Classic monsters made Contemporary

The reboot of the 1941 movie The Wolf Man is directed and co-written by Australian film-maker Leigh Whannell

- Alison de Souza

There is nothing like an old-school monster movie, and the new horror film Wolf Man brings one of the hairiest and scariest back to the big screen.

Opening in Singapore cinemas on Jan 16, the film stars American actor Christopher Abbott as family man Blake, who decides to visit the remote farmhouse he inherited following the mysterious disappearance of his father.

But while travelling there with wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) and daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth) during a full moon, he is attacked by an unseen animal that claws his arm.

And as the family barricade themselves inside the house, Blake starts to transform into something unspeakable.

This reboot of the classic 1941 film The Wolf Man is directed and co-written by Leigh Whannell, the Australian film-maker behind the popular Saw (2004 to present) and Insidious (2011 to present) horror franchises.

Screening the trailer at an event in New York in late 2024, he explains why he revisited the werewolf legend.

"These classic monsters, they're so durable that you can make them contemporary," says the 47-year-old.