The Trailer Park: Wolfman 2009

“You’ve done terrible things. Be strong”--Anthony Hopkins The Wolfman

A bootleg trailer for 2009's The Wolfman was leaked to the internet back in July of 2008 and I just got a chance to see it and share some thoughts. It has a distinctive Sleepy Hollow feel to it with its depiction of a dreary 1880s London and the isolated inhabitants of the town being threatened by a ravenous beast. Cinematically my favorite part of the trailer was the shot of a terrified Emily Blunt hiding behind a tree while a wolfish Benicio can be seen in the background.

An interesting thing I gleaned from the trailer is that the film’s treatment of the werewolf might go beyond just the physical transformation and explore the concept of lycanthropy as a mental disease. Toro is depicted bound in a straight jacket in the middle of a crowded operating theater and screams “I will kill all of you!” as his hands turn into claws. His immersion in ice water also resembles a kind of turn of the century calming treatment for the mentally ill.

Turning to the aesthetics of the new Wolfman, one thing I’m happy with is the effort on the part of the makeup artists to stay true to the overall facial look of the original. They kept the dog nose and pattern of the facial hair consistent while adding more realistic elements to really bring the Wolfman back to life.

On the other hand, he does seem a lot more buff than Lon Chaney Jr.’s version, almost to point of looking like he has a humpback as he runs across the rooftops. The new look is also experimenting with a canine foreleg like the ones we’ve seen in Underworld and Dog Soldiers. I’m not sure if the combination of these two elements will work to create a more terrifying monster or if they’ll just make Benicio del Toro look like a top heavy ballerina. We’ll just have to wait and see.