especially his claim that his unseemly behavior was caused by moon madness. Even Nimoy's narration must dismiss this idea by saying the jury was unconvinced, while bringing up the unlikely possibility that Brodie had dissociative identity disorder. We can reasonably say that Brodie did inspire Robert Louis Stevenson to write “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”  

To horror fans, that last point stems from probably the most interesting element of “Moon Madness.” Naturally, the episode must discuss the myth of the werewolf. This is paired with Nimoy lurking around a shadowy forest at night and footage of a hairy wolfman stalking the moors. As far as I can tell, that footage was shot specifically for “In Search Of...” and isn't from any movie. The episode also concludes with what I found to be its most amusing moment. That would be a digressions about Georges  Méliès' “A Trip to the Moon.” Nimoy strangely refers to the film as a cautionary tale, calling the famous shot of a face in the moon “demonic.” Really? You sure about that, Leonard? This leads to a hilarious monologue about the Apollo moon mission and how it was actually a moment of earthly peace and brotherhood, in opposition to the idea that moon causes madness. What the fuck does that have to do with anything? I mean that in as complimentary a manner as possible. I love this stupid shit. [7/10]

 

The Addams Family: Morticia & Gomez vs. Fester & Grandmama

Awkward as this one's title might be, it does point towards this being one of the few episodes of “The Addams Family” that gives all the main cast members something to do. Gomez hears that a bad storm dubbed Hurricane Zsa-Zsa is blowing in on the cost. It's the perfect romantic circumstances for him and Morticia to have a second honeymoon, retreating to the same rickety hotel they visited years prior. A problem emerges, however. Recent incidents with dynamite and wrestling alligators has caused the parents to worry Uncle Fester and Grandmama might be spoiling Wednesday and Pugsley. They seek out a governess to watch the kids while they are gone. This greatly insults the uncle and grandmother, who enact a series of petty rebellions against the rest of the family. Upon arriving at their dilapidated vacation resort, Morticia realizes that she grabbed the governess' bag instead. Upon seeing what is in Miss Thud's bag, the parents begin to doubt her abilities after all. 

“Morticia & Gomez vs. Fester & Grandmama” – that makes this sound like a legal battle themed episode – does pack in some fine sight gags. After Fester and Grandmama get insulted, they paint a line down the middle of the house, separating the home in two. “The Munsters” did this joke too. However, this does set-up some funny moments. Such as when Lurch is asked to split the newspapers between the rival factions, which quickly proves overwhelming for the butler. I'm impressed with how long that joke goes on. There's also a good, throwaway gag where Fester thumps on his chest a few times, producing different sounds. Instead of the governess being horrified by the Addams' style, she is thoroughly into it. Ms. Thudd considers it cozy and, perhaps, might actually be more harsh than the Addams. She bosses Lurch around too. There's also a nicely random bit where a suit of armor starts coughing after Gomez tosses his cigar into its helmet. 

That suit of armor appears in an earlier scene, where Thing pops out of its hatch. I previously speculated that the boxes Thing appears out of contain portals of some sort, allowing the hand creature to leap around the house. Now I'm beginning to suspect that Thing can generate these wormholes itself. Another reoccurring observation I've had about “The Addams Family” is John Astin and Carolyn Jones' very real chemistry. The way she caresses his face here seems rather intimate. There's a great bit about him mistaking her cries of concern for pleas for him to embrace her. Once again, I'm a bit surprised at how clearly sexy these two's interactions were allowed to get. Finally, this episode reveals that the Addams' home has a mot with at least one alligator in it. I don't see the mot in any of the exterior shots of the house and a later line of dialogue confirms it being in the basement. Perhaps Thing is not an eldritch entity and it's the Addams' home itself that is non-euclidean in nature? [7/10]

RECENT WATCHES: Annabella Comes Home (2019)

The blood-thirsty capitalists love the "Cinematic Universe" model pioneered by Marvel, because it ensures a steady stream of "content." A new superhero movie in theaters every six months means constant growth, ideally, and that's what the Wall Street types are all about. Horror is a genre perhaps better suited to this "keep churning 'em out" method, since it thrives on low stakes and lower budgets. That's certainly a factor in why the "Conjuring" universe has been one of the few successful attempts to emulate the Marvel method. However, a non-stop release schedule produces other problems, beyond simply exhausting creatives and viewers. When the head director and producer of your venture has been roped into another cinematic universe, one that necessitates far lengthier production cycles, it can interrupt your tidy calendar. In brief: James Wan had made a commitment to "Aquaman," which meant "The Conjuring 3" was going to have to wait a minute. However, the series presented its own solution. It all circles back to the Warrens after all, right? Why not simply stick them in the next "Annabelle" movie? This was surely the logic behind "Annabelle Comes Home," which is as much "The Conjuring 2.5" as it is the third entry in the demonic doll spin-off series. The sequel would see Gary Dauberman graduating from writing "Annabelle" movies to directing them too.  

Beginning the night Ed and Lorraine Warren added little Annabelle to their museum of cursed artifacts, the spiritualists quickly deduce that the doll is an especially dangerous item. The focus then shifts to Judy, the couple's young daughter, who is beginning to share her mother's medium abilities. Mary Ellen is the family's reliable babysitter and she only knows about the Warrens' creepy occupation via reputation. Her friend Daniela, who blamed herself for the recent death of her father, knows a lot about the ghost hunters. While Mary Ellen is over to watch Judy for a night, Daniela invites herself in. She sneaks into the museum of haunted objects and, unaware of the doll's power, takes Annabelle out of her case. This starts a chain reaction of terror, the spirit attracting attributes of the doll drawing a whole horde of malevolent entities to the home. The three girls – plus Bob, Mary Ellen's dorky crush who has come over in an attempt to impress the girl – will have to return Annabelle back to her case if they hope to survive the night. 

Each entry in "The Conjuring" universe has acted as a homage to a genre classic. The original was "The Amityville Horror," the sequel was "The Exorcist." The first two "Annabelles" did "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Innocents," while "The Nun" riffed on Bava and Fulci. "Annabelle Comes Home" is set right around Halloween, orange decorations up at the school and pumpkins lining the grocery store. These autumnal vibes pair with a story about a teenage babysitter protecting herself and her ward from evil. There's a more adventurous friend, a bedwetting bully, and a love interest named Bob. In other words, John Carpenter's "Halloween" was the obvious inspiration here. Unlike most callbacks to the ur-slasher, Gary Dauberman and his team do a surprisingly good job of capturing the feel of Carpenter's film. The fashion, soundtrack, production design, and the hum of an old CRT television – showing period accurate programs like "The Dating Game" and "Circle of Fear" – heavily invoke the seventies setting. "Annabelle Comes Home" also captures the pace of a seventies flick. The first act is laid-back, devoted to establishing our heroines and capturing a normal, daily routine. The beginning of the sequel is basically a hang-out movie, with few outwardly sinister events that relish a chance to be around these guys.

Shocking me further, "Annabelle Comes Home" also revolves around a genuinely likable ensemble. Replacing Sterling Jerins as Judy Warren is McKenna Grace, one of those child actresses cursed with the kind of soulful eyes that imply wisdom beyond her years. This suits Judy's growing paranormal abilities, suggesting that the girl is already very familiar with otherworldly terror. At the same time, Grace plays Judy as still a shy, vulnerable little kid, exactly the kind of heroine we root for in a horror movie. Madison Iseman has a relaxed, girl-next-door charm as Mary Ellen, which compliments Katie Sarife making Daniela the bolder, more mischievous best friend. Despite Judy seeing ghosts and Daniela's dead dad, the characters are refreshingly unburdened by backstory. If anything, they are simply really likable. Judy is bullied and quiet, always relatable qualities. Mary Ellen and Daniela do nice things for her out of the kindness of their heart, like bake her a birthday cake. Even dorky Bob, with his humiliating nickname and gawky body language, comes across as a good-natured, everyday guy. His attempts to woo Mary ideally walk the line between actually cute and suitably awkward without stepping over into being off-putting. The group is distinct and I enjoyed spending time with them, which are not always guaranteed in a horror movie. 

That "Annabelle Comes Home" has such an enjoyable cast and pleasant tone is important as, on paper, this is as cynical as a franchise extension gets. By setting the whole movie around the Warrens' collection of relics, this essentially becomes a pitch reel for every spin-off idea the series' creators could think up. Most of the demonic spirits introduced come with catchy nicknames and a gimmicky curse, as set up in the Warrens' literal case files. A white wedding dress brings with it the spirit of a murderous bride. There's the Ferryman, a demonic entity who places coins over the eyes of its intended victims. The Black Shuck shows up as a spectral werewolf. Haunted objects that lack catchy nicknames include a TV that predicts future events, a samurai armor followed by murderous voices, a Feeley Meeley board game with a mind of its own, and a chattering toy monkey. (Likely inspired by the Stephen King story that Wan recently produced an adaptation of.) Annabelle herself has to be squeezed in there too, the demonic doll forced into a co-star role in her own sequel. This leads to an episodic story structure, as each guest ghost gets a set piece devoted entirely to them. The result plays almost like a "Conjuring"-themed anthology film, a collection of loosely connected episodes with exploitable premises of their own. 

What could have been a purely mercenary series of teasers for future movies ends up being a lot more fun than that. First off, throwing all these entities together makes this a monster mash, which I can always enjoy. Secondly, Dauberman shows some skill at creating ambiance and mood. Rather than the shock-a-minute style favored by Michael Chaves, Dauberman takes his time setting up each scare. When the jump comes, they are inevitably very loud. However, "Annabelle Comes Home" focusing as much on a shadowy, dusty ambiance as the shrieks create more of a fun house atmosphere. This is the fun kind of boo-show, rather than a tedious one. There are screaming spectres and people being dragged across the floor by unseen forces but only after the care has been taking to build up to it. Michael Burgess throws in some first person POV shots whenever that ghost werewolf is around, furthering the feeling that this is a light-hearted spook-a-blast as much as it is a collection of formulaic loud scares. A sequence where Judy spots the Bride during the day time, that she attempts to ignore at first, successfully brings the kind of childhood fears to mind that has been seriously lacking in "The Conjuring" for a while.

That almost all of "Annabelle Comes Home" is set in and around the Warrens' home creates a creative conservation of location that also helps build up the thrills a bit. Much like David F. Sandberg did with "Annabelle: Creation," the script makes sure to set up as many gags as possible in the first half. Mary Ellen having asthma or Judy having a slow rotating color lamp in her bedroom are definitely going to be important later, which only further sets up the sense of tension later. Being shown how a board game is played or a bell being introduced is an example of how tight the screenplay is, every scene preparing us for a later moment. It's a bit like Hitchcock's old saying about the bomb under the table. We are waiting for these elements to come back around. The movie rewards us for paying attention earlier. The aforementioned gag involving the lamp is probably the first time Annabelle herself has actually been spooky since her first appearance.

I'll admit, I first saw "Annabelle Comes Home" during a time in my life when I had a lot of free time and saw pretty much every horror movie that came out, no matter how mediocre it looked. Based on the lackluster quality of the original "Annabelle" – I hadn't caught up with "Creation" yet – I went into this one with rock bottom expectations. I came away liking it so much more than expected, finding it to be a genuinely fun and sweet horror show. I wondered if simply figuring the movie would suck made me overrate it a bit. However, this rewatch of "Annabelle Comes Home" proves it's actually a decently executed horror movie. Its batch of lovable, misfit characters and cleverly engineered seventies setting works for me so well that I'll go ahead and say it: This is the best, or at least my personal favorite, entry in the entire "Conjuring" franchise. Naturally, this means it was one of the lower grossing installments – though still generated a staggering profit margin – and no future films have come along to pick up on any of the plot points it introduced. Which is a bummer, because I really wanted to know what the story is behind that ghost werewolf. [7/10]

Director Report Card: Leigh Whannell (2025)

4. Wolf Man

After the success of Whannell's "Invisible Man," Universal would announce a whole slate of new films based around their classic monster movies. In the five years since then, only a few of these have made it in front of audiences and none have been especially successful at the box office. One of those proposed projects was a new remake of "The Wolf Man," to be written and directed by the guy who started this new wave of remakes, Leigh Whannell. Scheduling conflicts intervened. Ryan Gosling, of all people, pitched his own idea to Universal and invited along his "Blue Valentine" director, Derek Cianfrance. While a big star like Gosling and an acclaimed filmmaker like Cianfrance surely had an interesting take on the material, this version also fell through. With a new theme park to promote, Universal quickly sought Leigh Whannell back out. I guess his "Wolf Man" was always destined to be the next one. It's the first big horror release of 2025 and, for old monster-heads like myself, a source of major curiosity. 

Blake grew up in the isolated Oregon woods with his survivalist father. While on a hunting trip, the two had a frightening encounter with something inhuman. Thirty years later, Blake is living in the city with his journalist wife, Charlotte, and their precocious daughter, Ginger. He receives a letter informing him that his dad, missing for some time, has been declared dead. Hoping a trip to the country will ease some tension in the marriage, the three head out for Oregon to clean out the property. While driving to the house, Blake swerves off the road to avoid a man-like figure. The family barely escapes being attacked by the creature after fleeing the crash site. Holed up in Blake's childhood home, the three spend the night in fear of what's outside... But what's inside is just as dangerous, as Blake is slowly undergoing a similar transformation, becoming a monster out of legend. 

I suspect that, when tasked to write a new take on "The Wolf Man," Whannell and his co-writer – his wife, Corbett Tuck – searched for a fresh take on the werewolf concept. Most lycanthropy stories go the supernatural route, following in the footsteps of the rules mostly created by Curt Siodmak for the original "Wolf Man." Maybe reality did the inspiring for them though, as the script was supposedly conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whannell presents the idea of the werewolf curse as an infectious disease. It's a bloodborne virus that spreads through cuts and bites, slowly changing the infected's body and neurological state. It's characterized repeatedly as a fever, dispelling most every paranormal association with the werewolf concept. This "Wolf Man" contains no full moons, pentagrams, or blooming wolfsbane. It's as grounded a werewolf movie as you're likely to get, as bold a reinvention of a classic monster as Whannell's "Invisible Man" was.

However, a fear of disease is not what this "Wolf Man" is truly about. Instead, the anxieties that motivate the story are much more personal. The glimpses we get of Blake's childhood shows him frightened of his own father, a strict and paranoid man that clearly kept his son under tight control. Now a parent himself, Blake never wants to be like his dad. He reminds his daughter Ginger, on a daily basis, how much he loves her. When she does something foolish, the way kids are prone to do, he yells at her before immediately apologizing. He wants to be a caring, loving, emotionally understanding and available dad. His rejection of traditional macho tactics are signaled by him allowing his daughter to put make-up on his face or being a stay-at-home dad while his wife is at work. The opening flashback is set in 1995, putting Blake right in the millennial demographic, and he clearly has the common anxieties of that age group: Traumatized by his asshole boomer parent and desperate not to repeat those same mistakes.

In other words, Blake's greatest fear is becoming his dad. The werewolf archetype has often been interpreted as about the duality of man. Whether it is repressed sexual urges or a deeper savage nature, the wolf has always represented the parts of ourselves we are most afraid of showing. Naturally, once he's bitten, this means Blake immediately begins to yell at his wife and kid, causing them to stare in confusion. He's not himself, a twitching and temperamental man who literally can no longer communicate with those dearest to him. By the time he's a hairy, growling beast, his transformation into an abusive parent and husband is complete. The lingering fear that he's just as capable as his dad was of being a beast has come true. 

Which suggest another question: Are we all doomed to become our parents eventually? Being in roughly the same age group as the film's protagonist, it's a neurotic worry I've had too. Have all the flaws of my father that made my childhood difficult been bred into me? Upon returning to the Oregon woods, Blake and family meet a childhood friend of his, who carries a rifle around as an everyday accessory. This concerns city girl Charlotte but Blake reassures her that, in the country, everybody has a gun. The place he comes from is still indebted to older ideas about manly men killing and hunting to protect their own. In other words, this world is still a part of Blake, no matter how hard he's worked to disguise that. Whannell's "Wolf Man" most connects to the Lon Chaney classic and subsequent adaptations with these Daddy Issues themes. Blake is nearly dragged back into the wild by another wolf man whose true identity is no surprise, the need to behave a certain way and do certain things calling to him.

If we are all doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past, perhaps it's a somewhat inevitable fate. The first proper shot of the movie is of a wasp being torn apart by a horde of ants. Stefan Duscio's sweeping cinematography draws attention to the natural beauty of the Oregon woods. There are multiple shots of the mountains in the distance, the fogs creeping around the trees and peaks. It's beautiful but, as Blake's dad reminds him early on, it's also dangerous. A key shot shows the moving van winding through the country roads, surrounded by trees on all sides. Compared to their urban apartment, the country home is without comfort, with rotten meat hung up in the freezer and a rickety generator providing fickle electricity. The opening flashback could be a short film in its own regard, father and son pinned down by some sort of cryptozoological threat deep in the woods. That Blake has a daughter, instead of a son, that he ultimately becomes a threat too seems important. Not only does he fear becoming his dad, he fears becoming a wild man, embracing the savagery of the natural world and inflicting it on the women in his life. 

The conflict between men and women represents probably the most underwritten part of the movie. Whannell's "Wolf Man" is ambitious, about disease and parenthood and marriage, meaning one of its themes was always going to be underserved. Charlotte expresses a concern that she can't relate to her daughter anymore, while clearly referencing some growing tension with her husband. Why Charlotte and Blake are having problems is never exactly addressed. Clearly, however, we are meant to believe that they love each other anyway. The characters say as much. Julia Garner, while believable as a mother determined to protect her kid, never sells the idea that she is in love with this man. A key moment involves Charlotte attempting to communicate with a bedridden Blake, who is already undergoing his transformation, recalling many examples of people desperate to talk with loved one's on a ventilator during the pandemic. Blake can't hear her though. The film will periodically give us glimpses into his head. He's seeing and hearing things like a wolf now, with extra-sensitive hearing and smell, seeing fields of light and color invisible to a normal human's eyes. Notably, he can see the veins under the skin of his wife and daughter, the blood his wolf side craves right there. 

This is paired with a heavy dose of body horror, Blake's teeth falling out, his fingernails being torn off and replaced with talons, his jaw cracking into a new location. Like all modern body horror stories, "Wolf Man" owes something to Cronenberg. To learn "The Fly" is one of the films Whannell had his crew watch before filming began is not surprising, as you can see it's a clear influence. (Especially in the climax, which clearly recalls the 1986 remake.) However, "The Fly" works because it's a believable love story. The bond between Blake and Charlotte never seems to come to life. That his transformation happens over the course of an entire night seems to rush the characters' through their emotional arc. That the film will take us inside Blake's head suggests a story split in two. Whannell wanted to make a Cronenbergian story of a man changing into something else. He also wanted to tell the tale of the man's wife and daughter surviving this change. The split in focus damages both elements of the film, the love story and the sense of what is being lost never quite coming across. 

The half of "Wolf Man" that's a tragic story of a marriage falling apart, amid a virus-induced wolf out, doesn't totally succeed. The half that is a siege picture, about a trio trying to keep a werewolf out of the strange house they're locked inside, works a lot better. Something incredibly smart the movie does is quickly establish the settings that most of the story will take place in. There's a deer blind that bookends the film. On the property is a triangular, quietly foreboding farm house, a barn, and a simple green house with vinyl walling. Each of these locations are used in a suspense sequence, with the green house setting up a rather clever way. Limiting most of the movie to so few locations was both a smart budgetary decision. It also allows the audience to be more aware of the limited resources the characters have at their disposal. These are the only places they have to hide and all of them have few defenses for a clawed beast eager to get inside.

The mastery of fright and suspense sequences that Whannell showed off in his previous monster reboot is still on display here. The director has a good eye for when to keep stuff off-screen and when to viscerally thrust it into our face. This is very true of the opening scene, in which we get nothing but brief glimpses of a hairy humanoid and see its breath over the edge of a tree house wall, a rather tense sequence. The scene where the family is locked in the crashed truck, as the creature approaches, builds fantastically, also only giving us small peeks at the monster. A later moment is built around Charlotte desperately trying to start up a truck. It's a drawn out scene, a series of mundane actions, that builds towards an excellently revealed shocked and the first proper look we get at the title monster. From that point on, “Wolf Man” is an in-your-face monster movie, featuring some disturbingly gory gags. Including a bit that plays as both a homage to the 1944 “Wolfman” and Whannell's first horror hit.

Keeping the cast so limited is another example of how economical the film's writing is. There's truly only about five characters in the film, with most of the scenes only being concerned with the central trio of Blake, Charlotte, and Ginger. Christopher Abbott, quickly becoming the go-to leading man for genre projects in need of a neurotic star, projects Blake's anxieties as he succumbs to this sickness. He also has strong chemistry with Matilda Firth as Ginger, an adorable little moppet that you immediately want to see protected. That the script lets Julia Garner down a bit is no fault of her's, as she certainly shows off a strong spirit whenever facing down a werewolf, wielding a rifle, or trying to get an engine to turn over. One imagines, if given a more proactive role like the heroine in Whannell's last monster movie, she would have gotten far more chances to shine. 

I'm already seeing reviews from classic monster movie fans expressing disappointment with this new “Wolf Man,” for being such a radical reinvention of the classic character. When a glimpse at a costume of the new make-up was revealed at one of the Universal theme parks last year, many people were disappointed. Indeed, by taking such a grounded approach to the idea, Whannell has delivered a beast that is far more man than wolf. The make-up is, as far as these things go, fairly low-key. It's the kind of physical transformation that, if not for the speed with which it occurs, would probably be quite plausible. However, within the context of this approach, I believe it works. The subtle shifting of Abbott's face is nicely uncanny, implying a wolf-like state through the shape of the bones under the skins. It might not hurt if you go in expecting something that looks a little more Henry Hull than Lon Chaney Jr. though. 

Having a lot of ideas on its mind at once is not the worst sin a horror movie can commit. Whannell's “Wolf Man” would probably be a better movie if it was only about disease, or parental anxieties, or childhood trauma, or a dissolving marriage, or simply a siege picture about trying to keep a monster out. The film does performs some of these ideas better than others. However, the reboot still has a committed cast in its corner, several impressively tense moments, and some fine cinematography and make-up. If nothing else, it's a new take on a familiar concept. Unlike the last “Wolfman” Universal made, hopelessly scrambled by executive meddling, it's clear that Whannell made exactly the movie he wanted here. This classic monster nerd found this one to have more positive than negative traits. [Grade: B]