A super moon turns people into wolves for one night only in director Steven C. Miller‘s horror action film.
Yes, folks “it’s werewolves meets The Purge.”
The checklist to determine if you’re the target audience for Werewolves is pretty simple:
- Do you enjoy ridiculous action sequences?
- Do you like man in a suit werewolf films?
- Is your tolerance for terrible dialogue and thin characterization high?
If the answer is yes, then congratulations because Werewolves (2024) is a film for you. This dumb AF film, written by Matthew Kennedy, is a delightful slice of B-movie excellence.
Kennedy and Miller know exactly what the audience wants: guns, gore, and (mostly) practical effects with minimal character and story beats in between set pieces. When they keep their sights trained on those elements, Werewolves is a delightful popcorn romp.
The issues arise when the film aspires to be more than mindless fun. Plot? Paper thin. Dialogue? Atrocious. Family is peril? Cliché. Each time Werewolves tries to get serious, it becomes an insufferable/laughable slog.
Thankfully those moments never last long. There’s hardly enough time to groan before the film cuts back to high octane action sequences that feature werewolves ripping out peoples’ backs and faces.
Werewolves opens on the eve of a super moon that has people either boarding up their homes or fleeing the city (where to? The film doesn’t explain and we don’t care).
Expository news interviews with Dr. Aranda (Lou Diamond Phillips, criminally underused) explain that, one year ago, a super moon triggered a mutation in people that turned them into werewolves. He and his team, which includes Dr. Wesley Marshall (Frank Grillo) and Dr. Amy Chen (Katrina Law), have spent the year developing “moon screen”, a spray and eye drop combo that blocks the moon’s influence and blocks the transformation (you know, like sunscreen…only for the moon. Lol).
Well, allegedly blocks the moon.
Year 2 (the film’s original title) is the test scenario. It’s also the McGuffin that takes Wes away from his sister-in-law Lucy (Ilfenesh Hadera) and niece Emma (Kamdynn Gary) so that when the experiment inevitably goes awry, Wes must spend the rest of the film trying to get back to them. Oh, there’s also an asshole neighbour who naturally becomes a threat, as well as other human villains, including an armed militia, who stand in the way.
It all unfolds exactly as you’d expect, which is partially why the attempts at being a genuine, serious film play so poorly. There are no surprises to be found in the obvious endangering of Lucy and Emma, nor the fact that the research centre immediately succumbs to werewolves. Each time Werewolves tries to make us care about the characters, or raise the stakes, it’s a reminder of how silly the premise and execution is.
Take, for example, a moment early in the film when the test subjects who survived last year’s transformation are brought out in cages. One scientist explains to a colleague (for our benefit) that they’re driven by “a compulsion” to change. “They’re like addicts without a fix” the woman says, dead serious.
It’s extremely tin-eared and bad; the film is filled with these kinds of groan-worthy one liners and dialogue exchanges. Special mention goes to Lucy’s awful self-empowerment mantra: throughout the film she repeats “I am a survivor. I am strong”, often while brandishing a shotgun and wearing her Sarah Connor Army-green tank top.
These painful interludes run counter to the film’s delightful visuals. The vast majority of the werewolf action in the film is ‘man in a suit’ variety and the human-to-wolf transformations are a combination of practical and CGI*. The suits look great and the wolves often have a statement look to help the audience identify them such as an earring, scarring, or (most memorably) a bullet-proof vest with the phrase “Wolf Killer” painted on the front.
*The key exception occurs late in the film. Not only is the big final transformation badly executed with unconvincing CGI, but considering how integral to the climax it is, it’s a HUGE disappointment.
Miller’s direction is energetic, with an appropriate amount of showboating. Slow motion is employed sporadically, but judiciously; ditto the strategic use of smoke and flashing lights sources to increase tension. Thankfully, the editing is also restrained so the action is easy to follow and while the film isn’t incredibly gory, when Miller does indulge, the goopy, bloody effect is wonderfully visceral. Bonus points for an exceptional decapitation, as well as unexpectedly killing a character in the first act and punitively using the body later (the film actually uses bodies as shields and weapons several times and it’s always a delight).
Overall Werewolves works best when it accepts that it is a dumb action horror film. When the film tries to be serious or develop its characters/relationships, it falters badly. Thankfully the pros (action, mostly practical effects, and Frank Grillo’s vein-y muscled physique) manage to outweigh the cons. 3/5
Werewolves is in theatres Friday, Dec 6.
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