At the Movies

by Esther McCarthy

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WOLF’S ALL BARK, NO BITE

THE WOLFMAN (16) starstar

THE STARS: Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt, Anthony Hopkins, Hugo Weaving.

THE STORY: English actor Talbot returns home to find his missing brother - but when attacked by a mysterious beast, Talbot starts to get equally scary during a full moon.

TOOTH AND NAILS: The WolfmanBENICIO DEL TORO is the perfect person to bring classic horror The Wolfman back to the big screen. Broody, macho and a great actor, the star has the perfect features to portray a tortured man who turns into a killer creature during a full moon.

But while he's well cast in this undeniably good-looking movie, the story around him is all fits and starts.

Packed with truly gory scenes, this sombre film will please hardcore horror fans yet also feels like a missed opportunity with its poorly-paced storyline.

Del Toro shines as Talbot, a gifted actor who's brought back to his Victorian English family home following the disappearance of his brother. He's reunited with his estranged father (Hopkins) and urged by his brother's fiancée (Blunt) to help them find out what happened to him.

The village is terrified about a mysterious beast that has been attacking locals and a detective from Scotland Yard (Weaving) has been called in to investigate. But when he becomes the latest victim of the violent creature, Talbot is cursed to be transformed into
a werewolf with every full moon.

The period detail looks impressive on the big screen and there are plenty of spooky bits, propelled by some gratuitously graphic scenes. But some of the dialogue is corny and the storyline is lame indeed.

THE VERDICT: Del Toro equips himself well and there's a prevailing creepiness throughout. Indeed, if the filmmakers had developed a stronger storyline with the same enthusiasm they've given to its visual effects, this could have been a far superior film.

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