Joey Magidson
The Sunday Scaries are upon us once again! Yes, as the weekend concludes, most of us feel an oncoming sense of anticipatory dread about the week ahead. Anxiety about work manifests itself into a feeling that’s known as the Sunday Scaries. However, we at Awards Radar are here to combat that, by taking back the name. Now, we want you think about a horror-centric piece on the site when you hear the term. So, let us continue on with another installment of the Awards Radar Sunday Scaries! This time around, we’re thinking about how a horror filmmaker should be given the keys to a certain kingdom…
Remember Universal’s Dark Universe? Yeah, this isn’t about that. However, the The Universal Monsterverse that’s brewing right now, that is on my mind, since it’s kind of in a holding pattern now. I think that should change, more monster movies should be in the works, and I think that writer/director Leigh Whannell should lead the charge.
Whannell, who cut his teeth on the Saw franchise, has directed the two most recent straight up Universal Monster movies, helming The Invisible Man and Wolf Man. The former is one of the better modern horror films, doing so much new and exciting with the premise. The latter is an attempt to have lightning strike twice, with more mixed results. Still, with how Universal has failed to get much out the door here, only having, in addition to Whannell’s pair, Renfield and The Last Voyage of the Demeter hit theaters, a voice in charge would help. If nothing else, Whannell has a take.
My review here of Wolf Man got into Whannell’s work, writing, in part:
Wolf Man is not The Invisible Man, so be sure to go in with that in mind. That was such a breath of fresh air and wonderfully executed, it would be an unfair comparison, regardless. Wolf Man isn’t trying to do the same thing, either, besides reinvent a classic movie monster. At the same time, knowing what filmmaker Leigh Whannell did last time does raise expectations here, which is, at best, a mixed blessing for the flick.
Director/co-writer Leigh Whannell again approaches a classic Universal monster in a unique manner. The script he penned with Corbett Tuck sets up some interesting possibilities, to be sure. The execution is just more or less what the bare minimum for success is. So, we have a situation where Whannell and company make Wolf Man work, but not at the level The Invisible Man suggested was possible for films like this. The body horror and sound design are highlights, while the concept has potential. There just never is a moment where the emotionality of the work hits home like it should, which dulls its effectiveness.
Even with Wolf Man not holding a candle to The Invisible Man, more here from Whannell would be great. Even if he’s just the godfather of these movies going forward, he has a view of them that I think will lead to quality cinema more than not. Plus, just having a more consistent run of Universal Monster horror would be spectacular on its own. With how many Frankenstein flicks we’re getting, for example, a traditional yet different one in Whannell’s mold would stand out. Likewise for Dracula. Additionally, any of the lower tier monsters would benefit from this approach, overall. So, it feels like a win win situation to me.
At the end of the day, this feels like a long shot, but it’s an idea. Hopefully Universal is batting around some ideas, even if it’s not this one. These monsters deserve to come out and play, with or without Whannell. I just think he sees them in a way that leads to interesting films, so he should have a leg up in a hypothetical search…
Stay tuned for another Sunday Scaries installment next week!
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