Werewolves, 2024.
Directed by Steven C. Miller.
Starring Frank Grillo, Katrina Law, Ilfenesh Hadera, Sam Daly, James Kyson, Lou Diamond Phillips, Johnathon Schaech, Daniel Fernandez, Lydia Styslinger, Betzaida Landín, and Kamdynn Gary.
SYNOPSIS:
Two scientists try to stop a mutation that turns people into werewolves after being touched by a super-moon the year before.
Werewolves is as original and exciting as its generic title. Director Steven C. Miller and screenwriter Matthew Kennedy seem aware that there is fun to be had in leaning into the direct-to-video and video game vibes the endeavor gives off, but then settles into something far too serious and bland, with one hero fighting through a city to make it home to a relative who is fending off a werewolf in scenes that amount to dull home invasion without thrills. One minute, there is the impression that they understand what tone this familiar material should have, soon pivoting into awkward sincerity, as if anything about these characters or this story is worth caring about on a deeper wavelength. It finally embraces absurdity in its third act, albeit too late.
Sticking with that video game analogy, the creative approach here resembles if a filmmaker wanted to adapt Resident Evil: Village by way of Resident Evil 2, with a dash of Doom and Duke Nukem (no, Frank Grillo is not playing a chauvinistic pig, but he does get to deliver amusing one-liners such as “come here you hairy [expletive]” to werewolves adorned in punk rock attire.) In theory, that sounds like a recipe for some gnarly horror-based action, but bluntly put, this film doesn’t deliver on that front, even with the reliably macho screen presence of Frank Grillo. It’s stuck following the logic of a video game but without filling those beats with memorable action. Yes, there are several encounters with the werewolves. However, they typically end as soon as they begin, whether from a stun gun or the tired steel pole impaling as the werewolf lunges toward its prey.
From the get-go, the presentation is wildly offbeat, explaining its premise through on-screen text graphics that give the impression of watching a trailer. Anyway, the gist is that moon exposure transforms humans into werewolves for the night, meaning that violence and carnage ensue. Naturally, scientists also run experiments on those highly susceptible to this mutation, hoping to prevent or reverse the transformation. Frank Grillo is Wesley, one of those team members who still grieves his brother’s loss in the fight against these monsters. He regularly visits his sister-in-law (Ilfenesh Hadera) and her young daughter Emma (Kamdynn Gary) while also arguing with their neighbor Cody (James Michael Cummings), a standard doomsday-embracing, gun-obsessed, murder-fantasizing nutjob prepped for the night and adamant that he can protect anyone.
I’m sure you can already guess how the night goes for Cody. And while there is some pointed commentary on the idea of the gun-toting wannabe protector turning into a werewolf and hurting a society he claims to care about, that’s also a cheap target and a played-out metaphor. Meanwhile, the world-building, lab experiments, and some other introduced side threads are all dropped in favor of watching Wesley try to survive the night alongside another scientist (Katrina Law), while occasionally calling Lucy and making sure she and her daughter are safe from a mutated werewolf Cody looking to break in. There is no urgency, weight, or suspense to any of it. Action sequences are also poorly stitched together (at one point, characters are in a laboratory hiding from a werewolf, only for the from to cut to them speeding in a car escaping the beasts) and are also plagued by jumpy cutting (so are some dialogue scenes.)
Barring the PlayStation 2-looking CGI for those transformations, Werewolves smartly utilizes costumes, makeup, and practical effects, all handled with considerable craft while imbuing each werewolf with personality. Whether it be Cody maintaining a “werewolf killer” tattoo or the previously mentioned punk-rocker werewolf, there is an admirable effort to keep in the viewers’ mind that these are still people while also separating them from coming across as fodder to be mowed down in what is essentially a video game movie (there is also the occasional first-person perspective in the laboratory, showing off oxygen levels like we are players that should be paying attention and managing it.)
For a film that unquestionably has budget constraints, Werewolves is certainly more aesthetically pleasing than some recent blockbusters. The problem is that it meanders and forgets that this is a movie about Frank Grillo gunning down werewolves. It’s a bloody amusing time when it operates under that train of thought, which is bafflingly little.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
