Preview: The Wolfman

Along with vampires, zombies and the Frankenstein monster, werewolves are a firm favourite in the horror cinema pantheon. Like the vampire, the werewolf has its origins in folklore but while our modern understanding of our befanged friends was shaped by Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' and its movie adaptations, our understanding of the werewolf is strongly influenced by the 1941 Universal horror film The Wolf Man, scripted by Curt Siodmak.

Universal was hugely influential in defining movie monsters and horror cinema. Although the horror genre became popular in the silent era, it really came to the fore in the 1930s when Universal had a series of genre smash hits. Nineteen thirty-one saw the release of Dracula and Frankenstein, and these were followed by hits with other monsters - The Mummy (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), Werewolf Of London (1935) - and a cycle of sequels featuring offspring, offshoots and face-offs.

Werewolf Of London hasn't gone down in history as one of the best Universal horrors, but they got it right with The Wolf Man six years later. Siodmak not only drew on folklore, he also consolidated various aspects of werewolf lore, such as susceptibility to silver and being affected by the full moon.

The original movie would become a firm favourite of a young Puerto Rican called Benicio Monserrate Rafael Del Toro Sanchez. Scott Stuber, one of the producers of Universal's 2009 remake of The Wolf Man, said "Benicio's a huge Wolfman fan. He's kind of the origin of this thing. The Wolfman is one of his favourite movies of all time - he's got Wolfman memorabilia all over his house. He's just someone who has a real passion for this." Benicio Del Toro as The Wolf Man? That just sounds too good to be true. But true it is, with the film scheduled for a February 2010 release.

Universal certainly knows the value of its monsters, having successfully revived The Mummy. The studio also turned to Mummy director Stephen Sommers to create a film about monster hunter Abraham Van Helsing which featured not only Dracula and Frankenstein's monster but also a dose of lycanthropy. This CGI-heavy mash-up wasn't a success, failing to spawn a franchise and leaving the way open for Universal to try another take on the wolfman.

A remake of The Wolf Man was first announced in March 2006, with Del Toro's name attached even before a director was confirmed. The star would also produce, along with Stuber (Co-President of Production at Universal since 2003), Sean Daniel (who handled The Mummy films), and Rick Yorn.

In February 2007, a director was confirmed - Mark Romanek, who made his name with pop music videos (including Johnny Cash's extraordinary 'Hurt') before writing and directing One Hour Photo (2002). Romanek, however, was on the $100 million project for less than a year before departing in January 2008 over "creative differences". Universal had only recently announced the addition to the cast of Anthony Hopkins and up-and-coming Brit Emily Blunt and had to scramble to find a replacement.

Various names went through the rumour mill (from Brett "screwed up the X-Men franchise" Ratner to Frank "specialises in Stephen King" Darabont and Bill " Gods And Monsters Condon) before it was confirmed that Joe Johnson would take over.

Johnson isn't an A-list director but he's been quietly plying his trade in solidly enjoyable Hollywood fare since debuting in 1989 with Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, which he followed up with the underrated The Rocketeer. He proved himself with this new-fangled CGI with Jumanji (1995) but is perhaps most notable for stepping into Spielberg's shoes for the third Jurassic Park picture. His work on October Sky also demonstrated his ability with drama. That could be important, as The Wolfman's story is about human tragedy and not just scares and killings.

The film apparently follows the outline of the original, with a script originally written by Andrew Kevin Walker (Seven), and then rewritten at Johnson's behest by David Self (Road To Perdition).

Del Toro plays the Lon Chaney Jr role of Lawrence Talbot, a man who returns to Victorian Britain after the disappearance of his brother. There, he's reunited with his estranged father, Sir John, played by Hopkins. At the request of his brother's fiancee Gwen Conliffe (Blunt), he returns to his ancestral village of Blackmoor to try and find his missing sibling. The village, it transpires, is being troubled by a murderous beast, which winds up biting Lawrence. He becomes a werewolf and continues the cycle of killings which attract the attention of Hugo Weaving's Detective Aberline.

In addition to Weaving and Geraldine Chaplin (who landed the pivotal role of the gypsy fortune teller) another key newcomer to the project is Rick Baker. Baker is the main man when it comes to physical monster effects. Starting out in the 1970s doing make up on the King Kong remake and Star Wars, he made his name with werewolves - consulting on The Howling before unleashing his genius work on the classic An American Werewolf In London (both 1981). He kept his hand in with lycanthropes with work on the 1987 TV series 'Werewolf' then the Jack Nicholson vehicle Wolf (1994).

For the new Wolf Man, the filmmakers are sticking with techniques that hark back to the original film's era, with glued-on hair and false teeth, as well as more sophisticated latex work. As Stuber says, "We want to stick to the physical stuff. So much of what we're trying to accomplish is that when Benicio is the wolf, you really know it's Benicio Del Toro and you have the eyes and the emotion of what he is." Which makes absolute sense when you have an actor of Del Toro's calibre in a monster movie.

In an interview with 'Entertainment Weekly', Baker explained that, "When I first found out they were going to do it, I went and talked to somebody I know at Universal. I said, 'You know what? I have to do The Wolfman! You've got to let me do this! I'll do some really cool stuff.' The Wolfman and Frankenstein were probably the two most important films in my childhood that made me want to become a make-up artist. I pursued this job. Fortunately they said okay!" Of course, Del Toro is a fairly hirsute guy, so Baker joked "Here we have Benicio Del Toro, who's practically the Wolfman already, to Benicio Del Toro with more hair and bigger teeth!"

Although the film was originally scheduled for November 2008, the directorial issues pushed it back. Shooting took place in the UK between March and June 2008, with the base at Pinewood and locations including Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, and Castle Combe and Lacock in Wiltshire, two villages renowned for their well-preserved historical buildings.