Marvel surprised us all just a few weeks ago with the trailer for ‘The Curse of the Werewolf’, adaptation of a little-known comic from the company that arrives this Friday, October 7 at Disney + in the form of a television special for the celebration of Halloween. A priori, a little eccentricity with which to show that this universe can do something really different if it wants to.
Once seen, ‘The Curse of the Werewolf’ has a lot of homage to the horror movies of the 30s, more specifically to Universal’s monsters, and can be enjoyed without having seen a single Marvel movie or series. That does not mean that it is within the continuity of that universe and that Kevin Feig has promised that “introduces a world that will end up being very important for the future of the MCU“. We will see what that ends up being, but as an individual work it is an effective pastime that plays well with the need to be scary and fun at the same time.
an effective cocktail
The plot excuse of ‘The Curse of the Werewolf’ is simple but quite attractive: a group of monster hunters gather to hunt down a dangerous creature and whoever succeeds will win a powerful relic. That eccentric touch that I mentioned before has a greater presence during the first minutes more focused on the exposition of the story, really being then when everything feels furthest from Marvel.
By this I don’t mean to say that ‘The Curse of the Werewolf’ has nothing revolutionary about it, because valued as an individual work, it doesn’t have anything extraordinary either. She is friendly at all times and the curious chemistry between Gael Garcia Bernal and Laura Donnelly it’s essential for it to have charm beyond anything related to Man-Thing, the target of that hunt.
And it is that ‘The curse of the werewolf’ does not openly bet on its most terrifying aspect, preferring a lighter approach that makes it more digestible for all audiences. With this I do not want to go that there are past thread jokes, but it does exist at all times a certain restraint to make it more accessible to the regular Marvel viewer.
In addition, terror is portrayed with an approach that is sometimes more reminiscent of a Marvel action scene than the productions it pays homage to, which is when ‘The Curse of the Werewolf’ feels somewhat more conventional. I am not clear to what extent it is a decision of Michael Giacchinowho has here his first great opportunity as a director, or an imposition from the studio, but it is also time to be fair and also point out that this has a presence that is easily less than 5 minutes of footage.
Other details of ‘The curse of the werewolf’
Secondly, the most accomplished of the function is Man-Thingboth for that design with clear echoes of Lovecraft already present in his appearances in the world of the vignette and for being the best exponent of what he pointed out before balancing the comic and the terrifying without affecting the credibility of what happens in screen.
I am somewhat more skeptical about Giacchino’s statements comparing ‘The Curse of the Werewolf’ with an episode of ‘The Twilight Zone’, one of the best and most important series of all time, beyond the need to tell a closed story and not spending too much time on character development because what happens takes precedence over who it happens to. The thing is that this can be applied to almost any television anthology and beyond that there is no link with the essential creation of Rod Serling.
Otherwise, the black and white photography is eye-catching and helps give ‘The Curse of the Werewolf’ a special touch. It is true that it lacks an additional push to take us back completely to that cinema from another era, but this is where it backs down the least, since, in general, this Disney + title suffers a little from that. Fortunately, this visual homage also allows Giacchino to be a little more generous in showing the violence on screen, thus bringing out that more terrifying side a little more.
In short
‘The Curse of the Werewolf’ is an entertaining marvel curiosity that feels more different because of the universe it is a part of than what it actually offers. All in all, it flies by, it has several funny moments, it is more violent than expected in Marvel and its protagonists help to animate the function.