I would consider myself to be somewhat of a werewolf connoisseur. Though I am a horror fanatic, it has also been the lycanthropes that attracted me the most, going back to childhood and the twin terrors of American WEREWOLF and THE HOWLING. It is a sad fact, though, that there are few good werewolf movies, so those of us who love the moon stalkers find ourselves in a constant search for "the next good one" and this movie is definitely that, though don't get me wrong, it is not without its' weaknesses. When making that claim, though, we have to admit that the competition is weak and the last good werewolf movie before this was probably 02's DOG SOLDIERS.
This movie had more than a few things going for it that signaled I was in for something I was going to enjoy. Beyond my aforementioned love of lycanthropic lore, the movie was an indie horror fan's dream. Directing by a rising star, Adrian Garcia Bogliano, who is coming off the excellent Mexican film HERE COMES THE DEVIL, as well as his highly praised segment in THE ABC's OF DEATH. The star of the movie is Nick Damici, usually known as the acting muse of director Jim Mickle, who featured Damici in movies like STAKE LAND and MULBERRY ST. Damici is an excellent actor who would be good in any role he's given and I believe that we're lucky to have him in our beloved horror genre.
Damici blinds a blind war vet, who's recently lost is wife. He's moving to a new community, where all is not as it seems. Something is lurking in the outskirts of town. Early on in the movie the monster collects its' first victim and sets the events of the film in motion. Damici's blind man quickly realizes that he's got a werewolf threat on his hands and spends the next month making preparations to defend himself at the next full moon.
Where Damici gets to really shine, though, is in the side story involving his son, played by that dude who was Rusty in VEGAS VACATION. As the movie unfolds, we peel back the layers on Damici's blind Van Helsing and explore his damaged relationship with his son and his regrets over his marriage, mostly stemming from the horrors he's witnessed in 'Nam. These story strains are allowed to unravel organically by Bogliano and he makes excellent use of the relationship by Damici's character and a preacher played by Tom Noonan, in some of the movie's best scenes.
Most of this movie is excellent. Damici gives one of his best performances yet and the tension established by Bogliano to setup the final confrontation shows the talent that this young director is capable of proving. There are some letdowns, though. A big part of the success of a werewolf movie is the makeup. Where so many b- movies fail is in crafting a believable look. Let's be frank here, Robert Kurtzman is a special effects guru, but this is not his best work. The werewolves look like the work of the guy that got voted off FACE OFF. It's almost amateur. I do give credit for attempting "Full Werewolf". They didn't take the cheap route of just using real wolves and they didn't go the cheesy old-school "shaggy guy" look, either. They tried to craft real bi-pedal nightmares, but they just look terrible.
The other noticeable chink in the armor here is in the script, which becomes far too reminiscent of Stephen King's story CYCLE OF THE WEREWOLF and it's official film adaptation SILVER BULLET. The use of the preacher, the crippled main character, the peaceful town with a werewolf secret, the final showdown in a home. There were a few too many similarities for me for this to feel truly fresh.
The end result is a movie that is good, but not great. Yes, I would easily say it's the best werewolf movie of the last ten years, but that's not saying too much. Maybe my expectations were too high? That's entirely possible. The movie spends the majority of its' run time establishing a setup to a final conflict that is disappointing in a few ways and ultimately leaves the viewer thinking that they could have done better with the tools they had in hand.
This movie had more than a few things going for it that signaled I was in for something I was going to enjoy. Beyond my aforementioned love of lycanthropic lore, the movie was an indie horror fan's dream. Directing by a rising star, Adrian Garcia Bogliano, who is coming off the excellent Mexican film HERE COMES THE DEVIL, as well as his highly praised segment in THE ABC's OF DEATH. The star of the movie is Nick Damici, usually known as the acting muse of director Jim Mickle, who featured Damici in movies like STAKE LAND and MULBERRY ST. Damici is an excellent actor who would be good in any role he's given and I believe that we're lucky to have him in our beloved horror genre.
Damici blinds a blind war vet, who's recently lost is wife. He's moving to a new community, where all is not as it seems. Something is lurking in the outskirts of town. Early on in the movie the monster collects its' first victim and sets the events of the film in motion. Damici's blind man quickly realizes that he's got a werewolf threat on his hands and spends the next month making preparations to defend himself at the next full moon.
Where Damici gets to really shine, though, is in the side story involving his son, played by that dude who was Rusty in VEGAS VACATION. As the movie unfolds, we peel back the layers on Damici's blind Van Helsing and explore his damaged relationship with his son and his regrets over his marriage, mostly stemming from the horrors he's witnessed in 'Nam. These story strains are allowed to unravel organically by Bogliano and he makes excellent use of the relationship by Damici's character and a preacher played by Tom Noonan, in some of the movie's best scenes.
Most of this movie is excellent. Damici gives one of his best performances yet and the tension established by Bogliano to setup the final confrontation shows the talent that this young director is capable of proving. There are some letdowns, though. A big part of the success of a werewolf movie is the makeup. Where so many b- movies fail is in crafting a believable look. Let's be frank here, Robert Kurtzman is a special effects guru, but this is not his best work. The werewolves look like the work of the guy that got voted off FACE OFF. It's almost amateur. I do give credit for attempting "Full Werewolf". They didn't take the cheap route of just using real wolves and they didn't go the cheesy old-school "shaggy guy" look, either. They tried to craft real bi-pedal nightmares, but they just look terrible.
The other noticeable chink in the armor here is in the script, which becomes far too reminiscent of Stephen King's story CYCLE OF THE WEREWOLF and it's official film adaptation SILVER BULLET. The use of the preacher, the crippled main character, the peaceful town with a werewolf secret, the final showdown in a home. There were a few too many similarities for me for this to feel truly fresh.
The end result is a movie that is good, but not great. Yes, I would easily say it's the best werewolf movie of the last ten years, but that's not saying too much. Maybe my expectations were too high? That's entirely possible. The movie spends the majority of its' run time establishing a setup to a final conflict that is disappointing in a few ways and ultimately leaves the viewer thinking that they could have done better with the tools they had in hand.