Wolfman -Opens this Weekend, Any Early Reviews?

Cafe Society
1

The promos for the new Wolfman with Anthony Hopkins.

Whats the early buzz for this movie?

My biggest concern is the special effects may over shadow the characters. The tortured characterization of Lon Chaney’s Wolfman makes it special. I wonder who they’ll get to play the Gypsy lady? Maria Ouspenskaya scared the shit out of me the first time I saw this movie. The Gyspy lady was scarier than the wolfman. :eek: I hope they kept this character in the remake.

Maria Ouspenskaya pics

Some great pics from the original classic movie.
http://cinefantastiqueonline.com/2008/09/film-review-the-wolf-man-1941/

2

I found four reviews at Rotten Tomatoes, but they are from pretty small outfits.

A bigger name, Rex Reed, reviews it here: Entertainment | Observer

Sounds like it’s meh. I also found this:

Delaying the opening (and opening in February) doesn’t augur well for the film.

3

here’s a photo gallery of the wolfman makeup process. Looks a little like Lon Chaney’s wolfman.

There’s 12 images in the gallery.

4

Why do you hate America?

5

:confused: I’m not sure what you’re refering to.

The original Wolfman has been my favorite horror film since childhood. One of the movies strengths is Lon Chaney’s understated makeup. He didn’t need a bunch of crap on his face to create the Wolfman. I saw American Werewolf in London and didn’t think it was nearly as good.

6

Rent and view La Femme Nikita and the Hollywood remake Point of No Return, and you will understand.

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I’m looking forward to it - although due to the weather I might not make it out this weekend.

8

Characters schmaracters! Look at Avatar! We don’t need no stinkin characters!
Special effects overshadowed everything all the way to the #1 money making movie in the world and a nomination for best picture.
That’s apparently what Hollywood and Americans love. Why are you against Hollywood and America? :wink:

9

I saw it this afternoon. My two cents’ worth:

  1. I loved the cinematography–lots of shots that looked like they were straight out of the original. Very atmospheric and just beautifully composed.
  2. Anthony Hopkins rocks.
  3. Benicio Del Toro’s American accent sounded a little strange to me, but I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong with it.
  4. Terrible, terrible dialogue, and no characterization.
  5. No chemistry among the characters.

Overall I’d give it a C-. It gets points for being pretty, but I wasn’t drawn into the story or able to really care about any of the characters.

10

I just saw it.

The script could have used some dialog work by somebody like Tom Stoppard, but it succeeded reasonably well enough at doing what it intended to do, which was be an enjoyable time-waster. For the most part, it is very respectful to the original film, and the makeup has a classic look to it.

11

I saw it too. I would wait for dvd or pay per view.

Looked terrific but the dialogue and plot were lazy as were the performances. Can’t say I blame them given the material they had to work with.

Makeup wasn’t bad but still nothing compared to Rick Baker’s work on American Werewolf in London. Baker worked on this one too. I wonder what he thought of the finished product.

12

I saw it yesterday and absolutely hated it. The characterization was thin, Hopkins chewed scenery and Del Toro (at least in this) couldn’t act his way out of a wet paper sack. But it was indeed pretty, although the special effects weren’t up to the par I’d have expected them to be.

13

I did not go out to it. I was going to, but got lazy and instead hung around the house all day. Maybe I was better off…