Unspeakable Horror!

In the upcoming year of 2010, I am most looking forward to the remake of the Wolfman with Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins.  For me, the original Wolfman is a touchstone of the horror genre--not to suggest that it achieved cinematic excellence, but it did achieve far-reaching influence.  There are many things that I love about this film: the two-legged anthropomorphic werewolf, which is like a half-transformation (I love the feet), as opposed to the four-legged werewolf variety; the corny but lovable performance by Lon Chaney, who created a sympathetic monster torn apart by the duality of the werewolf; the wonderful performance by Maria Ouspenskaya as the grim gypsy woman--who also brings the iconic werewolf rhyme to life with dramatic fluorish; and the clash between old world superstition and psychology as Talbot's father tries to make logical sense of the werewolf curse (also ushering in a new obsession on psychology in the horror film). 

Of course, at this point I have only seen the trailer for the new version, but I am very optimistic about the new film, despite rumors of a troubled production circulating around the internet.  No matter what, it's going to be fascinating to see how the filmmakers have re-imagined the classic film for a contemporary audience. 

Gleaned from the trailer, here are some of the things I am most excited about:

Rick Baker is in charge of the werewolf transformation.  Hooray for that.  The evolution of the werewolf transformation is one of my favorite aspects of horror movies, and Rick Baker is the master behind the groundbreaking transformations in American Werewolf in London and Michael Jackson's Thriller.  It will be exciting to see how Baker responds to the original hokey transformation with all of the new technology at his disposal.  A lot of recent digital werewolf transformations are uninspiring and downright fake-looking (no suspension of disbelief), but I suspect this will not be the case with Baker's work in this film. 

It appears the filmmakers are taking the subtext about psychology from the original and expanding it into a major component of the plot, and I think this will be fascinating, especially what appears to be scenes that show abusive techniques of the past--techniques that attempt to "cure" with methods more akin to an old-world witch trial. 

Also, I love to see Anthony Hopkins and Benicio del Toro act, so I am very excited to see how they portray the father/son relationship in this new version.  In the original version, I find the father/son relationship to be a lot more endearing than the love interest subplot, so I'm hoping they do that relationship justice as well. 

Here's hoping there is as much thoughtful storytelling and filmmaking craftsmanship as I'm expecting in the new version of the Wolfman--at this point I'm very optimistic.  Click here for the trailer!