Steven C. Miller’s lycan action-thriller Werewolves is slightly bit Canine Troopers, a splash of The Purge, and a good quantity of howl-and-gun pleasure. It’s excessive on indie spirits however not away from shortcomings. Miller’s additional return to the horror style after 2022’s smarthouse slasher Margaux feels tethered to his prior run of shoot-em-up Bruce Willis collaborations and too critical for its good. Legendary SFX artist Alec Gillis designs all of the movie’s snarling monsters, a spotlight of Werewolves, however one thing else is lacking from the expertise that forestalls this scrappy creature function from breaking into the furry subgenre’s higher echelon.
Frank Grillo stars as Wesley Marshall, the hunky molecular biologist for a speedy response group making an attempt to remedy the world of a worldwide werewolf occasion. Annually, a supermoon alters human DNA and turns anybody right into a legendary wolf-person. Beneath program honcho Dr. Aranda (Lou Diamond Phillips), Marshall hopes a freshly invented “Moonscreen” liquid can stop people from succumbing to the supermoon’s mutations. He leaves sister-in-law Lucy (Ilfenesh Hadera) and her daughter Emma (Kamdynn Gary) of their suburban fortress behind fencing and boobytraps, ready for dusk to check the Moonscreen. If it really works, tens of millions of lives may be saved — however that doesn’t stop werewolves from crashing everybody’s get together.
Now, hear me out. Certain, Werewolves makes use of the time period “Moonscreen,” or permits werewolves to retain their human clothes (leather-based jackets, bulletproof vests), and even has a Large Unhealthy Wolf bust via a brick wall. Matthew Kennedy’s script acknowledges the jokiness of story materials, but the movie’s conveyed tone is deathly easy. Grillo performs a washboard-abs scientist with stern faces and minimal reactions, no-selling in any other case batshit horror conditions. Or, even worse, benchmark dramatic beats like Lucy’s reciting of a militaristic house protection mantra feels wood and one-note. Werewolves options lycanthropes of fortune and cockamamie laboratory experiments, sufficient to drag us in, however chosen efficiency tones don’t all the time match ideas let off the leash. Improvement is thinner, dashing previous backstory setups with characters who exist as prototypical pawns.
You’ll be able to’t deny Gillis’ totally cell werewolf costumes. How nostrils flare, and mandibles perform provides facial character to zoomed-in cinematography since Miller doesn’t have to cover his beasts. Lycans flaunt individuality, from one jarhead’s patriotic face paint marking his werewolf self to the turned CBGB’s common with werewolf-sized nostril and ear piercings (“Punk Princess,” as per the script). Gillis conquers the movie’s meticulous results problem by knocking sensible werewolf particulars out of the park, which lends to the movie’s general ferocity. By optimizing every beefy swimsuit’s vary of movement, werewolves could be greater than lumbering statues throughout battle sequences that solely swipe at heroes whereas standing in place — these meanies can stalk, lunge, and brawl like champs.
On the flip aspect, digital results aren’t as reliable. Transformation sequences can’t keep away from the generic animated template we’ve seen reused by numerous indie werewolf flicks, hardly difficult An American Werewolf in London. Miller’s independently funded function accomplishes every little thing it presumably can, however there are nonetheless gaps in high quality that deliver the manufacturing again all the way down to earth. Even in tangible kind, there are some questionable visuals, just like the illustration of an adolescent werewolf who seems to be extra like Cindy Lou Who. I like the place Miller’s keen to push, whether or not that’s a werewolf vs. werewolf deathmatch or roving gangs with car-mounted miniguns who spark minor turf wars, however Werewolves typically seems out of its depth.
Dueling highs and lows outline the entire hair-raising expertise. Grillo and co-star Katrina Regulation discover themselves in satisfying battleground conditions towards fantastically crafted foes, however that may’t be each scene. A gap before-the-storm phase in Lucy’s home options extra lens flares than Michael Bay and performs flatly formulaic, which circles again to my tonal complaints. Mileage will range based mostly on how a lot of your werewolf adoration rests on monster visuals (which deserve applause). What’s stunning is how Grillo isn’t bulletproof as an ass-kicking lead, stone-facing to a detriment, or how crazier parts really feel made for late-night cable but are shot like awards bait. A movie with cut up personalities?
Nonetheless, Werewolves has sufficient to supply diehard subgenre purists. It’s by no means as profitable as clear comparability factors like Canine Troopers or Unhealthy Moon, however Miller’s wild pack assaults satiate our starvation for werewolf fight. Maybe I’m craving extra substance, however we’re additionally speaking a few werewolf film with top-tier results traits and brutal slayings at essential moments. Might be worse, might be higher, however reads on the extent. I’m simply right here for the werewolves, child.
Film Rating: 3/5
