Leigh Whannell looked to an ’80s classic for inspiration on how to depict the body horror elements in Wolf Man.
Speaking with Empire (peep the new image from Wolf Man above), Whannell talked about how the Universal Monsters reboot wouldn’t be shying away from the body-horror elements inherent to the werewolf mythos.
“What The Fly did that a lot of other practical-effects-driven horror movies from that time did not do was bring the tragedy out of these practical effects,” he said. “It wasn’t a joke in The Fly. It was there to illustrate someone who was dying of an illness.”
Whannell explained that that’s the vibe he brought to Wolf Man. “I was like, ‘I’ve got to do that.’ It’s not about being funny or icky or gory. This is about the tragedy of the human body falling apart,” he added.
Released in 1986, The Fly was directed and co-written by body horror expert David Cronenberg. The movie stars Jeff Goldblum as Seth Brundle, an eccentric scientist who, after one of his experiments goes wrong, slowly turns into a fly-hybrid creature. It’s a great movie, go watch it!
Wolf Man opens in theaters on January 17, 2025.
Are you stoked that Wolf Man is going to be a tragedy? Are you ready for the title character to hate being a werewolf? Share your thoughts in the Disqus comments below!
