Who's Playing Who?

Benicio Del Toro Anthony Hopkins Emily Blunt Hugo Weaving David Schofield Antony Sher Geraldine Chaplin Simon Merrells Mario Marin-Borquez Asa Butterfield Cristina Contes Art Malik Malcolm Scates Nicholas Day Michael Cronin David Sterne Roger Frost Rob Dixon Clive Russell

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Lawrence Talbot Sir John Talbot Gwen Conliffe Abberline Of The Yard Constable Nye Dr Hoenneger Maleva Ben Talbot Young Lawrence Young Ben Solana Talbot Singh Butcher Colonel Montford Dr Lloyd Kirk Reverend Fisk Squire Strickland MacQueen

What Are The Critics Saying?

"Benicio Del Toro is perfectly cast as Talbot, delivering a haunted performance that is genuinely engaging. The film is beautifully shot, with atmospheric photography by Shelly Johnson, who makes strong use of fog-swept moors and creepy forests. The werewolf effects are genuinely strikinge." Matthew Turner VIEW LONDON "Actors fulminate and masticate, spit, scowl and sob; what a gas it is to watch them overact with joy and conviction." Amy Biancolli HOUSTON CHRONICLE "As Talbot, Del Toro proves to be inspired casting... but as the brooding victim of "lycanthrophy," who fears and hates what it turns him into, he's perfect." Daniel M Kimmel NEW ENGLAND MOVIES WEEKLY A lavish coffee-table book of a horror film, "The Wolfman" features visuals so beautifully planned and executed that each frame begs to be lingered over and savored." Colin Covert THE WICHITA EAGLE When the Americanised Lawrence, transformed into a ravenous wolf, wrecks havoc on the streets of the capital, he’s truly an American werewolf in London. Benicio Del Toro effortlessly segues from Che Guevara to the Wolfman, and gives a convincingly brooding performance, while Anthony Hopkins has heaps of fun as his father and Emily Blunt brings class to the woman in the case. There’s also Geraldine Chaplin, for good measure, as a gypsy seer." David Stratton ABC AT THE MOVIES

"While the production design is a sumptuous swirl of eerie and disturbing Victoriana, there's a 21st century subtext to the legend. There's plenty of bloodletting, but Johnston and his collaborators know that the real moments of fear come in those long, nerve-wracking moments when the finger hovers over the panic button." Colin Covert THE WICHITA EAGLE "Consider The Wolfman a pedigreed genre yarn, mindful of its precedents but nimble enough to have a good time in the here and now." Chris Vognar DALLAS MORNING NEWS "It's exactly what it's supposed to be: an upscale goth B-movie with dark humor and buckets of blood. And who better than Benicio Del Toro to bring The Wolfman back, big way. This is a very upscale B movie and I mean that in the best way possible. Benefits from terrific supporting work by Anthony Hopkins, the lovely Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving." Richard Roeper RICHARD ROEPER & THE MOVIES "This thoroughly enjoyable romp is based, a bit loosely, on Curt Siodmak’s screenplay for George Waggner’s 1941 "The Wolf Man,". It wasn’t the first werewolf picture and it wouldn’t be the last: Joe Dante and John Landis, helped by Rick Baker’s creature effects, memorably reignited the genre in the 80s. The new film is consummately made, with superb make-up and effects, again by Rick Baker, and boasts a strong cast." David Stratton ABC AT THE MOVIES

The Making Of The Wolfman In the 1930s and 1940s, Universal Pictures released a series of horror films that created a new genre of entertainment for cinema audiences: the monster movie. By transforming themselves into such iconography as "Dracula", "Frankenstein", "The Mummy" and "The Invisible Man", legendary performers including Bela Lugosi (20/10/1882 - 16/8/1956), Boris Karloff (23/11/1887 - 2/2/1969) and Claude Rains (10/11/1889 - 30/5/1967) committed to celluloid nightmares previously only available to the imagination of readers. One of the most haunting of these creations has been with us since Lon Chaney Jr (10/2/1906 - 12/7/1973) introduced him in 1941. A lone man forced to give in to the most primal side of his spirit haunted moviegoers who breathlessly watched as he transformed into something inhuman. When the moon was at its fullest, he unleashed a primal rage born from the darkest shadow of his psyche. Part man, part demon: his curse was eternal. Inspired by the classic Universal film that launched a legacy of horror, "The Wolfman" brings the myth of a cursed man back to its legendary origins. He has been given countless names by scores of cultures over thousands of years. There has long been a global fascination with the mythological creature known as the lycanthrope, a human with the unnatural ability to transform into a wolf-like creature when the moon is full. From the myths of the ancient Greeks to documentation by Gervase of Tilbury in 1212’s "Otia Imperialia", horror stories about werewolves have dominated world cultures for centuries. But it has only been in the past seven decades that the creature was committed to film. In 1935, Universal released Werewolf of London, directed by Stuart Walker and starring Henry Hull as Dr Wilfred Glendon and The Werewolf, but it was 1941’s classic "The Wolf Man" that firmly established the modern cinematic myth of the werewolf. The film created a lasting iconic character in the tragic figure of a wayward nobleman by the name of Lawrence Talbot, played by Lon Chaney Jr (son of silent film icon Lon Chaney), star of "The Phantom of the Opera" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". Directed by George Waggner from an original screenplay by Curt Siodmak (10/2/1902 - 2/9/2000), "The Wolf Man" was Universal’s latest creature film in an era that spawned imagination and nightmares. The Talbot character would reappear in Universal films such as: "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" (1943), "House of Frankenstein" (1944), "House of Dracula" (1945) and "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948). While the original, with its tagline of "His hideous howl a dirge of death! became an instant classic, at only seventy minutes in run time, it was quite a short monster movie. It solidified the fame of star Lon Chaney Jr and included cameos from additional Universal'monsters' including The Invisible Man’s Claude Rains as Sir John Talbot and Dracula’s Bela Lugosi as the gypsy who discovers the curse that’s been leveled upon Lawrence. Actor/producer Benicio Del Toro, a fan of the genre, had begun to consider paying homage to the film with his manager and producer, Rick Yorn. Yorn explained his interest in the project: "Growing up, these monster films really had an effect on my brothers and me. When I first came out to Hollywood, I wanted to remake one of the old movies. A few years ago, when Benicio and I were walking out of his house, I saw the one-sheet for "The Wolf Man". It shows a close-up of Lon Chaney Jr as the monster." Yorn ("Sidewalks of New York" & "Gangs of New York") recalls he looked at the poster, then back at Benicio (who had a full beard at the time) and said to him, "How would you feel about remaking The Wolf Man?" 2001 Oscar ® winner Del Toro ("Traffic") was very interested in paying homage to the genre he’d loved since he was a boy. While he realized that would require him going deep into the makeup and prosthetics it would take to pull off the signature look of the creature, he was game for the challenge. Recalling films such as "Frankenstein", "Dracula", "The Mummy" he explained, "when I was a kid, I watched these movies. "My earliest recollection of acting was watching Lon Chaney Jr play the Wolf Man. We wanted to honor this classic movie and the Henry Hull movie Werewolf of London. We knew it would be exciting to make it in the classic, handcrafted way." Del Toro didn’t want to remake the film frame by frame, but rather update it for modern audiences. He felt the story screenwriters Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self created "gave the movie some twists and turns and a modern edge, while still honoring the original story." Yorn (co-founder of Artists Management Group with Julie Yorn) and Del Toro set about getting the project off the ground and, during a dinner with producer Scott Stuber ("The Break-Up" & "Couples Retreat"), the men decided it was time this classic was updated. "We have put in a few twists, but we wanted to honor the original," Stuber said. "The Wolf Man is so iconic because, on some level, he is within us. Every person feels a sense of rage. Each of us feels a sense of that time when we went too far, got too angry, did something we shouldn’t have done. Something primal exists within all of us, and we must control it or we are doomed." Stuber had no doubts that Del Toro was perfect for the title character. "Benicio’s got such powerful eyes. To feel so much emotion coming from under the transformation is critical to the heart of the movie. We didn’t want to separate the actor from the Wolfman and end up having the beast here and Benicio there. The performance is always most important in order to feel for the character. The special affects are amazing, and they enhance the performance: they don’t create it." The three filmmakers were joined by producer Sean Daniel (co-founder of production company, Alphaville), who knew something about reinvigorating monster franchises himself; Daniel helped relaunch 'The Mummy' series for Universal Pictures. "It was really exciting to be asked to join in on giving new life to another of Universal’s great, classic monster characters that so inspired me when I was a kid." When director Joe Johnston was brought on to the project, he took over the reigns from Mark Romanek, who departed during pre-production. An Academy Award ® winning art director for "Raiders of the Lost Ark", Johnston’s resume as a director includes "October Sky", "Jurassic Park III" and "Hidalgo". As with all of his projects, the director was far more interested in story before spectacle. In screenwriters Walker and Self’s story, he found "underneath the action and the blood and the terror, a love story about Lawrence Talbot and his dead brother’s fiancée, Gwen. I wanted that relationship to be the element that held the story together; the key piece that invested the audience in understanding this horrible thing Lawrence is inflicted with." Johnston director was excited by the visual challenges that would come from turning the script into an action-horror film: "I want to show the audience something they haven’t seen before in our process of turning a man into a werewolf. We have a great place to start the transformation, which is Benicio, and we have a great place to end up, which is Rick Baker’s makeup. But it’s not a straight-line transformation. We go off in multiple directions to get to the end result." But before that could happen, their first task would be to cast the supporting players who would help 2009 Goya Award winner Del Toro ("Che: Part One") bring the infamous creature to life once again. As with other facets of "The Wolfman", it was important for the filmmakers to include classic characters from the original horror movie. Cast opposite Del Toro as Lawrence’s eccentric father was legendary actor and 1994 David di Donatello 'DAVID' Award winner Sir Anthony Hopkins ("The Remains of the Day"). Del Toro, admits he was initially nervous to work with the performer. "At first, I was more in awe working with him than enjoying it. By just watching him, he helped me and gave me notes here and there. It was nice to have another actor give you suggestions. He’s a straight shooter; he’s done in two takes and was great to work with." And what was the attraction for 1992 Oscar ® winner Hopkins ("The Silence of the Lambs") Sir John Talbot? "Psychologically, people enjoy looking at the dark side of life. Transformation, resurrection, salvation: this story has it all." Four time BAFTA recipient Hopkins was interested in how the relationship between these two men developed. "Sir John is ice-cold and doesn’t express any gentleness with tragedy or grief; that’s just the way he deals with his son. He also manipulates and needles him by offhand remarks, which are never overtly cruel, just something suggested." "Sir John is completely and utterly mad, but he embraces his own madness as if it’s the most normal thing in the world. Anthony has played parts like this in the past," Johnston ("Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" & "Jumanji") notes. Emily Blunt was cast as Gwen Conliffe: a role originated by the timeless Evelyn Ankers (17/8/1918 - 29/8/85). Blunt says she was "drawn to the role because of who was attached to it, and I found the script very moving. It wasn’t just about violence; there was love story and a human struggle that I was attracted to. What’s beautiful about The Wolfman is that it’s a haunting story, but it’s also a love story. Joe started off with a vision of making a classic, sweeping, huge monster movie, and he has maintained that vision throughout the shoot." Blunt sees Gwen as a "beacon of hope" because of her strength. "I like that in the face of adversity, as someone who has met a whirlwind of turmoil, fear and loss, Gwen has the ability to see the possibility for change. She’s very hopeful." The murder of Lawrence’s brother catches the attention of Scotland Yard’s Inspector Aberline, played by celebrated Australian actor, Nigerian born, Hugo Weaving. Weaving’s character was based on the actual Inspector Frederick George Aberline, who was brought in to head the investigation of the 'Jack the Ripper' murders after they were considered too much for London’s Whitechapel Criminal Investigation Department to handle. After he’d read the screenplay, Weaving, who has made fascinating choices in his career ("The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" & "The Matrix trilogy"), was keen to take the role. "It was a snap decision to play Aberline. I read the script and liked it, but I had to make my mind up there and then. It was a completely instinctive decision, but I really liked the material and thought Aberline was fascinating." "Hugo has a special intensity that is very believable," says Stuber. "That is important in a monster movie, because the audience has to believe this myth is real." Aberline has traveled to Blackmoor to investigate a number of horrific killings. He soon finds himself a true outsider amongst the locals. "He’s in a situation where he comes to this tiny country village and they’re all talking about werewolves and demons; they lock their doors on a full moon. He’s a man from London who’s very no nonsense and doesn’t believe one iota in this rubbish," the three time Australian Film Institute Award winners explained. At A Glance

Lawrence Talbot’s childhood ended the night of his mothers tragic death. After he left the sleepy Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor, he spent decades recovering and trying to forget. But when his brother’s fiancée, Gwen Conliffe, tracks him down to help find her missing love, Talbot returns home to join the search. He learns that something with immense strength and insatiable bloodlust has been killing the villagers, and that a suspicious Scotland Yard inspector named Aberline has come to investigate. While piecing together the gory puzzle, he hears of an ancient curse that turns the afflicted into werewolves when the moon is full. Now, if he has any chance of ending the slaughter and protecting the woman he has grown to love, Talbot must destroy the vicious creature in the nearby woods. But, after being bitten by the beast, Talbot uncovers a primal side of himself: one he never imagined existed.

The Verdict "When it comes to film genres; it would be safe to say, that many cinemagoers have a taste for or a fascination with, those which feature the macabre. In particular movies which foccuss on gruesome, grisly, horrible, hairy great Werewolves. Could it be, that somewhere in our genes or deep within the darkest corner of our brains, the fears and superstitions that terrorized our ancestors, hybernate until the appropriate catalyst comes along, setting off the necessary chemical cursors to awaken them? Sparked into life by what we see on the screen or in a movie poster, they now unleash a terror from within that only serves to heighten the perception our other senses are already processing. Such is the case with "The Wolfman", a dark tale that pays homage to the 1941 original but is obviously aimed at a whole new generation of filmgoers. The cast, the cinematography, the mood and the story line deserve to be praised. As do the creature effects, probably the best seen since 1982's Oscar winning "An American Werewolf In London", which starred David Naughton and saw Rick Baker win the first of his six Oscars for Best Makeup. Baker plays a big part in this latest version as does the score composed by five time Saturn Award winner, Danny Elfman. Certainly worth a look at. 4 STARS." The Production Team

Director Screenplay Adapted from Producers Original Music Cinematography Film Editor Casting Production Designer Art Direction Set Decoration Costume Designer

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Joe Johnston Andrew Kevin Walker & David Self the 1941 screenplay by Curt Siodmak Sean Daniel/Benicio Del Toro/Scott Stuber/Rick Yorn Danny Elfman Shelly Johnson Walter Murch & Dennis Virkler Priscilla John Rick Heinrichs John Dexter & Phil Harvey John Bush Milena Canonero

Run Time 113 minutes Rated MA15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2010 - Universal - All Rights Reserved ©1999-2010 The Movie Pages & impact Internet Services. All Rights Reserved. Protected by Australian and International Copyright. Trademark Laws and Intellectual Property Rights apply.