Universal Hides Its Controversial Monster In Leigh Whannell's Creepy Wolf Man Trailer

The promotion cycle for Universal's upcoming "Wolf Man" remake is off to a rocky start, after the creature design for the titular monster was revealed ... as a costume at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights. While we can assume that the movie version of the werewolf costume (expensively crafted, and enhanced by lighting and VFX) will be more impressive than the haunted house version, horror fans were understandably underwhelmed by this first look at the white-haired, mush-faced monster.

Seemingly in an effort at damage control, Universal has dropped the first teaser trailer for "Wolf Man," which was directed by Leigh Whannell and stars Christopher Abbott ("Poor Things") as the unfortunate family man who becomes a thrall of the full moon. There's just one problem: The teaser doesn't really show the Wolf Man — just brief, blurry glimpses of it and an attack by a hairy arm. There's no image here to replace the viral shots of the Halloween Horror Nights Wolf Man in people's minds.

Check out the first teaser trailer for "Wolf Man" above, and the official synopsis below:

Golden Globe nominee Christopher Abbott (Poor Things, It Comes at Night) stars as Blake, a San Francisco husband and father, who inherits his remote childhood home in rural Oregon after his own father vanishes and is presumed dead. With his marriage to his high-powered wife, Charlotte (Emmy winner Julia Garner; Ozark, Inventing Anna), fraying, Blake persuades Charlotte to take a break from the city and visit the property with their young daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth; Hullraisers, Coma).

But as the family approaches the farmhouse in the dead of night, they're attacked by an unseen animal and, in a desperate escape, barricade themselves inside the home as the creature prowls the perimeter. As the night stretches on, however, Blake begins to behave strangely, transforming into something unrecognizable, and Charlotte will be forced to decide whether the terror within their house is more lethal than the danger without.

It's appropriate that "Wolf Man" is about a threat coming from inside the house, given that the Halloween Horror Nights debacle is a serious bit of self-sabotage on Universal's part. As the incredible marketing for recent horror sleeper hit "Longlegs" has proven, providing only brief glimpses of a monster in the trailers and saving the full reveal for the movie itself is a highly effective way of drawing in audiences. It would have been a big mistake to release a clear look at the movie's true Wolf Man right now, especially in a teaser trailer. 

Furthermore, there are at least two werewolves in the movie: the original creature that bites Blake, and Blake himself. There are some tantalizing tidbits of Blake's transformation here, including teeth falling out and fingernails falling off, so we may be in for a full-on gross-out body horror sequence à la "An American Werewolf in London."

As a final note, co-writer and director Leigh Whannell has earned the benefit of the doubt by delivering the best of Universal's recent horror remakes, "The Invisible Man." That's more than enough reason to give his next classic movie monster a chance.

"Wolf Man" is set to release in theaters on January 17, 2025.