by Jack Grimme, Contributing Writer
Werewolves chronicles the story of two scientists as they desperately try to fight back against monstrous mass mutation of the public brought on by the light of a supermoon. If that synopsis sounds a bit campy and absurd, it’s because it is. The action-heavy creature feature feels like it’s ripped straight from the ‘90s. That is largely due to the reliance on practical effects and macho theming, but also due to the seemingly outdated camera quality that undercuts much of the nostalgia for the era. Admittedly, this intro tips my hand toward my feelings of the film. However, I am a firm believer that almost all films can find an audience to appreciate them.
Far and away the most memorable part of this film is the practical effects used to bring the titular terrors to life. Director Steven C. Miller is on record stating that he insisted on using practical effects to make the creatures as realistic as possible, but that isn’t quite the word I would use. Many scenes show the seams of the costumes, and uninterrupted shots of the monsters locomoting can look uncanny at best, and downright goofy at worst. However, there are several shots and moments that get the most out of the practical work. My time with Werewolves brought back memories of the cult film Killer Clowns from Outer Space. The shared theme of inexplicable interstellar oddities, coupled with the strangely similar costuming, led me to create a headcanon that these features share a universe. Is that relevant to the review? Not quite. But I do believe that fans of the cult classic clown feature could find similar enjoyment in Werewolves. It is not quite as off-the-wall as the ’80s release, but there are some through lines. And if the film is beloved enough to see a semi-successful video game release three decades later, I am sure there’s a crowd for Miller’s release.
Unfortunately, that is where Werewolves’ highlights cease for me. The leads, Frank Grillo, Katrina Law, and Ilfenesh Hadera, are passable, but their performances often crumble under the unbearable weight of the corny, paint-by-numbers dialogue. The quippy one-liners that are crucial pillars of the genre are trite and uninspired, almost certainly appearing in dozens of werewolf flicks before this one. The weak script similarly bleeds into the actions and behavior of our heroes. The most unfortunate victims of this being the two women who fill out the leading roles. Early on, the focus on these characters hints at a more modern interpretation of the genre, giving the female leads more agency within the story, but any hope for that is quickly extinguished as you see the way they are written. Law co-leads as Amy, the second scientist coordinating the effort to eliminate this mutation, and spends the bulk of the film deferring to, and more often relying on, Grillo to make the calls and save the day. She has one main moment where she stands toe-to-toe with the threat and makes a stand, which is great but so unearned otherwise that the decision seems more lucky than intelligent.
The unfortunate portrayal of women is even more apparent for our tertiary lead, Lucy (Hadera). Lucy is Grillo’s sister-in-law, still very much in the stages of mourning her recently deceased husband. Grillo helps barricade Lucy’s home in preparation for the oncoming onslaught of furry foes before leaving her to fend for herself as he pursues a cure. Lucy, along with her young daughter Emma (Kamdynn Gary), spend the film in a Home Alone style fight for survival. Again, this could’ve been a great B plot. Watching a single mom protect and empower her daughter against a merciless, barbaric threat.
Unfortunately, watching her actions makes one wonder if she is trying to protect her child or serve her up on a silver platter to be devoured by the big bad wolves. She constantly berates the beasts, egging them on and challenging them to bring down the walls. The film never implies that the transformed humans can understand English. It even shows many scenes where people survive just by sneaking past. There is truly no reason to announce yourself to the neighborhood and practically beg the beasts to find the chink in her armor. I will dance around spoilers, but her treatment of her increasingly limited ammo reserve as the movie builds towards a climax paints the character more as an unprepared fool than any form of hero. Admittedly, there are some moments where she saves the day and brings her daughter to safety. But similar to the previous discussion, the sheer imbalance of idiotic decisions to proficiently employed survival tactics make any success seem like the true heroine is Lady Luck herself.
The film offers plenty of other aspects worthy of critiques. The main antagonists waver between stealthy assassins who appear in your home without triggering a single creaky floorboard, and lumbering beasts who flip cars and charge through brick walls. This steers the threat from the carefully produced practical behemoths to the unpredictable pen of the writer behind the scenes. There are also several underdeveloped characters who tease greater interrogation of the deeper themes, only to be callously discarded without warning. Let me be clear, I never expected this project to pick apart the human brain. But when you intentionally spend the early scenes laying out threads, the audience does expect you to follow the trail to meaningful conclusions. Again, I am not saying that the film completely lacks merit. I think the motivation to dip toes back into the common creature features that surprised at the box office before the turn of the century is a compelling path forward. However, recreating these films with the same flaws of its predecessors and not filtering them through a more modern lens completely wastes the creative merit of the venture.
Rating: Didn’t Like It
Werewolves is currently playing in theaters
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