How a werewolf updates traditional werewolf mythology for the modern age

Spoilers for “The Wolf Man” follow.

Stories of half-animal/half-human beings date back to the dawn of humanity. One might immediately think of the monstrous, hairy Enkidus, the rival-turned-friend of King Gilgamesh in the ancient Mesopotamian epic. However, when it comes to werewolves, our modern perception of the creatures comes straight from Hollywood. The first major werewolf film was Stewart Walker's 1935 horror film Werewolf of London, and it introduced much of what modern pop audiences associate with Wolf Men. The main character of “London” was a British botanist named Dr. Glendon (Henry Hall) who discovered a rare, moon-flowering planet in the hills of Tibet… just as he was bitten by a mysterious beastly creature.

Back in London, Dr. Glendon makes a series of discoveries. First, he learns that werewolves are real. He also finds that they transform around the time of the full moon. He discovers the plant is an antidote and that the werewolf “virus” can be spread through a bite. He also reveals that the werewolves must be killed every night or they will not turn into humans.

From the jump, werewolves have been a curious mix of science and magic. There is something in werewolf saliva that “infects” the victim, causing them to become werewolves themselves, but human werewolfism is also closely related to full moons and killing curses. These tropes would be cemented in George Wagner's 1941 classic The Wolf Man starring Lon Chaney, Jr. This movie also featured a werewolf infection spread by a bite, as well as a Roman curse, full moons, and strange mystical symbols. This film has become a canonical horror film, and the Wolfman is one of the universal monsters.

Leigh Winnell's new movie “The Wolf Man” is a proper studio reboot of Wagner's film, and it seems to deviate from the traditional “curse” elements. This time the curse is more than a metaphor.

“Wolf Man” follows Blake's life (Christopher Abbott), who was raised in a remote cabin in Oregon by a survivor father. Blake's father used to yell at him and insult him, constantly warning the boy that the woods were dangerous and that he needed to learn to use a gun to survive. His father is not physically abusive, but he has a temper. As an adult, Blake moves to the Big City and lives with his wife (Julie Garner) and daughter (Matilda Firth). When his father dies, Blake is called back to the cabin in the woods and must claim it as his inheritance. His family begrudgingly agrees to tag along, and they pack up in a van to stay in Oregon longer. Sure enough, when they arrive, there is … something … lurking in the forest.

Something is the Wolf Man. This is a creature that Blake had encountered as a child, and he recalls stories of a hiker who got lost in the woods in 1995 and was infected with “mountain fever,” turning them into wild flesh. an eating monster. Stories of mountain fever also coincide with a local First Nation myth of a magical being wearing a “wolf face.”

Blake is bitten by a werewolf early in their journey and his wolfish transformation begins almost immediately. There is no myth, no magic, no full moon connection. As far as the film dramatizes, the Curse of the Werewolf is entirely biological. If there is a curse, it is metaphorical, symbolically representing the curse of the neglectful and abusive forest upbringing Blake experienced as a child.

Frankly, it's a good thing that “Wolf Man” took the magical “curse” out of the werewolf ethos, because it always contained an element of racist exoticism. “Werewolf of London” was about a white guy who discovers the exotic dangers of Tibet. “The Wolf Man” was about a white guy who discovers the exotic dangers of gypsy people. In many other werewolf movies, this creature is a curse brought on by First Nation magic in the Caucasian world. Many of these Werewolf films depict a world where white people are safe in the cities and where magical curses arise from threatening “outside cultures”. It has an undercurrent of xenophobia.

“Wolf Man” has an element of First Nation mysticism – the “wolf face” element mentioned above – but it is not apparent and does not explain where the Wolf Man's disease came from. Instead, “mountain fever” is considered 100% biological in origin and transmitted through wounds. Kell's The Wolf Man is a secular monster movie that rejects both moon magic and the fear of other cultures. By turning the “curse” into something metaphorical, it (seemingly) makes the story more interesting to a broad, secular audience.

Whannel, horror fans may know, also made The Invisible Man reboot in 2020and both of his neo-monster films fit the “Man” part of the title as firmly as “The Invisible” and “The Wolf.” “The Invisible Man” is about a male stalker who tries to manipulate his girlfriend, whom he emotionally and physically abused, and keeps prisoner in his home. “The Wolf Man” also takes a very traditionally masculine element of American culture – hunting and survival – and turns it into something animalistic. It's a smart approach.

“The Wolf Man” is in theaters now.