Leigh Whannell's new horror film, Wolf Man, is inspired by the director's experience with a close friend suffering from ALS. The film explores the terrifying transformation of a father as his body betrays him, reflecting the real-life horror of degenerative disease.
It's heartbreaking when your body turns against you: The personal story that inspired Leigh Whannell 's Wolf Man may not seem like the kind of movie born from intense grief. Written and directed by Australian Leigh Whannell , famous for co-creating the Insidious franchise, sticks to the original premise. We meet a young family: doting dad Blake (Golden Globe nominee Christopher Abbott), his wife Charlotte (Emmy winner Julia Garner) and their daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth).
After Blake's father dies they travel to his childhood home in rural Oregon to pack up his belongings. As the family approaches the farmhouse in the dead of night they're attacked by an unseen animal, with Blake suffering a wound so nasty no amount of Dettol could be enough. Before long the family is being stalked by the creature, while inside the house Blake begins a haunting transformation of his own.This could have become a paint-by-numbers genre film about a Big Bad Wolf in the hands of a less capable director. However, Whannell recognised that the true horror stemmed from Blake's transformation, a decision driven by his own experience of degenerative disease. “While my wife and I were writing, we had a very close friend in Los Angeles suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , and that’s a disease that truly takes over your body,” explains Whannell. “It’s heartbreaking when your body turns against you and begins shutting down; it’s a real-life horror movie for both the person suffering and the people left behind.”The film serves as a way of processing what had happened. “It was important to us to reflect on some idea of this waking nightmare and to try and capture the fear Blake experiences as he feels himself slipping away,” says Whannell. “That’s the scariest part; people that have these types of diseases fight to try and maintain some semblance of themselves.” Since they first lurked on the silver screen in the early 20th century, this motley crew of Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the Mummy, the Wolf Man, the Invisible Man and the creature from the Black Lagoon has been ripe for reimagining. If this film is successful it will continue the trend of major studios hedging their bets on existing intellectual property. Last year, every one of the top-10 box office hits was either a sequel, a remake, existing intellectual property or a prequel, with films like Barbie, an original and low-budget concept – so does he worry Hollywood has become too risk-averse? “I do worry because I grew up in an era when original movies were coming out every weekend, stuff likeThe Blair Witch Project, is an existing idea, but I’m not about to make a movie based on a video game. It’s challenging, but original movies are breaking through; films likeGet Out. Having carved out a reputation as one of Hollywood’s most reliable horror directors, Whannell admits he is keen to broaden his horizons. “There’s that famous quote from John Ford, ‘I only make westerns’, and some directors have made a great career doing just one thing,” says Whannell. “But lately I feel the need to flex a different muscle; I don’t want to get stale creatively.”“Maybe a rom-com or something character-driven. I’m lucky now that I have more freedom in what comes across my desk.
Film Leigh Whannell Wolf Man Horror Film ALS Degenerative Disease Transformation Movie Inspiration Hollywood Trends
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