While 2017’s Dark Universe was scrapped shortly before it began its expansion, Blumhouse grabbed director Leigh Whannell to use The Invisible Man as a non-conventional franchise entry while using Universal Monster property. The Invisible Man was able to use some creative freedom with its cinematic framing to keep viewers on edge by wondering if the protagonist’s threat was still around, Whannell’s Wolf Man doesn’t particularly feel like an uncompromised artistic entry from Whannell. We’ve seen werewolves confined and constrained for the safety of human flesh but this latest entry into lunar terror feels more bark than bite.

Blake (Christopher Abbott) is a stay-at-home father to Ginger (Matilda Firth) and husband to his overworked journalist wife, Charlotte (Julia Garner), when word arrives that his father, who had been missing for some time, has legally been declared deceased by the state of Oregon. Given keys to his childhood home, Blake hopes to use this as a bonding opportunity for his wife and daughter. They venture out to his father’s estate to get affairs in order and clear out the place and on the way they are involved in an accident in the woods.

The film’s introduction to our protagonist is the only real setup to Blake’s past – growing up with a father who was militant, overbearing, and overprotective. While the flashback does slightly prop up the stage to what Whannell is commenting on throughout the film, it is really the only time we get to experience any relationship-building between characters because the conflict begins before any family-building (or character-building) scenes can even be performed.

A lot is owed to David Cronenberg’s remake of “The Fly” in “Wolf Man”, so much so that audiences may even follow up their viewing of the film to see how much similarity there is between the both of them. Whannell is interested in using the horror genre to provide commentary and allegory for social and psychological warfare. That is present in this film even if it doesn’t hit as hard as “The Invisible Man”. There is a really interesting technique that he does deploy that I’ve been dubbing as “LunarVision” where he is putting us in Blake’s character as he is slowly metamorphosizing into something unhuman and for the most part it works because it is one of the few times the audience is being allowed to empathize with any of our characters on screen.

Overall, the film has a lush sound design and score with dark but intentional cinematography that is pretty well-balanced. Unfortunately, Whannell’s cinematic playground isn’t as robust as it feels like it needs to be and can be really broken down into a horror film that takes place singular location – which also may include a little “Saw” homage. Couple that with the characters who don’t really draw tons of interest, the film is a bit bland and pedestrian to send people over the moon.