Wolf Man (2025)

Leigh Whannell turned The Invisible Man into a sharp, scary hit, and Wolf Man shows how hard that trick is to pull twice. It’s a slow transformation movie with few scares and a creature that never convinces. Blake, a San Francisco dad who fights the same temper his father had, takes his wife Charlotte and daughter Ginger to his late father’s old house in the Oregon woods. On the way, something attacks on a dark road, Blake gets scratched, and the rest is one long night of him changing. The first half is patient and tense, with the family barricaded in. The best idea is that Blake slowly stops understanding his own family’s words, a sad and clever spin on the old monster. Then the second half plods. Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner commit hard. It made $34.2 million worldwide on a reported $25 million budget. A 4.3 because a good short film about a scared dad is buried inside a sluggish monster movie. $36.64 says you hear a scratch at the door tonight and blame the dog.

What works: The tense first half and the idea of Blake losing the ability to understand his family give the old monster story a fresh, sad angle.

What doesn’t: The second half drags, the scares are scarce, and the creature never looks convincing enough to carry the finale.

Who it’s for: Horror fans who want a slow family drama with a monster in it more than a creature feature.