Westerfield: Wolfman, the Real Top Dog

The most effective moments of the Wolfman (2010)come during the attack at the gypsy gathering, when Lawrence (Benicio Del Toro) ventures off after the werewolf and loses sight of him in the fog. We perceive the threat he poses to Lawrence but, like Lawrence, we cannot see him to know when or where he will strike, resulting in suspenseful tension. If only the rest of the movie followed this dynamic.
Instead it relishes in the prowess of digital imagery, and in terms of the films overall Gothic look this is effective. But it also means that we aren't spared any of the visceral details of the werewolf's violence, blood painting the screen as he slashes apart limbs and organs with graceful ease as though he were cutting through gelatin. The results in scenes that tend to be over-stylized and at times rather silly.
The 1941 version lacked the ability to produce comparable visual effects, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. It relied on the implication of violence: cutting away before blows fell, having action occur outside of the frame or using objects such as trees to obscure it. But this isn't a slasher film. We don't even actually see the werewolf until two-thirds of the way into the film. Instead it spends more time building up the wolf's legend so that when the werewolf is revealed it's as a payoff. Here the monster's horror comes not as a result of it being a mass-murdering juggernaut, but something more subtle. This werewolf may not be as stylized as the 2010 equivalent but these imperfect effects, the glow of his eyes, the more humanoid face, create a sort of eeriness that is lost to the digital counterpart. Plus it doesn't look like a bear.