Wolfman

Not gonna go on too much just wanted to ensure people do not....I repeat DO NOT watch this dire movie and put money in pockets of those who don't deserve it. From the start it was horribly clichéd, no bad thing in itself, but it was rubbish from beginning to end. No decent character development, I didn't care for any of the people. The effects were terrible and unconvincing and the one scene where they could of excelled, in the asylum, they failed on a grand scale. Our benchmark is of course An American Werewolf in London, and I'm happy to say this remains the best transformation sequence, heck even the werewolf scene in Harry Potter was way better than this. I could go as far to say that I just wanted to give the teddy bear a big hug. The scenes were slapdash with poor continuity and the soundtrack was diabolically bad, it over rode the movie almost without exception trying for suspense where there was none and drowning out the actors to make for a 'why am I still sitting here' experience. With the effects and quality acting that is possible today I cannot believe that this movie could EVER be a hit. Please AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE...

I'm astonished at how low this film's rating is, I'm pretty sure it's low rating is a result of people who are foolishly giving it a low rating simply because they don't feel it was as good as the old 1941 version or that it copies the original too much, but nothing to do with the quality of the film itself which is what a film rating should be based on. The wolves in this movie were a great tribute to the Victorian era as being as hairy as possible generally was the fashion back then, so it's amazing how hairy the wolves were and how much screen time they got as a result. The werewolves were very realistic looking and looked stunningly beautiful. The lovely scenes of Victorian London was also beautiful and I appreciated how clean the River Thames was in this movie so I didn't feel the werewolf was poisoning himself when he drank from it.

The dark, gloomy and Gothic scenery, the action filled fast-moving cut-scenes, the very explanatory storyline and even the slow moving pace, all makes it a good horror movie. This is not a horror movie in the scenes that you are scared, but more in the gore, flesh ripping kind of way. I like it all the way, it was a bit slow moving at times, but that helped set the theme in a good way, they could have removed about 15 minutes by taken a little bit of here and there. The cast that have been chosen and the acting they deliver makes it very enjoyable to watch. I always like Mr. Hopkins and for the "bad" guy Mr. Weaving is also always a joy to watch. They both have very special characteristics that just works perfect in this film.

I found the acting, the special effects - especially the wolfman transformations - the scenery and the settings excellent. I seldom jump at scary scenes in movies, but this one "got me" several times. I don't remember if I saw the original movie made long ago, but if I had, I didn't recall any of the story so it was fresh to me and had the right amount of romance, not too much and not too little. I had fun watching the movie and will see it again when it comes out on DVD. This made for a great Valentine's Day date with my hubby, who normally will not watch scary movies. He does not enjoy gratuitous violence either, but he does love really good special effects.

What makes this better than most remakes is that the story is decent without totally aping the original. Also the cast is superb, with Benecio Del Toro playing, like Chaney, a tormented man. Hopkins is as usual, excellent. Emma Blunt is believable as Larry's love interest. The make up by Rick Baker is superb. Well worth seeing.