The Wolf Man reboot from director Leigh Whannell has landed some rave first reactions ahead of its cinema release.
Starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, the horror is a remake of the 1941 film of the same name and marks Whannell's second take on a Universal Monster after his excellent The Invisible Man, released in 2020.
Co-written by Whannell and Corbett Tuck, Wolf Man has been hailed as a genuinely scary yet intimate film about grief and family trauma in critics' social media reactions.
"Wolf Man is another innovative and stylish updating of a classic by Leigh Whannell," Digital Spy movies editor Ian Sandwell wrote on Twitter/X. "Excellent sound design and visual storytelling, with Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner as reliably strong as ever.
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More posts have praised the suspenseful tone of the movie throughout, highlighting the central performances from Abbott and Garner as well as the film's body-horror elements and jump scares.
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The Mary Sue's Rachel Leishman said: "#WolfMan will leave you afraid of the dark! Watched this movie with my feet up on the air because I was terrified of what could grab my ankles. Just a suspenseful thrill from start to finish.
"Christopher Abbott is a star and I love him so much!"
Benjamin Watts said: "#WolfManMovie howls with raw emotion and haunting intimacy.
"Leigh Whannell crafts a storm of grief and ferocity, echoing the shadowy elegance of The Invisible Man (2020). If that film resonated with you, @WolfManMovie25 will leave its mark just as deeply."
The AU Review's Peter Gray said: "2025 is off to a great start with #WolfManMovie. Leigh Whannell trims all the fat and lays out a tense, no-nonsense thriller that wraps its animistic telling in a story about relationship dynamics, loss and generational trauma.
"Pristine sound design and organic scares all round."
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Wolf Man features Abbott as Blake, who relocates from San Francisco to Oregon with his wife Charlotte (Garner) and their daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth).
As they adjust to their new life in Blake's childhood home, which he's just inherited from his mysteriously disappeared father, the family is targeted by an unseen animal.
Barricaded inside for the night, the trio deal with the feral consequences of the attack that threaten to tear them apart.
Whannell's is the second remake of the 1940s classic after 2010's The Wolfman, with Benicio del Toro and Emily Blunt.
Ryan Gosling was originally attached to star in the lead role but exited in December 2023, though he remained onboard as an executive producer. Filmmaker Derek Cianfrance, who worked with Gosling in The Place Beyond the Pines and Blue Valentine, was also set to direct but later withdrew.
Abbott then replaced Gosling, with Whannell joining in to direct.
The cast of Wolf Man is rounded out by Sam Jaeger, Ben Prendergast and Benedict Hardie, while the movie is co-produced by Jason Blum under his Blumhouse banner.
Wolf Man is released in cinemas on January 17.
Reporter, Digital Spy
Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
