Before ‘Wolf Man’, Check Out the Director’s Ultra-Violent, Ultra-Fun Cyberpunk Action Thriller

Leigh Whannell will present another updated take on one of Universal’s classic monsters when Wolf Man premieres next week. Like its original inspiration, Wolf Man features a seemingly normal man (Christopher Abbot) attacked by a werewolf, and then transforming into a werewolf, putting his wife (Julia Garner) and their daughter at risk. It’s not the first time Whannell has dabbled in horror; he previously wrote the first three entries in the Saw franchise and had a hand in shaping the Insidious movies (in addition to making his directorial debut with Insidious: Chapter 3.)

But one of Whannell’s best films isn’t even a horror film. Upgrade is more of a straightforward cyberpunk action/revenge thriller that takes a B-level premise – in this case, “what if someone got a cybernetic implant and became a vigilante?” – and elevates it to A-status via Whannell’s clever directing and a powerhouse performance from Logan Marshall-Green. It also features a sharp critique of over-reliance on technology, which would show up in one of Whannell’s later films.

‘Upgrade’ Thrives Thanks to Its Premise and Logan Marshall-Green’s Performance

Upgrade begins, as most revenge thrillers do, with a tragedy: Grey Trace (Marshall-Green) is a simple mechanic whose life is upended when a group of thugs shoot and paralyze him — then for good measure, brutally execute his wife Asha (Melanie Vallejo). In desperation, Trace contacts Eron Keen (Harrison Gilbertson), a brilliant tech savant who Asha was working for. Keen implants a device called STEM into Trace’s body, which not only allows him to walk again but transforms him into a lethal fighting machine. Using his STEM implant, Trace goes after his wife’s killers — but is soon pulled into a conspiracy.

What makes Upgrade a great watch is Marshall-Green’s performance, especially when he’s talking to STEM (voiced by Simon Maiden). During a scene where Trace breaks into one of his assailants’ house, it becomes pretty clear that he has no idea how to fight — requiring him to relinquish control to STEM. Thus comes the first of many intense fight sequences, featuring cameras that constantly spin to showcase Trace’s inhuman movements. Marshall-Green chalked up his smooth new moves as being inspired by Overwatch, specifically the robotic monk Zenyatta. Whannell also discussed how he actually strapped a camera to Marshall-Green to track his movements: “It’s a very simple technique, actually. We just strapped a phone to Logan under his clothes and the camera would kind of lock to the phone, so wherever he moved, the camera moved with him.” Unlike Robocop or the Terminator’s stiff, jerky movements, Marshall-Green is able to move in a way that feels both human and inhuman.

Leigh Whannell Uses ‘Upgrade’ and ‘The Invisible Man’ To Showcase the Horrible Ways Technology Can Be Used

What takes Upgrade from being “pretty good” to “really great” is a pair of twists that end the film on a chilling note: as Trace systematically takes out his assailants, he learns that Eron Keen might be behind the whole thing as he hired one of the men who shot Trace. But it turns out that Keen himself is being controlled by STEM – furthermore, the stress of everything pushes Trace to the point where STEM completely hijacks his body, essentially becoming the perfect synthesis of man and machine. This is the ultimate culmination of Upgrade‘s message that surrendering too much of yourself to technology, no matter the benefits, is a slippery slope. It also showcases that revenge can take a toll on the person exacting it; Trace doesn’t have the stomach to torture or kill others, so he leaves it up to STEM — making it all too easy for the machine to override his mind.

Whannell would take things a step further with his 2020 remake of The Invisible Man, which puts a sci-fi twist on the original film. Instead of becoming invisible via a potion, Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) develops a hi-tech suit that bends light – and uses it to gaslight his girlfriend Cecila Kass (Elisabeth Moss) after she tries to leave him. Once again, Whannell shows that technology can be deadly in the wrong hands, and taps into a horror that’s all too real: the lengths that an abuser will go to in order to exact control over their victims.

Though Leigh Whannell’s become known for his horror films, Upgrade is definitely worth a watch — not just for how it elevates a well-worn sci-fi concept, but for how it deconstructs the revenge thriller. Hopefully, Wolf Man will tap into that same spirit.

Upgrade is available to stream on Netflix.

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