Director Dominic Brunt’s previous film, Evie, was a seriously creepy affair. With Wolf Manor, he returns to the lighter-hearted range of 2017’s Attack of the Adult Babies, albeit without being as outrageously scatological.
At a remote country house, a film crew are settling into shooting some pick-ups on a vampire film with respected but boozy veteran actor Oliver Lawrence (James Fleet). What they don’t yet realise is that the expected press visit won’t happen as the main writer has been attacked by a werewolf, which will soon be coming to feast some more.
Unapologetically presented as an ode to An American Werewolf in London (you’ll lose count of the number of nods and riffs to John Landis’ classic plus there’s also a nice Harry and the Hendersons moment as a bonus), Brunt’s lycanthrope tale also takes swipes at independent filmmaking, and ‘luvvie’ actors as the tired crew gradually begin to realise that the body parts found around the place don’t come from the special effects department. The werewolf itself is an impressive creation and being humanoid, owes more to the creatures of The Howling than the all-fours beast of Landis’ film. The only thing we’re missing is a transformation scene, but Joel Ferrari and Pete Wild’s script doesn’t provide the chance for that. There are some chills among the humour, though.
The film is clearly aimed at the ‘couple of beers and a takeaway’ crowd, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Genre fans will have fun with the references and the gore, and the more casual horror viewer will enjoy it as an undemanding diversion. A lengthy post-credits origin scene (shot by Ashley Thorpe in the same style as his Borley Rectory) is a little out of place (and will likely be missed by most) but has a nice role for Rula Lenska as a Maria Ouspenskaya-type character.
While Wolf Manor doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it has mainstream appeal and is certainly an entertaining ride.
Wolf Manor is out now on DVD and digital.
