Werewolves

Horror films are about as old as dirt when it comes to Hollywood producing them, so when "Werewolves" was released, the writer decided to make this something other than a typical horror flick. As like with "World War Z", this story was presented with the premise that those who became werewolves was due to a medical condition. 

In this story, a supermoon event has triggered a latent gene in every human on the planet, turning anyone who entered the moonlight into a werewolf for that one night. Chaos ensued and close to a billion people died. Now, a year later, the supermoon is back. Two scientists, Wesley Marshall (Frank Grillo) and Amy Chen (Katrina Low) attempt to stop this mutilation in order to curb yet another devastating event. Can they do this before so many end up succumbing to the same fate as the year prior? 

Others to round out the cast are Ifenesh Hadera as Lucy, James Michael Cummings as Cody Walker, Lou Diamond Phillips as Dr. Aranda, Kamdynn Gary as Emma, Lydia Styslinger as Reagan, Daniel Fernandez as Evan, James Kyson as Myles, Betzaida Landin as Dr. Vasquez and Sam Daly as Walter. 

This was intensely directed with grit by Steven C. Miller ("Automation Transfusion" '06, "Scream of the Banshee" (TV movie) '11, "The Aggression Scale" '12, "Under the Bed" '12, "Silent Night" '12, "Extraction" '15, "Submerged" '16, "Marauders" '16, "Arsenal" '17, "First Kill" '17, "Escape Plan 2: Hades" '18, "Line of Duty" '19, Margaux '22) plus shorts and a video. Certainly this filmmaker was in his comfort zone considering his resume, but he was able to get his actors to emit the emotions that were needed to convince the audience of the perpetual danger these people were up against. If you like this form of directing, his "Under Fire" is in post production. It was executed well by writer Matthew Kennedy ("Inheritance" '20, "Canary Black" '24). Even though this writer doesn't carry a plethora of experience, this was certainly a strong premise and execution. As aforementioned, this does remind me of "World War Z" back in 2013, in that this treated the condition of becoming a werewolf as a medical issue as did "World War Z" treated becoming a zombie as a global virus infecting many. The fact that these films were handled as a medical issue instead of them being a horrific fantasy made it almost palatable story wise. There were a few places where certain aspects were questionable, such as some people became werewolves quickly whereas others took longer. And some were only in the light and became werewolves, whereas others didn't until they happened to actually look at the moon, etc. But with more work and honing his talent, I feel he will become a talented writer. The special effects makeup were by Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr, who also created the special effects makeup for John Carpenter's "The Thing" (1983) which were as creative. 

Certainly if you liked "World War Z" you'll love this since it was handled in a way that treated it as though becoming a werewolf was a medical problem because of a latent gene in all people--it truly made it far more interesting. It is rather gruesome so be prepared, however, when was the last time one saw a werewolf film that wasn't gruesome?

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                      Rated: R                                          94mins.