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Our take
The Wolfman has all the gothic trappings: fog, a cursed manor and a creature in the dark. Its attacks are much more graphic than the setting might suggest, with torn bodies and severed limbs, while the asylum scenes are harsh in another way. We would wait until 17.
Uplifting themes
The story is about the fear of your own darkness and a family's tangled love. It offers some sympathy for the man at its centre, but there is little uplift A hero tries to protect others, but he is cursed and tormented by what he becomes. Many of the other characters are cruel or cowardly when fear takes over
Story (may spoil tone)
Lawrence Talbot, an American man on a visit to Victorian London to make amends with his estranged father, gets bitten by a werewolf and, after a moonlight transformation, leaves him with a savage hunger for flesh.
What we flagged
Details
Violence A werewolf attacks villagers and fighters with claws and teeth in sever…
A werewolf attacks villagers and fighters with claws and teeth in several night sequences. A man is also beaten in an asylum, and a gunfight breaks out in a village. A lot of people die
Language Hell, damn, and bloody come up in the period-style talk of villagers an…
Hell, damn, and bloody come up in the period-style talk of villagers and gentry. There is hardly any stronger language, and nothing crude or aimed at sex
Sex / nudity A tender romantic spark leads to a few kisses and hand-holding in the m…
A tender romantic spark leads to a few kisses and hand-holding in the manor and the garden. A woman is seen in nightwear, but nothing explicit is shown or implied
Drugs / alcohol A man in a flashback is shown drunk and violent, and wine and pipe smok…
A man in a flashback is shown drunk and violent, and wine and pipe smoking are part of the setting. Asylum patients are given harsh medications
Frightening Fog, howling, a transformation in a moonlit field, and sudden attacks c…
Fog, howling, a transformation in a moonlit field, and sudden attacks create steady scares, with gruesome faces and monster roars. A haunted manor adds more tension
Self-harm / suicide A man is told he should end his life by someone who hates him, and a ca…
A man is told he should end his life by someone who hates him, and a captive in great pain pleads to be killed. No suicide act is shown on screen
Child peril / abuse A young boy sees his mother's death and is sent away to a harsh asylum,…
A young boy sees his mother's death and is sent away to a harsh asylum, where he is frightened and hurt. These flashbacks are short but upsetting
Bullying / discrimination Villagers blame travelling Romani people for killings, and an angry mob…
Villagers blame travelling Romani people for killings, and an angry mob forms to hunt them down. Mistrust and a few slurs are part of the story
Gore / death / weapons Severed heads, torn limbs, and spilled organs are shown in close detail…
Severed heads, torn limbs, and spilled organs are shown in close detail, along with corpses dragged from the woods. Several victims are ripped apart on screen. It is graphic splatter
Mental health A man is committed to an asylum and put through freezing baths and shoc…
A man is committed to an asylum and put through freezing baths and shock-style treatments. The cruelty of those scenes and the character's breakdown are tough viewing
Grief / bereavement A man mourns his brother and father, with funerals and haunted memories…
A man mourns his brother and father, with funerals and haunted memories. Several deaths come from grisly causes and weigh on the survivors
Flashing lights We have not confirmed whether this version contains flashing lights.
We have not confirmed whether this version contains flashing lights.
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Talk after watching
- The story treats the beast as both a monster and a victim of a curse. How do you feel about the main character as he changes?
- The film is set in an old-fashioned world of villagers and doctors. How does fear make people hurt each other in this story?
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The Wolfman
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