In the wake of “Jaws,” countless imitators sprang up from the depths, from Joe Dante’s “Piranha” to AIP’s “Tentacles” and William Girdler’s “nature run amok” outings “Grizzly” and “Day of the Animals.” Not one to be outdone, prolific mogul Dino De Laurentiis joined the fray with 1977’s ORCA, THE KILLER WHALE (90 mins., PG; Kino Lorber), a laughably bad – if beautifully shot – cash-in that mixed “Jaws” with a dash of “Moby Dick” and a particularly poor performance by Richard Harris.
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Starring as the captain of the fishing boat “Bumpo,” Harris delivers a starring turn far removed from his glory days as an Old Man of the Sea who gets more than he bargained for when he attempts to capture a shark in order to sell it to the highest water-park bidder. When that plan goes awry, he quickly sets his sights on nabbing a killer whale – but misses the mark, literally, slaying the whale’s pregnant mate who promptly aborts a fetus on the Bumpo’s deck (a disturbingly gross moment in cinematic history). Harris learns he’s made a mistake from marine biologist Charlotte Rampling, and finds out the hard way when “Orca” takes his revenge on the Bumpo’s crew, doing all the things you’d anticipate from a killer whale: eating its crew members (though he spares Bo Derek, save for biting off her leg as a snack), attacking the house where Harris is holed up, and in one spectacular sequence, rupturing a gas line that nearly destroys an entire Newfoundland fishing village!
“Orca” is an absolute mess on every dramatic and narrative level: characterizations are beyond “thin” (Kennan Wynn and Robert Carradine appear as fish food with barely a line of dialogue between them) with its protagonists’ motivations barely explained. One moment Rampling is at loggerheads with the drunken Harris – the next she’s holed up on the Bumpo’s trek to the Arctic to slay the beast, going so far as to beckon “let me warm you” to his Ahab-esque charms. Will Sampson appears as a local with knowledge of the mumbo-jumbo-mystic world of the Orca – he’s likewise indifferent to Harris, but then also decides to join his whale hunt for reasons that are never spelled out. Perhaps something was lost in the translation from Luciano Vincenzoni and Sergio Donati’s screenplay (with an uncredited, alleged assist from Robert Towne) – or large portions of the film were left on the cutting room floor (indeed, sections of the film are awkwardly narrated by Rampling, suggesting it was a post-production patch for the picture’s gaping holes).
It’s also unclear who viewers were supposed to be rooting for in “Orca.” Harris’ dismal performance – you can just see him muttering through his lines in an effort to hit the nearest watering hole as quickly as possible – makes it impossible to pull for him, though at the same time, the film tries to make him more sympathetic as the picture progresses. Orca himself isn’t very interesting either – each time the whale knocks down a dock piling or causes trouble, we’re greeted with a hysterical, dramatic stab from Ennio Morricone’s overwrought score and the same matted-in shot of Orca doing a back flip…over and over again. It’s a duel between two fishy anti-heroes in a movie desperate to rekindle the thrills of Spielberg’s 1975 classic, but only generates more chuckles than chills, especially with Carol Connors’ weepy end credits ballad concluding things on an unintentionally funny note.
“Orca” apparently did well enough in theaters back in the summer of ‘77 to warrant De Laurentiis exploring the prospects of an “Orca 2″ – going so far as to offer it to Joe Dante, who wisely turned it down. Since then, the movie hasn’t circulated a whole lot on home video, appearing on a Paramount DVD in 16:9 with no extras and assorted Blu-Rays around the globe with varying degrees of technical quality.
Kino Lorber kicks off their 4K UHD slate for 2025 with a terrific presentation of “Orca,” mastered from a 4K scan of the 35mm OCN by Paramount (2.35) with Dolby Vision HDR. This transfer offers fine grain and natural looking colors throughout, doing justice to Ted Moore’s cinematography. Between Moore and director Michael Anderson, “Orca” is beautifully rendered in Panavision, with the scope frame beautifully capturing the Newfoundland locales, majestic sunsets and foggy harbors by the sea. (Note this is not entirely the same master seen in Studio Canal’s international UHD release from 2024, one which featured yellow-ish color tinting as seen in some of the label’s restorations over the last few years).
On the audio side, the original mono sound is included, as is a really good 5.1 Paramount remix produced for the DVD years ago. Morricone’s score is lovely in places on its own – and makes for a nice listen on the album – but it’s hopelessly overstated in the film, and those “oh no, here comes Orca!” brief orchestral stabs are anything but subtle. Then again, nothing in this haphazardly constructed turkey is.
Extras include the trailer and two commentaries: one featuring the historian trio of Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson that (quite seriously) praises the movie’s ecological messaging, the other an archival track from an Umbrella Blu-Ray release with the late Lee Gambin.
Back in the heyday of the Weinstein brothers’ Miramax Films it seemed, every month, there was at least one property of theirs that found filmmakers and studio execs clashing over cuts, test screenings, reshoots and/or any mix of the lot. One of them was director John Frankenheimer’s last directorial outing, the 2000 action-thriller REINDEER GAMES (102/123 mins., R), with Ben Affleck as a guy, just out of prison, who ends up as part of an improbable casino heist masterminded by psycho Gary Sinise and sister Charlize Theron.
Ehren Kruger’s script is filled with lots of plot holes and the overly smug Affleck was in over his head as an action hero (especially at this stage of his career), but it’s Frankenheimer’s taut, assured direction that keeps you watching, along with the supporting performances and snowy winter setting. This is probably best viewed as a Christmas-time thriller, but the movie was a notorious box-office flop, not helped by the studio’s decision to delay the movie’s Christmas ’99 release to February 2000 in order to do re-shoots and tighten up the movie’s pacing. This meant the studio softened the movie a great deal in the editing room, where the film’s two-hour plus running time was hacked down to 104 minutes.
Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD (2.35) gives us the theatrical version in 4K with Dolby Vision HDR (a great looking presentation, far surpassing any previous home video release), or a “Director’s Cut” Frankenheimer produced for home video on a separate Blu-Ray disc. This longer version of the film represented, in Frankenheimer’s words, a hybrid of the theatrical cut with scenes from his original director’s version. With some 20 minutes of different footage and scene extensions, the “Director’s Cut” is indeed edgier and more cohesive than the theatrical version, though visually it’s hampered by a rough transfer that hasn’t been remastered.
Special features are carried over from the earlier DVDs, including commentary by Frankenheimer on both cuts, the theatrical trailer and a featurette. The 5.1 DTS MA soundtrack is excellent, featuring a solid score by Alan Silvestri. While not Frankenheimer’s best, “Reindeer Games” is a decent movie worth a spin for action fans.
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APRIL FOOL’S DAY 4K UHD/Blu-Ray (88 mins., 1986, R; Kino Lorber): ‘80s character names aren’t any more apropos of the era than “Muffy St. John,” the heroine (Deborah Foreman) of this fondly-remembered 1986 Paramount genre exercise. When Muffy brings a group of her college classmates to her parents’ posh island home for Spring Break, she unwittingly exposes them to a deadly succession of pranks that turn deadly – or do they?!?! Amy Steel, Thomas F. Wilson (“Back to the Future”), Clayton Rohner and Griffin O’Neal co-star in this Frank Mancuso, Jr. production with a Danilo Bach script that Fred Walton (“When a Stranger Calls”) helmed to moderate box-office – yet it’s the movie’s twist ending that truly sold it to fans, leading to “April Fool’s Day” gaining a decent cult following over the years since.
“April Fool’s Day” debuts on 4K UHD with a new scan of the 35mm OCN (2.35), preserving the attractive, widescreen lensing of the movie. The DTS MA mono and 5.1 remix options are just fine as well with a new commentary included with Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson. Carried over from the Scream Factory Blu-Ray are interviews with director Fred Walton, cast members Deborah Goodrich Royce and Clayton Rohner, plus cinematographer Charles Minsky and composer Charles Bernstein. The trailer and several TV spots put the finishing touch on a worthwhile Kino 4K upgrade.
MURDER BY DECREE 4K UHD/Blu-Ray (124 mins., 1979, PG; Kino Lorber): New 4K remaster of director Bob Clark’s 1979 “Sherlock Holmes investigates Jack the Ripper” thriller is topped by a marvelous Holmes and Watson in Christopher Plummer and James Mason. The supporting cast in this Canadian/UK co-production is also top notch, with Genevieve Bujold chipping in a cameo as an institutionalized woman who may just hold the key to the Ripper mystery and Frank Finlay, David Hemmings, Anthony Quayle, Susan Clark and Donald Sutherland likewise popping up in support.
However, as impressive as the cast and visual atmosphere is, “Decree” kind of peters out as it moves along, failing to maintain its solid start. John Hopkins’ original script is initially compelling but becomes bogged down with plot to such a degree that its unraveling over the course of a protracted climax saps the suspense from the story, leading to a fizzle of a finale. Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD boasts a much-improved 4K scan of the 35mm OCN (1.85, DTS MA mono/5.1) that offers finer detail than the label’s previous Blu-Ray edition. Two commentaries are included: an archival effort from Clark and a track by historians Howard Berger and Steve Mitchell, plus the Blu-Ray and the trailer.
New on Blu-Ray
SHOUT AT THE DEVIL Blu-Ray (149 mins., 1976, PG; Kino Lorber): One of those movies that sounds a lot more fun than it actually is, “Shout at the Devil” brings together the contrasting screen personas of Lee Marvin (as, of course, a drunken scoundrel in 1913 German East Africa making things difficult for the Krauts) and Roger Moore, essaying a proper Englishman en route to Australia who gets involved in Marvin’s poaching raids. Moore also falls for Marvin’s headstrong daughter (a particularly lovely Barbara Parkins) while the duo cause trouble for the sadistic German Commandant (Rene Kolldehoff), who eventually exacts his revenge at a terrible personal cost for our protagonists.
007 veteran Peter Hunt directed “Shout at the Devil,” which was a production of Michael Klinger, who previously worked with Hunt, Moore and others on “Gold” a few years prior. Like “Gold,” “Shout at the Devil” was based on a book by Wilbur Smith, and critics of the novel called it a “bloodbath” – a term that’s difficult to apply to the movie’s bouncy first half, at least, which plays like a sub-par John Ford movie with Marvin and Moore applying every ounce of their respective screen charismas to sell an African adventure with thundering elephants, hungry alligators, ethnically stereotyped locals (including Ian Holm’s pantomime turn as “Mohammed”), and an occasional chuckle or two. Things take a more serious, and less satisfying, turn, once the Germans raid Marvin’s compound, taking the life of Moore and Parkins’ baby and draining the fun out of the rest of the picture.
“Shout at the Devil” was cut heavily for its U.S. release (somewhat understandably given its lethargic pacing) and was never released on DVD at all domestically. MGM HD began airing a restoration of the movie’s original, 149-minute version years back, and that master was first released in 2013 on Blu-Ray by Timeless/Shout Factory. That same master holds up well here in Kino’s Blu-Ray (2.35, mono), offering crystal clear detail and fresh colors. The mono sound, featuring a score by Maurice Jarre that works overtime to give the movie some energy, is fine, and extras include the trailer and a new commentary by Dwayne Epstein and Steve Mitchell.
FADE-IN Blu-Ray (92 mins., 1968; Kino Lorber): Fascinating, rarely-screened “inside Hollywood” drama, shot during the production of Paramount’s flop western “Blue,” features Barbara Loden as an editor who comes to Utah to work on a movie, only to fall for local ranch hand Burt Reynolds. Jud Taylor helmed “Fade-In” but removed his name, making this moody, character-driven piece the first film ever helmed by “Allen Smithee”; Reynolds devotees and fans of the era will get the most mileage out of it. Paramount’s 4K scan (1.85, mono) looks superb in Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray, especially for a movie that premiered in 1973 on “The CBS Late Movie.” Extras include two commentaries: one by Daniel Kremer, another by Bryan Reesman and Max Evry.
MY NAME IS ALFRED HITCHCOCK Blu-Ray (120 mins., 2022; Cohen Media Group/Kino Lorber): “The Story of Film” director Mark Cousins turns his attention to the works of Alfred Hitchcock for this superb documentary, produced in an unusual manner: with narrator Alastair McGowan “performing” Hitchcock, reassessing his career through his own voice (quite literally). Far more engaging than the usual talking head doc, Cousins’ work is breezy and engaging for hardcore Hitch devotees and casual viewers alike. Cohen’s Blu (1., 5.1/2.0) includes interviews, a voice test, trailers and more.
GINGER IN THE MORNING Blu-Ray (95 mins., 1974, PG; Film Masters): Something was in the air back in the early/mid ‘70s with ample May/December movie romances hitting the multiplex. Much like Clint Eastwood’s (underrated) teaming of William Holden and Kay Lenz in “Breezy,” there was this independently-produced, little character drama that pairs Monte Markham as a divorced guy who finds a new spark in a relationship with a free-spirited hitchhiker played by Sissy Spacek.
Mark Miller, an actor who co-stars and later produced the early ‘80s family film “Savannah Smiles,” wrote this good-natured and surprisingly clean (especially compared to the R-rated “Breezy”) treatment of the subject matter, spiced up with appearances by Slim Pickens and a young Fred Ward. It’s dated but likable, in spite of a pace that seems to stall out as it moves along.
Film Masters’ 4K restoration (1.85, mono) of the film on Blu-Ray looks splendid with warm colors and detail visible. Extras include a pleasant interview with Markham who recalls working on the picture plus Spacek-centric booklet notes by Susan King and a commentary by C. Courtney Joyner and Amanda Reyes.
Also New & Noteworthy
WICKED 4K UHD/Blu-Ray (160 mins., 2024, PG; Universal): Sprawling adaptation of the first half of the Broadway musical smash is energetically directed by John M. Chu, with book writer Winnie Holzman expanding upon the source material – all of it derived from Gregory Maguire’s popular book, itself a riff on L. Frank Baum’s classic “Wizard of Oz” characters. It’s all in service of Stephen Schwartz’s fabulous score, with songs articulated – albeit in more a pop manner than Broadway style – from leads Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, essaying Glinda (the eventual “good witch”) and Elphaba, respectively. Their friendship backs a big, widescreen affair that perpetually seems like it’s teetering on the edge of losing its personal focus in lieu of a huge-budget, nearly epic treatment, but “Wicked” manages to successfully straddle the line, ending up an entertaining – if overlong – view for musical buffs.
Universal’s 4K UHD offers a smooth, gorgeous looking Dolby Vision HDR transfer (2.39) with Dolby Atmos sound that’s engagingly mixed, with Schwartz sharing score credit with John Powell and all the songs being well-engineered. Deleted/extended scenes, commentaries from both Chu and Erivo and Grande, a Making Of, the Blu-Ray, Digital HD code, and a bonus Sing-Along version are all included in the now-available UHD release.
WEREWOLVES Blu-Ray (94 mins., 2024, R; Universal): B-movie hero Frank Grillo’s latest cinematic sojourn finds him as an ex-marine living in a messed-up world where much of the population has turned into werewolves, and with a new supermoon looming, has to come up with a quick cure before mass carnage ensues. Steven C. Miller’s “Werewolves” packs an awful lot of plot into its tidy running time, but while its slender budget results in plenty of corners (and plot angles) being cut, the movie is serviceable and modestly entertaining for what it is – it’s also more fun than the miserable new “Wolf Man” dud (reviewed below) from horror auteur Leigh Wannell. Universal’s Blu-Ray (2.39, 5.1 DTS MA) is out this week sporting deleted scenes and a Digital HD code.
JUROR #2 Blu-Ray (114 mins., 2024, PG-13; Warner): Clint Eastwood’s apparent swan song as a director comes with this watchable yet ragged court room drama. Nicholas Hoult gives one of his better performances as a normal, everyday guy serving as a juror on a big murder trial, where he ends up in a moral quandary set up by Jonathan Abrams’ script. “Juror #2” feels like a throwback to the days when adult-oriented dramas were made by big studios; nowadays, not so much, which makes this low-key Eastwood effort worth savoring in spite of some uneven performances and a script which should’ve been better developed. Warner’s Blu-Ray sans extras (2.39, Dolby Atmos) is available this week featuring a digital HD copy.
Warner Archive New Animation Releases
Freshly available from Warner Archive are a handful of vintage animation releases, starting off with the memorable Hanna-Barbera animated prime-time sitcom WAIT TILL YOUR FATHER GETS HOME (1175 mins., 1972-74), which hits Blu-Ray in a complete, 48-episode, two-season set.
This “generation gap” comedy is animated more like a Mad Magazine Dave Berg panel than traditional Hanna-Barbera series, sporting Tom Bosley vocalizing a dad trying to adapt to the changing times, his hippie eldest son, overweight and socially conscious teen daughter, and savvy youngest son, with an understanding mom trying to lend support.
The show addresses all kinds of “flower power” issues from Women’s Lib to the sexual revolution, but does so in a surprisingly even-handed manner that balances both sides of the issue. It’s not knee-slappingly funny (and has a canned laugh track), but it is, at least, amusing and has held up better than you might anticipate.
Fans of the program will enjoy Warner’s assembly of the series with good-looking 1080p (1.33) transfers and mono soundtracks. Extras include a brief, six-minute look back at the creation of the series, including interviews with animators and other production personnel, as well as another featurette examining the cultural influences on the series and how it reflected its era. For those who might’ve thought “adult” animation in prime-time began with “The Simpsons,” this is a fascinating program well worth a view for its content and design alone.
More traditional Hanna-Barbera TV entertainment from the late ‘60s can be found with FRANKENSTEIN JR. AND THE IMPOSSIBLES: THE COMPLETE SERIES (383 mins., 1966-67), a Saturday morning show that features whiz-kid Buzz Conroy fighting crime with the help of his invention “Frankie,” a high-flying giant robot that looks like your friendly neighborhood Frankenstein monster. “Frankenstein Jr.” bridged the gap between a number of popular fads of the decade: giant robots that hit the sci-fi box, costumed super-heroes that checked off the comic-book tab, and a loose connection with classic monsters that satiated that young audience. Running for two seasons initially on CBS, the show had a decent afterlife in syndication as many Hanna-Barbera series did, and comes to Blu-Ray with attractive 1.33 transfers, DTS MA mono soundtracks, and the featurette “Monster Rock.”
Hanna-Barbera’s “Golden Age” always includes a discussion of “Tom and Jerry,” and specifically the more elaborately animated shorts the duo produced at MGM in the ‘40s and ‘50s. A previous Blu-Ray anthology tapped the duo’s earliest appearances, and now TOM AND JERRY: THE COMPLETE CINEMASCOPE COLLECTION (175 mins.) brings viewers some 23 shorts expressly produced for the widescreen format – shorts which, because of their very anamorphic nature, seldom were included in syndicated TV packages. Compiled here for the first time in all-new remasters (2.35, with DTS MA stereo/mono sound), these shorts are great fun for Tom & Jerry fans and aficionados of classic ‘50s animation, with three additional Cinemascope cartoons (“Good Will to Men” and two “spin-off” cartoons featuring Spike and Tyke) included in the now-available, single-disc Archive release.
DAFFY DUCK’S QUACKBUSTERS Blu-Ray (79 mins., 1988, G; Warner Archive): One of the best of the numerous Looney Tunes ‘70s/’80s features that were edited from classic WB cartoons – linked by new animation more cohesively employed here than usual – finds Daffy Duck starting up his own “Ghouls ‘R’ Us” agency, even though he’s not exactly part of the “ain’t afraid of no ghost” movement. This creates a fun excuse to head down memory lane for some expected Looney Tunes favorites plus new animation like “The Duxorcist,” with the running time being just long enough to service young viewers and adults alike. The 1080p (1.37, DTS MA mono) remaster looks good and a number of newer Looney Tunes shorts are included, in full, as extras here (“Night of the Living Duck,” “Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24th ½ Century,” etc.).
Also New From Warner Archive: Back when TNT was trying to rival HBO as a home for high-quality original movies, Tom Selleck starred in an adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s LAST STAND AT SABLE RIVER (96 mins., 1997), playing a former Confederate soldier trying to reunite his family and settle in Arizona, only to run afoul of Union sympathizers (David and Keith Carradine) with other designs. Well-acted but hampered by an abbreviated running time and merely functional delivery from small-screen vet Dick Lowery, this cable film bows on a no-frills Archive Blu-Ray (1.33, 2.0 DTS MA stereo)…The early ‘30s political fantasy GABRIEL OVER THE WHITE HOUSE (86 mins., 1933) is a fascinating curio from MGM, starring Walter Huston as a U.S. president whose brush with death results in him turning into a Yankee dictator, throwing the Constitution aside as he personally addresses Depression-era poverty and crime. It’s frightening seeing him abolish Congress as an act of political deliverance, but that’s the odd feel you get while watching this flag-waving (yay for dictators!) fantasy rooted in its obviously FDR-influenced time and place. Warner Archive’s remaster offers fine detail considering the movie’s era (1.33 B&W, mono) with three classic 1933 cartoons included for extras.
TV on Disc
At one point, the Fox TV network had a tough time finding success with one-hour dramatic series. Only by the early 20th century had Fox successfully cultivated a show to feed off the blockbuster success of what was arguably the last big ratings behemoth in traditional network TV history, “American Idol”: first with the highly entertaining Kiefer Sutherland thriller “24,” then again with HOUSE, M.D. (2005-12, 130 hrs.; Universal).
Part “Quincy,” part “C.S.I.” with a dash of “E.R.” thrown in for good measure, “House” is an engaging, energetic program that recycles portions from other shows and serves up a predictable yet satisfying blend of doctor-drama, soap opera and detective series. Hugh Laurie is terrific as the title character: the typically gruff, irascible veteran M.D. who leads a team of idealistic young doctors in investigating some of the more baffling medical cases that end up at their hospital.
The interplay between Laurie and his younger cast, including Jennifer Morrison, Omar Epps and Jesse Spencer is typical of the medical mumbo-jumbo you see on “E.R.,” but with the personalities of the cast cranked up a bit. Robert Sean Leonard is also on-hand as one of Laurie’s colleagues, while Lisa Edelstein does as well as she can in the relatively thankless role of House’s hospital supervisor.
Co-produced by Bryan Singer, “House”’s scripts can, admittedly, often be ludicrous. A patient will enter House’s care, and House and his team will — as the formula goes — mostly fail to properly diagnose the problem. Only after entering into other possibilities (and seemingly every problem in the book) will the truth be revealed. It’s a pattern that nevertheless makes for entertaining television, mainly because the performances make the stories – as outlandish as they may be – compelling to watch. In many ways “House” is very much like its lead protagonist: tired and worn, yet with enough style to cover over its lack of substance.
Universal’s Complete Series Blu-Ray of the series is newly available sporting 1080p (1.78) transfers, 5.1 DTS MA soundtracks, bloopers, alternate takes, episode commentaries, audition tapes, interviews and much more, with the series’ eight-season run (2005-12) covered, the package sporting each season in its own separate case.
THE WAYANS BROS.: The Complete Series DVD (1995-99; Warner): Shawn and Marlon Wayans parlayed dad Keenan Ivory’s success on Fox into their own sitcom, playing mismatched brothers: Shawn as the older, more professionally-motivated newsstand owner while Marlon is the wilder, wackier younger brother trying to wrap Shawn into his latest, “sus” business joints. John Witherspoon also provides some support as their Dad in an up-tempo series that ran for some four seasons on Fox during the mid to the late ‘90s. Warner’s DVD includes the complete run of the series in an oversized plastic case with 4:3 transfers and stereo soundtracks.
In Theaters
When writer-director Leigh Wannell modernized “The Invisible Man,” he produced a moderate hit for Universal, which had been stung by expensive franchise non-starters “The Mummy” and “Van Helsing,” two failed efforts to resurrect the studio’s classic monsters for a new generation. With producer Jason Blum once again behind him, Wannell now turns to another beloved monster – the Wolf Man – for a busted, depressing remake that should’ve been more accurately called “Hillbilly Zombie.”
Light on thrills and suspense, but heavy on sadness, fractured relationships – and punctuated by some of the lamest creature design ever seen in a movie of this kind – Wannell’s WOLF MAN (**) at least starts off promisingly enough. Off in the woods of Oregon, a father and son run into some kind of upright creature while they’re off deer hunting – decades later, the now-grown son (Christopher Abbott) returns with his workaholic wife (Julia Garner) and their young daughter (Matilda Firth) to the same, isolated ancestral home of his youth. Alas, they’re attacked en route by something resembling the same creature, with Abbott scratched and soon turning into an animal-like beast, while the other creature is out there lurking about, all of it causing terror for his understandably concerned wife and daughter.
At some point this “Wolf Man” was supposed to star Ryan Gosling but one wonders what kind of “scheduling conflict” eventually befell him en route to (wisely) dropping out of the project. Perhaps it was a failure to find a decent screenplay for a movie which essentially chucks all of the classic Wolfman mythology out the window – you can forget about any fanciful back story for the werewolf curse, wild gypsies running about or even the Wolfman having the ability to shapeshift whenever a full moon isn’t around. Once you get attacked, you’re here turned into some weird looking, Dr. Moreau-created beast with no hope of coming back – at least, that’s the best I can say for the picture’s hideously unappealing make-up and creature effects that nearly look like your friend’s pathetic attempt to go all Lon Chaney, Jr. back in the ‘70s without the means to pull off the look.
Stripped of all of those interesting elements that define the character as more than just a violent killer, this “Wolf Man” is a remarkably thin movie that has nowhere to go but down, and its stiflingly downbeat trajectory makes the whole enterprise a predictable, tiresome affair. Almost nothing turns out to be compelling here – not Abbott’s transformation, not Garner’s move from an urban workaholic to a resourceful mom, and certainly not the poorly staged and executed set-pieces. There’s no life to this movie at all, and since the picture abandons not just its genre heritage but any hope of adding twists or turns involving its “backwoods curse” – which turns out to be more a disease than anything else – there’s nothing to latch onto as this dreary slog rolls towards its preordained ending.
The lack of supporting players also forces Wannell to rely entirely on his three leads, and it’s a losing struggle despite the actors trying hard. Abbott manages to establish a rapport with the girl but there’s not much chemistry happening between him and Garner, who seems to be straining here to play a straight role without the “colorful” elements of her personality that have informed her past performances. You also never buy her recapturing her feelings for her husband as he undergoes a transformation that almost seems to be echoing David Cronenberg’s “The Fly” but comes off falling far short of that mark – just as it does even the troubled but superior 2010 “Wolfman” Universal rolled out with Benicio Del Toro that, at least, looked the part and adhered much closer to the character’s roots.
This is a howler of the wrong kind, a concept misguided from the get-go that proves there’s no breaking the curse of bad moviemaking.
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