New horror movie Wolf Man, the next chapter in Universal's attempt to reboot its Classic Monsters series, was obviously inspired by George Waggner's similarly named 1941 film. According to writer-director Leigh Whannell, though, it also had some less predictable influences: Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners and Sicario.
"I'm a big fan of gothic horror movies. I love what Tim Burton did with Sleepy Hollow, and I love what Guillermo del Toro does," the filmmaker gushes in the new issue of SFX magazine, which features Star Trek spin-off movie Section 31 on the cover and hits newsstands on December 31. "There's such beauty to those gothic elements, like fog and cemeteries on a hill backlit by the Moon.
"From a production design element, I love all that stuff, but I think I love it more as a viewer. I'm the guy to watch that stuff, but I'm not the right guy to make it," Whannell continues. "When it comes time for me to make a monster, my mind immediately wants to place that monster in the real world and take a very grounded approach: we're not dealing with a fairy tale here, we're not dealing with a folk tale, we're dealing with something that could really happen."
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Starring Poor Things' Christopher Abbott in the titular role, Wolf Man follows Blake, a San Francisco-based writer, who inherits his childhood home after his father is finally declared deceased having gone missing years prior. In an effort to save his dwindling marriage to high-flying journalist Charlotte (Ozark's Julia Garner), Blake, who's between jobs, suggests they spend the summer out in rural Oregon – and reconnect over quality time with their daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth).
Upon their arrival, though, they're run off the road by a mysterious beast in the woods and Blake gets savagely clawed. The terrified trio successfully retreat to the farmhouse but with the animal stalking outside and Blake's wound worsening, they realize the night's horrors are far from over...
Referencing his previous Classic Monsters adaptation The Invisible Man, Whannell adds: "For both movies, Stefan [Duscio, cinematographer] and I were heavily influenced by Roger Deakins's work with Denis Villeneuve, like Sicario and Prisoners.
"If you look at those movies, they're beautifully photographed, without calling attention to themselves. A lot of those movies take place in nondescript rooms, like a beige interview room in a police station, but somehow Roger Deakins can make that room beautiful – it's just his placement, his lighting, his framing. So we drew on that a lot. I think that very grounded approach is the way to do it, because it's a way of convincing the audience that this isn't a fantasy, this is real."
Wolf Man releases in theaters on January 17. Read more in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which features Star Trek spin-off movie Section 31 on the cover and hits newsstands on Tuesday, December 31.
