Queer.Horror.Movies

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40 Things We Learned from the ‘Wolf Man’ Commentary

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A fold out of the Wolf Man 4K set, featuring two discs

Writer/director Leigh Whannell reimagined a classic Universal monster back in January with a contemporary remake of Wolf Man (2025).

Plot Synopsis: Family man Blake (Christopher Abbott) seeks to protect his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) and daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth) from a werewolf, only to become infected and slowly transform into the creature.

Credit to Rob Hunter (FilmSchoolRejects) for an amazing template for this post

Wolf Man (2025)

Commentator: Leigh Whannell

  1. There’s a running gag by Whannell throughout the commentary that only aspiring filmmakers and the cast/crew are listening. He also jokes about his syrupy voice several times, making comparisons to both Brad Pitt and Kath & Kim.
  2. The opening shot of the ants consuming the hornet required an insect wrangler and was something that Whannell had to fight to keep in the film. He argues that even though it is ultimately immaterial to the plot, this brief moment sets the tone for Wolf Man by addressing the ruthlessness of nature.
  3. Production designer Ruby Mathers built the farmhouse from scratch because it had to look like classic American farm house. She also built the barn because none of these structures existed in New Zealand where the film was shot.
  4. The interiors of the barn and the house were, however, shot on sound stages. 
  5. Whannell spends a fair amount of time throughout the commentary talking about how important in-camera/practical shooting is, but he’s not afraid to advocate for using CG to complement it.
  6. Christopher Abbott was cast after Whannell saw him in the play Danny and the Deep Blue Sea in London.
  7. Julia Garner confirmed to Whannell that she would do the film by texting him several wolf emojis.
  1. The conversation between Blake and Charlotte on the stairs required a lot of rewrites. It was also difficult to shoot, and even required a few pick-ups (in front of a green screen). Whannell is candid that scenes that look simple are often the hardest to shoot.
  2. Whannell’s fave part of his films are his actors’ performances and he encourages burgeoning directors to trust their actors to deliver gold by not micromanaging. “It’s finding the good actors that’s the tough part.”
  3. Actor Benedict Hardie (who plays Derek, the man who dies in the suspended truck sequence) is in all of Whannell’s films except Insidious 3. Whannell amusingly refers to Hardie as his good luck charm. 
  4. The dialogue in the truck was shot in front of an LED screen.
  5. The camera was fixed to the truck for the crash sequence, which required the whole scene – ie: the trees, backgrounds – to be CG.
  6. There’s a brief tangent about how frustrating it is when interviewers interrupt their subject on podcasts and then their answer to questions/topics is never revealed. “It’s not a tragedy on the level of, say, the Titanic” Whannell clarifies.
  7. He once walked in on Abbott dancing to a New Order song in full wolf man costume, then credits the actor’s performance for helping to diffuse the tension on set.
  8. The screenplay was originally written so that it was a reveal that it was Blake who was turning into the werewolf, but that idea was abandoned relatively early on.
  9. The extremely loud spider sequence is Whannell’s fave part of the film.
  10. He’s careful to reassure us that there’s nothing to worry about in Australia before revealing the Huntsman spider was imported to New Zealand from Australia (which was apparently quite a struggle to pull off). Also: Whannell is amazed that there are no snakes in New Zealand.
  11. The shot of the clock was inserted following a note from Hollywood suits out of concern that the audience wouldn’t understand that the film takes place over a single night.
  12. The scene of Charlotte talking on the CB radio scene is Julia Garner’s first take – she nailed it, so Whannell used it.
An over the shoulder shot of a dark haired man looking at a blonde woman in a flannel shirt. The colouring of the image is slightly pink purple
  1. The camera moving between Charlotte and Blake when they can no longer communicate is the reason Whannell wanted to make the movie.
  2. The scene of Blake biting his own arm made Whannell ill. The writer/director claims it’s the first time it’s happened for his own films. 
  3. He praises Julia Ducournau’s New French Extremity film Raw for inspiring the same feeling.
  4. He likens Charlotte to the Shelly Duvall character in The Shining: they’re the backbone that holds the film up.
  5. Whannell needed to find a four door truck for the truck set piece to work, which proved difficult because most modern day trucks only have two doors.
  6. The greenhouse action sequence is referred to as “our Jaws moment.” It was shot at ground level – done at 3am in the cold with the actors wearing uncomfortable harnesses – and it was quite an ordeal. Whannell claims no one remembers the hard times at the premiere, though.
  7. “It can be quite draining” Whannell says of shooting in the same location because there’s nothing new or “sexy”. It can lead filmmakers to try different (ie: more complicated) shots, which is what his DP Stefan Duscio encouraged him not to do.
  8. Whannell finds the scene of Ginger trying to reconnect with Blake before he vomits very affecting and encourages filmmakers to be their own barometer (if you laugh, an audience member will laugh; if you’re scared, an audience will find it scary, etc).
  9. The wolf fight was fun to choreograph: in order to do something different from other contemporary (post John Wick) action films, the production went with animalistic fighting (ie: biting each other) instead of punching each other.
  10. There’s a brief running joke about a glass lamp that Whannell frets is too reminiscent of Stranger Things.
  11. Blake’s father Grady (Sam Jaeger) served in the Marines in Vietnam, but it’s “invisible backstory” because you would need to spot the flag with the skull on it in the basement.
  12. Blake’s “final gesture of goodwill was killing his father to protect his family” but it’s also the tipping point where “they just become prey to him.”
A blonde woman hugs a young dark haired girl in a red coat in the dark
  1. The film was shot on digital (not film) so it gave Whannell the freedom to “really, really get dark.” He likes to light films for the theatre; not for people watching with the brightness turned down at the beach [Note: as I said in my review on Horror Queers Patreon, I would argue it’s too dark]
  2. Whannell laments having to trim longer sequences but admits you have to kill your darlings in the build-up to the climax.
  3. Kisa in Wellington was Whannell’s favourite restaurant during the shoot. He wonders if any other commentary has ever offered dining recommendations before.
  4. Blake chewing his leg off because he’s caught in a trap is an obvious Saw homage. It took Abbott ten minutes to chew through (Whannell notes that the actor apparently did not find the prosthetic delicious, even though it was made of chocolate).
  5. “I feel like the actors are really working when they’re suffering” Whannell jokes about the late nights outdoors in the cold, and specifically about Abbott acting shirtless for the majority of the film’s back half.
  6. The film has “a terrible body count”: there are only 3 deaths.
  7. Whannell loves the symmetry of beginning and ending in the hunting blind. He was unfamiliar with the concept until he visited his in-laws in Texas (he believes they’re not a thing in Australia and NZ).
A blonde woman in a red flannel shirt (R) walks hand in hand with a young dark haired girl in a field with mountains in the background
  1. He loves ending a film with a character looking out onto an uncertain future – he’s done this before with both Upgrade and The Invisible Man.
  2. There was originally a title sequence at the start of the film, but it was cut for time. The closing credits – with letters disappearing and turning into others – is a nod to Wolf Man‘s theme of transformation (Whannell likes credits that “tell a story about the film”).

Other Bonus Features

  • Unleashing a New Monster (8 mins): An overview of the film’s production with a focus on physical set construction and how important landscape and isolation are.
  • Designing Wolf Man (9 mins): A look at prosthetic make-up artist Arjen Tuiten‘s work designing the the five stage evolution of Blake’s transformation. Fun facts include: the film used 650 prosthetic pieces, Abbott was in make-up for between 2.5-7 hours, Cronenberg’s The Fly – as well as leprosy – were used as inspiration.
  • Hands-On Horror (6 mins): A look at the practical, in-camera shooting of key set pieces, including the suspended truck sequence, the escape to the truck sequence, and the green house sequence.
  • Nightmares and Soundscapes (6 mins): reflections of the visual and aural aesthetic of the film, including how the lighting signals changes in perspective, the importance of sound mix and VFX in post, and the sound effects being created played side by side with the finished result

Wolf Man is out now on 4K, Blu, DVD and Digital.