Wolf Man: Leigh Whannell’s Love Letter to ’80s Body Horror Cinema [Video]

Thanks to director Leigh Whannell’s Wof Man, among others, grotesquely beautiful body horror classics of the 1980s have never felt more relevant.

Themes of infection, mutation, and transformation made famous by celebrated cinematic touchstones such as John Carpenter’s The Thing and David Cronenberg’s The Fly take on fresh weight in a post-pandemic world, and filmmakers are taking full advantage of the storytelling possibilities. Filmmakers like Whannell, whose forthcoming update on the Wolf Man (in theaters everywhere January 17) promises to deliver a novel interpretation of the lupine genre, while simultaneously serving as a throwback love letter to the practical scares of pre-CGI Hollywood.

“Our … story is about infection and transformation,” Whannell, who previously brought The Invisible Maninto the 21st century, explains in the new behind-the-scenes featurette below. “So after the last few years of turmoil that the world has been in, the themes of isolation and dread and anxiety were naturally coming out in the …