How the Wolf Man updates traditional werewolf mythology for the modern age

Spoilers for “Wolf Man” follow.

Stories about partly animal and partly human beings go back to the beginning of humanity. One might immediately think of the animalistic, hairy Enkidu, the rival and friend of King Gilgamesh in the ancient Mesopotamian epic. When it comes to werewolves, however, our modern ideas about the creatures come straight from Hollywood. The first major werewolf film was Stuart Walker’s 1935 horror film Werewolf of London, and it introduced much of what modern pop audiences associate with Wolf Men. The protagonist of “London” was a British botanist named Dr. Glendon (Henry Hull), who discovered a rare moon-blooming planet in the hills of Tibet… just as he was bitten by a mysterious animal.

Back in London, Dr. Glendon a series of discoveries. On the one hand, he learns that werewolves are real. He also finds that they change around the time of the full moon. The plant he discovered is an antidote and the werewolf “virus” can be transmitted through a bite. He also finds out that werewolves have to kill every night or they won’t turn back into humans.

So from the beginning, werewolves were a strange mix of science and magic. There is something in werewolf saliva that “infects” a victim and causes them to become a werewolf themselves, but a person’s werewolfism is also closely linked to full moons and murder curses. These tropes would be solidified in George Waggner’s 1941 classic The Wolf Man, starring Lon Chaney Jr. This film was also about a werewolf infection transmitted through a bite, but also a Roma curse, full moons and strange mystical symbols. This film has become canon in the realm of horror films, and the Wolf Man is one of the champion Universal monsters.

Leigh Whannell’s new film “Wolf Man” is a true studio reboot of Waggner’s film and appears to deviate from the traditional “Curses” elements. This time the curse is more of a metaphor.

“Wolf Man” follows the life of Blake (Christopher Abbott), who was raised in a remote cabin in Oregon by a survivalist. Blake’s father was always yelling at him and swearing at him, constantly warning the boy that the forest was dangerous and that he needed to learn to use a weapon to survive. His father is not physically abusive, but he does have a temper. As an adult, Blake moves to the big city and settles down with his wife (Julia 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 reluctantly agrees to tag along, and they pack a moving truck for an extended stay in Oregon. Of course…something…is lurking in the woods when they arrive.

That something is a wolfman. This is a creature that Blake came into contact with as a child, and he remembers stories about a hiker who got lost in the woods in 1995 and became infected with “Hill Fever,” turning him into a wild, fleshy hiker. eating monster. The stories of mountain fever also coincide with a local First Nation myth about a magical creature that bears “the face of the wolf.”

Blake is bitten by the Wolf Man early in their journey and his transformation into a wolf begins almost immediately. There is no myth, no magic, no full moon connection. As far as the film dramatizes, the Wolf Man’s curse is purely biological in nature. If there is a curse, it is metaphorical, symbolically representing the curse of neglect and violent upbringing in the forest that Blake experienced as a boy.

Frankly, it’s a good thing that “Wolf Man” removed a magical “curse” from the werewolf ethos, as it always contained an element of racial exoticism. “Werewolf of London” was about a white man who discovered the exotic dangers of Tibet. “The Wolf Man” was about a white man who discovered the exotic dangers of the Roma people. In many other werewolf films, the creature is a curse carried into the Caucasian world through First Nation magic. Many of these Wolf-Man films depict a world where white people are safe in cities and where all magical curses originate in threatening “foreign cultures.” There is an undertone of xenophobia.

“Wolf Man” does have an element of First Nation mysticism – the “face of the wolf” element mentioned above – but it is not prominent and it is not the explanation for where Wolf Man disease came from. Instead, it is believed that “Hill Fever” is 100% biological in origin and is transmitted through wounds. Whannell’s “Wolf Man” is a secular monster film that rejects both lunar magic and the fear of other cultures. By turning the “curse” into something metaphorical, the story (supposedly) becomes more interesting to a broad, secular audience.

Horror fans may know that Whannell was also made an “Invisible Man” reboot in 2020and his two neo-monster films lean just as heavily on the “Man” part of the title as “Invisible” and “Wolf.” “The Invisible Man” is about a male stalker who tries to manipulate a girlfriend, whom he has emotionally and physically abused, and keep her prisoner in his home. “Wolf Man” also takes a very traditionally masculine element of American culture – hunting and survivalism – and transforms it into something bestial. It’s a clever approach.

“Wolf Man” is in theaters now.