Directed by Steven C. Miller, Werewolves is set in a world where a supermoon event triggered a latent gene in every human on the planet, causing anyone exposed to the moonlight to transform into werewolves and resulting in the deaths of millions overnight. A year later, scientists attempt to prepare for another supermoon hoping to be ready for it and to find a cure to the mutation, but instead must endure a night of teeth and claws.
I have always had a huge love for werewolf films but in recent years there have barely been any good werewolf films that have stood out to me, with the exception of Marvel’s Werewolf By Night. But then I started hearing about this film through the horror community grapevine and it immediately caught my attention with its premise as well as the fact it was using extensive practical effects for all of its werewolves, even with an indie budget. I got to see it on the best big screen that was available and I have to say that this film rocks!
Werewolves is an awesome horror-action hybrid with a fierce bite that makes the most of its premise, despite the limitations of its budget. It felt like a crazy mix of the Purge series and Neil Marshall’s Dog Soldiers, which may not make it sound like the most original werewolf film ever made but it manages to throw in its own unique and refreshing spins on the genre to make it stand out from other werewolf films in the past.
The film doesn’t quite meet its full potential in some places mostly due to its limits as an indie film but Steven C. Miller and his crew did the best they possibly could, delivering a thrilling flick that in my opinion makes werewolves badass again. The characters are pretty simple in terms of writing but are entertaining and compelling enough, mostly due to the cast fully dedicating themselves to the premise of the film through their performances.
Frank Grillo has proven himself to be a convincing action lead in the past and he continues to do so in this film as the character of Wesley Marshall, which is a role that feels like it would have been given to any of the big action stars of the 80s. He may not be playing a layered character but his dedicated performance makes the character likable and entertaining enough to root for as he faces hordes of bloodthirsty werewolves.
The same goes for Katrina Law as Dr. Amy Chen, who I had not seen in any project since the Spartacus series on Starz. She was good in this role and she shares some great moments with Frank Grillo, making for an equally compelling co-lead.
One performance I was surprisingly impressed with was Ilfenesh Hadera as Lucy Marshall due to her commitment to pulling off some emotional moments that felt mostly genuine, as well as badass moments that made her just as awesome as Frank Grillo’s character.
The rest of the cast was mostly solid too but the best characters of the film, who are also the best part of the whole film, are the titular werewolves themselves. I f**king love the werewolves in this film! Not since An American Werewolf in London and Dog Soldiers have I loved a fully practical werewolf design so much until this film came along with the most detailed and masterfully crafted werewolves I’ve seen in so long. You could tell that this was where most of the film’s budget went because these werewolves look very real as well as god damn terrifying, providing great amounts of horror and terror wherever they go. They might be beasts but they are highly intelligent and hyper-sensitive beasts that are far more dangerous compared to mindless zombies and can’t be so easily avoided or killed in comparison.
They are given a lot of detailed emotions through their facial expressions and eye movements so you can tell what they are thinking or feeling in the moment, as well as see them have distinct personalities. Additionally, all the werewolves have unique individual designs based on the people they were when they were still human, which was surprising to see but amazing regardless.
Most other werewolf films of the past that featured multiple werewolves on screen always made them look the exact same and never really put forth the effort into making them look individually different both in terms of look and style. This film goes above and beyond to make these werewolves look individually unique and for that I hugely applaud the ingenuity of the amazing practical effects crew involved in this film that was led by SFX legend Alec Gillis, who some may know for his practical effects work on many iconic creatures such as the Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise, which includes the most recently released Alien Romulus where he was involved as a special effects supervisor.
The transformations are primarily done through CGI and while it isn’t the best it definitely is not the worst I’ve seen compared to past transformations, plus the end result of these transformations makes up for it hugely.
As mentioned before this film is a mix of the Purge series and Dog Soldiers, both in its narrative and tone, but it still manages to throw its own unique spins on this premise to make it fun and stand out on its own. It’s pretty straightforward in terms of its story but the entertainment and thrill factor is high as this film feels like a great throwback to 80’s horror-action flicks that were always fun to watch even if their narratives weren’t exactly Oscar-worthy.
But when I went into this film I wasn’t expecting anything Oscar-worthy, I just came in to have a good time and see badass werewolves, and this film delivered that for me. The werewolf rules and world-building of this film aren’t able to be fully explored likely due to budget restrictions but it does everything it can to make for an interesting world that you’d honestly love to see more of with all the cool elements it has.
My favorite narrative element is how they utilize the supermoon as the key to what causes people to turn into werewolves and how direct exposure to it on the skin or the eyes can result in immediate transformation. It’s an interesting approach compared to the traditional route of werewolf infections in other films and it also adds additional stakes for the characters who must prevent themselves from having prolonged exposure to the moonlight by either heavily covering themselves in protective clothing or using what is called “moon screen” to protect themselves, but it only lasts for one hour.
This film is thrilling from start to end as a result of some of these stakes but I do wish there could have been further exploration of this world, as well as have a better executed ending since I found the film does end rather abruptly without giving at least a glimpse of the aftermath. Again though, this mostly comes down to budget restrictions, which can also be seen through most of the technical elements of the film as well. Some cut corners in the action, sets, and some of the effects were clearly taken as a result of being an indie production, but despite the limitations the film looks as well as sounds great for the most part, and the practical werewolves are visually appealing to watch in action, delivering fantastic practical gore and intense thrills every time they are on screen.
The only visual eye-sore this film had for me was the abundance of lens flare effects in the beginning during the daytime scenes. I’m not sure if this was a style choice or another budget-related issue but I found it to be rather annoying at the start, but thankfully it doesn’t last for too long.
Another awesome element of this film was the music, which was surprisingly composed by the Newton Brothers who many may know as the composers for a majority of Mike Flanagan’s projects as well as the first season of X-Men 97. Their score enhances the horror and the action of this film hugely tenfold so they prove to be a great addition to the film with their work.
I feel horror fans and werewolf fans are really going to enjoy this indie flick so I encourage them to give this one a go and see if you enjoy it just as much as I did. This is the kind of werewolf film I have missed seeing and I hope that one day we can begin to see the werewolf genre make a major comeback in theaters just like the vampire film genre has been doing recently. I’m going to give Werewolves a B+ = 89.
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