The filmmaker reveals the movies he screened for the Universal Monsters rebooters, discusses the importance of practical effects, and whether Bigfoot could be a Wolfman.

The 2025 movie calendar is off to a slow start, with many late 2024 releases still dominating the box office. Leigh Whannell’s horror film Wolf Man hopes to join Den of Thieves 2: Pantera at the top of the weekend’s box office when it opens on January 17th, but judging by the mixed reviews from critics, it’s unclear how likely that’ll be.

For better, there's been 2020's The Invisible Man, in which writer/director Leigh Whannell left his supernatural leanings from the Insidious franchise behind for a more sci-fi-rooted horror. His Wolf Man has a similarly grim and grounded approach,

Leigh Whannell tempers the scares in Wolf Man, but ups the family melodrama, offering a tragedy in the classic Universal Monster tradition.

At the risk of sounding unintentionally patronizing, Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man gets an “A” for effort. You can see the same mind at work that took the story of The Invisible Man and crafted an allegory about gaslighting,

For the entirety of Leigh Whannell's screenwriting career, the horror veteran has shown the gift of being able to make audiences cower in terror inside a darkened movie theater, and then, come back for more.

Leigh Whannell's Wolf Man appears to be divisive among film critics. Wolf Man opens in United States theaters this coming weekend. Directed by Whannell, who previously made 2020's The Invisible Man, the Blumhouse monster movie stars Christopher Abbott,