The best part of Wolf Man recalls director Leigh Whannell’s most underrated film

Warning: This article discusses Major spoilers About “The Wolf Man”.

Before Leigh Whannell took his talents to the Universal Monsters franchise, the Australian director initially began his career as an actor, writer on the “Saw” and “Insidious” franchises, and (most importantly for our purposes here) a director who first made a name for himself with stylish thrillers And low budget. His exact career path hasn’t been typical compared to most, but the outlines of him working his way up the studio system until he reached his peak – so far, at least – with “The Invisible Man” and more recently “Wolf Man” (Which I reviewed for /Film hereIt couldn’t be more perfect. It’s hard to miss how his latest monster movie feels like the culmination of almost every lesson he learned in The Invisible Man, especially with his approach to making the title character feel fresh and modern. But more than anything, “Wolf Man” harkens back to one of Whannell’s most underrated films of all time: “Upgrade.”

The 2018 sci-fi film immediately made waves upon its release (you can Check out Matt Donato’s glowing review of the film here) and inspired something of a cult following for its innovative comic work, genre-bending story, and the fact that it did a better Venom movie than any actual “Venom” movie ever did. The film follows Logan Marshall-Green as Gray Trace, an old-school mechanic/professional who ends up implanting an advanced chip (and its accompanying artificial intelligence, STEM) that essentially turns him into a high-tech vigilante.

On the surface, it doesn’t seem like “Wolf Man” or “Upgrade” have much in common… until you take a deeper look at how they both deal with the idea of ​​perspective, autonomy, and the way we portray these concepts in film.

It may seem stupid to say “write?” out loud like that, but everything we see depicted in a movie or TV show was done with a great deal of intent and purpose. Think of any close-up/insert shot of a hand holding a coffee mug or a phone screen, or an establishing shot that shows us a city skyline or the exterior of a building, or the wide range of colors that make up the production design, costumes, and photography. And the overall look of the entire movie. It’s all done for a specific reason – whether to evoke a certain emotion, communicate some key information, or just provide context for the rest of the scene.

So when it comes to what is almost certainly the biggest and best talking point in “The Wolf Man” (Aside from all this controversy about the creature’s design), it’s worth delving into Why Leigh Whannell decided to shoot those strange-looking scenes from the Wolf Man’s perspective the way he and director of photography Stefan Dusio did.

The first of these exciting moments comes after Blake (Christopher Abbott) was scratched by the Wolf Man during a tense car accident in the Oregon woods early on, and now he’s gradually succumbing to his symptoms. At first, we don’t get a complete picture of what’s wrong. Sure, he looks a bit sweaty and nervous, but he seems capable enough to protect his family. That is, until he noisily steps up the cabin’s front door, his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) and daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth) wandering down the hall, staring blankly at him. We won’t find out until after a few scenes They are Not those who act strangely – it is. After confining the audience strictly to Blake’s point of view, the camera seamlessly shifts to Charlotte’s perspective and reveals the full extent of her husband’s transformation into the Wolf Man. The lighting changes dramatically, the camera frame literally tilts off its axis, and we realize that Blake’s condition has already noticeably worsened. He cannot speak, his injuries have worsened, and he is on his way to becoming the Wolf Man.

In both Upgrade and Wolf Man, Leigh Whannell’s clever filmmaking decisions use the conventions and our expectations of the genre to keep viewers on their toes. “Upgrade” relies mostly on tilt and jarring shots that ignore the usual horizons of the frame — all of which confuse us and help us buy into the powerful action. (The moment Gray allows the artificial intelligence in his head to take control of his entire body and fight his battles for him, As we saw in this clipis the earliest and most effective example of this in film.) Although “Wolf Man” never opts for this maximizing approach to controlled chaos, Whannell’s similar choice to completely change the film’s visual language achieves much the same effect.

In “Wolf Man,” Whannell and director of photography Stefan Dusio reunite — yes, they also worked together on both “The Invisible Man” and “Upgrade,” which shouldn’t come as a surprise — and work their unique magic once again. In this case, they rely on a calmer approach to bring fans back on their heels. After being placed exclusively in Blake’s headspace for the entire film, where we rarely (if ever) see anything he doesn’t see himself, we suddenly change places as the camera literally slides into Charlotte’s perspective. This first occurs at Blake’s bedside, and again in the dark basement as she frantically calls for help on the CB radio… though we initially see this in the night vision and with the distorted sound that Blake experiences in his sensory overload state.

Although this is a very different shift in perspective than what the duo achieved in “Upgrade,” Whannell and Duscio find an equally effective way to keep us unsettled during these moments in “Wolf Man,” all while remaining 100% faithful to the different tones. Exactly for every movie. Leigh Whannell who made “Wolf Man” couldn’t have done it without Leigh Whannell who first wowed us with “Upgrade” – and we’re lucky to have both.

“Wolf Man” is now in theaters.