The Wolf Manhas always held a special place inJason Blums heart.
To this day, the filmmaker reminisces about watching the 1941 original with his mother.
WellsInvisible Manby leaning into the tragedy naturally inherent in the werewolf archetype.
I didnt just want to pay homage to this character.
If I want to bask in the glory of this character, I can just watchThe Wolf Manmovie.
Obviously they were remaking these movies in a different time, Whannell considers.
They justified their existence.
So in this I was thinking, What am I going to do?
and without giving anything away, I came up with a way of internalizing it.
Rather than watching someone transform, youre actually experiencing the transformation from within the character.
But to say the infection gets worse would be an understatement.
If you think of Cronenbergs version ofThe Fly, you have empathy for the monster.
At no point are you like, This person is evil.
He has a disease.
The concept is the realization of a monster classic Blum has chased for some time.
Likewise, its proof that he can still re-tinker someof the Universal Monsters for modern audience sensibilities.
Because I dont really know what we would do with it.
Its kind of a case-by-case basis.
Says Whannell, I love that I got to make a creature feature and really prioritize practical makeup effects.
I spent a lot of time interviewing people and researching who was going to be the person for this.
His makeup school was all the best.
It was nuts, and he really just treats it like an art.
I never really had done that before on a huge scale.
This guys an artist, hes brilliant, and he lovesThe Wolf Manlike you do.
What is it about those characters that has staying power?
Family life must always transform.
Wolf Man opens only in theaters on Jan. 17, 2025.
