Universal’s The Wolfman has gotten an R-rating… and they couldn’t be happier about it. They’re so happy about it that they emailed us tonight trumpeting the movie’s rating and presumably the terrifying, bloody gore this must mean will be wedged between Benicio del Toro’s teeth.

It’s all part of Universal’s plan to market this as, well, seriously old school horror. It started right from the beginning with a trailer that evoked those classic, hard-edged Universal monster movies of the past. Then a few days ago they launched as part of their campaign a teaser site steeped in the legends of past Universal monsters, showing really fantastic clips from some of their original black and white monster movies, some of them released before sound at the dawn of cinema. And now they’re actually happy with an R-rating. When was the last time you heard of a movie studio embracing the alienation of teen audiences?

I don’t know if The Wolfman will be any good but you’ve got to give Universal credit for really wrapping their arms around the notion of releasing a proper monster movie. I mean, they could have gone Twilight with this thing and we’d be looking at a love sick puppy in heat or something. Instead Benicio Del Toro will undergo a horrific transformation and send women screaming into the night. .