2h 5m
Director: Mike Nichols

Will is a rather cynical and blunt middle aged Editor In Chief, feeling the tedium of his existence and with his age and experience threatened by the youthful Stewart Swinton (James Spader) who is coming for his job.

He is bitten by a Wolf he runs over with his car and finds himself feeling invigorated and revitalised which helps him to change his fortune.

He discovers that as well as Stewart taking his job, he's also having an affair with his wife which adds vitriol to proceedings. It helps the plot that Stewart is played by James Spader who I personally think is very good at portraying slimy characters, so he makes for a slippery antagonist.

Some of the dialogue is superbly witty if you're paying attention and you'll find there are a few good chuckles in there which lighten the mood. Jack Nicholson has a matter of fact delivery which sometimes leaves you pondering whether you really did just witness a quite satisfying revenge moment, you did by the way!

After his initial rejuvenation, Will starts to spiral out of control as his transformation gains momentum. He discovers clues and has experiences that lead him to believe he might be doing some terrible things during the night. Then his wife is found murdered and he fears the worst.

There's a bit of a twisty surprise in the third act which you might predict if you've been paying attention.

As you can imagine, Jack Nicholson is perfectly cast as the werewolf in this movie, especially as the supernatural element allows his character to express himself in a mischievous way - something he already seems to excel at naturally. You really feel yourself rooting for his character as he goes from helpless to formidable and faces off against the young whippersnapper who nudged him out of his job.

It helps that Jack Nicholson is teetering on the edge of being too old for this role, given that Michelle Pfeiffer is playing his love interest because his newly acquired powers explain his charm and confidence and add authenticity to the relationship. Usually, a man that age wooing a younger woman would cause the audience to cringe but here they get away with it.

Because it's an older movie the pacing may be a bit slow in places for some who are used to the modern paradigm of delivering the information at break neck speed in order to keep the audiences attention. This is partly because older films were shot on film stock so editing took quite a lot more effort than on a modern day digital workstation. You'll find this adds atmosphere so be patient!

Shots wise there's a few tricks like fast shutter speed which make things look frenetic and supernatural in places but the makeup they use for the wolf is quite subtle compared to some other werewolf stories you might have seen.

It's got an adult rating but compared to some modern films it feels quite tame really. You don't ever find yourself confronted with horrifying gore and everything feels proportional to the narrative - there are a few jump scares though which might give you a shock if you've got the volume up too high.

It's an understated horror which feels like it belongs in the classic era of Hollywood which doesn't focus on giving you nightmares for the foreseeable future. It's a good film to watch if you fancy something supernatural that feels like it takes place in the real world.

"Power without guilt, love without doubt..."



Trailer: