"A man who just recently started marking his territory..."

Will runs over a wolf that was crossing the road. He goes to check if the wolf is okay but is bitten before witnessing the creature’s death.

From this moment on, he is amazed by each new power he discovers he possesses. He can now hear the subtlest noises through walls can smell and recognize an odor from far away, feelings strong and healthy. However, hairs start to cover his body.

When he comes back from vacation, he learns that Stewart, a younger man he thought he could trust, has taken over his job of editor. Furthermore, he learns that his wife is cheating on him and that Stewart is the culprit. His new instincts are shaken. He defines his territory and when Stewart intrudes, he bites him.

The woman he has just met, Laura, is the only thing good in his life at the moment. She is distant by nature but sympathizes with him.

A savage murder requires a police inquiry and Will starts to doubt himself. He insists that Laura has to handcuff him to the bed before dusk because he ignores what he will become but knows that no one will be able to control him.

On the melodramatic, suspense and violence aspects, werewolves succeed so much better than vampires. They are victims and sometimes ignore what they become during full moon nights. They don’t understand why they are so tired after such a long night or why they awaken naked in the middle of nowhere. They are more imposing, more mysterious, more menacing because they kill instead of biting.

Certain werewolf movies are slow and give you one or two metamorphosis such as An American Werewolf in London. If Wolf uses this formula, it also integrates Michelle Pfeiffer and Jack Nicholson’s talent to install a quite elaborate love story. These two actors form the winning combination. Never the quality of the acting weakens or disintegrates.

Jack Nicholson isn’t really transformed into a huge beast but slightly changes in appearance and attitude. He is conscious of what he is if he isn’t asleep during his metamorphosis. Also, silver bullets are not the weapons of choice to stop him. A pendant is used to keep the wolf inside him but isn’t overused.

Briefly, Wolf is one of the best werewolf stories ever produced because, even though it is slow, it tries to explain, for the hundredth time, what a werewolf is but with discretion. Violence has its moments, the special effects are conservative, without pretension and, first and foremost, well executed.