EntertainmentMoviesHorror MoviesWolf ManIconic ’80s horror The Fly was a big inspiration for new Wolf Man movie, says director: “This is about the tragedy of the human body falling apart"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
EntertainmentMoviesHorror MoviesWolf ManIconic ’80s horror The Fly was a big inspiration for new Wolf Man movie, says director: “This is about the tragedy of the human body falling apart"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Universal Pictures)
In a new interview withEmpire magazine, the filmmaker, who co-wrote the script with Corbett Tuck, Lauren Schuker Blum, and Rebecca Angelo, explained how The Fly’s use of practical effects encouraged him to lean into the “tragedy” of the titular character’s transformation.
“What The Fly did that a lot of other practical-effects-driven horror movies from that time did not do was bring the tragedy out of these practical effects,” Whannell noted. “It wasn’t a joke in The Fly. It was there to illustrate someone who was dying of an illness […] I was like, ‘I’ve got to do that’. It’s not about being funny or icky or gory. This is about the tragedy of the human body falling apart.”
StarringPoor Things' Christopher Abbott and Ozark’s Julia Garner, Wolf Man reimagines the 1941 classic into a story about Blake, a San Franciscan who inherits his childhood home in Oregon after his father mysteriously disappears.
Terrified, they “barricade themselves inside the home as the creature prowls the perimeter,” the official synopsis reads. “As the night stretches on, however, Blake begins to behave strangely, transforming into something unrecognizable, and Charlotte will be forced to decide whether the terror within their house is more lethal than the danger without.”
“She’s going to be the emotional compass of this film,” Whannell said of Garner’s character. “She’s going to be what Shelley Duvall was in The Shining. You don’t get scared in The Shining without Shelley Duvall. And so I was like, ‘I’ve got to find someone who can drink up the audience’s empathy.’ And she did an incredible job.”
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Wolf Man releases in cinemas on January 17, 2025. For more, check out our list of thebest horror moviesever, or our guide to the most excitingupcoming horror moviesheading our way.
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Nosferatu star Lily-Rose Depp shares the deep-cut detail in Bill Skarsgård’s Count Orlok look that makes him so “freaky”
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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5
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