Maybe it’s the deluge of Oscar bait and blockbusters-in-waiting that I have been watching over the past few weeks in gearing up for all of my holiday/year end coverage, but the well executed B-movie delights of Werewolves hit me at the perfect time. A non-stop, never boring, no bullshit action-horror hybrid that only wants to entertain and has just enough meat on its bones to hold the whole thing together, Werewolves is the kind of movie that hardly ever reaches cinemas anymore, but I’m thankful that it’s there to break up the monotony.
One year ago, a supermoon turned over a billion people on earth into werewolves without explanation. You want one? Too bad. The movie tells you this – via exposition delivered by Lou Diamond Phillips, as the doctor leading the charge against spontaneous lycanthropy – and you either take it or leave it. Now, the supermoon has returned, and the world is gearing up for another night of carnage. Molecular biologist and former military ranger Wesley Marshall (Frank Grillo) has spent the better part of his day helping to fortify the home of his brother’s widow (Ilfenesh Hadera) and niece (Kamdynn Gary), before heading off to work, testing out a new sort of serum that can block the moon’s rays and stop people from turning.
Naturally, things go wrong or Werewolves wouldn’t be much of a thrill ride, leading Wesley and a fellow scientist with equally personal investment in the situation (Katrina Law) to go on the run through increasingly deadly city streets filled with creatures and human scumbags who use this humanitarian crisis to get their violent rocks off. After about eight minutes of just enough exposition and character motivation to make the viewer invest and understand what’s going on, genre veteran Steven C. Miller (Silent Night, Line of Duty) is off to the races for the next eighty-ish minutes, mounting a “get from point A to point B” thriller with no frills, but a lot of dexterity and craft. The entire goal of the characters here is to protect their loved ones and stay away from werewolves. No further explanation given, nor needed. With Werewolves, Miller does what he sets out to do and accomplishes his goals with maximum energy and efficiency.
There are a few moments where the editing makes some odd choices, but the set pieces throughout Werewolves are enjoyably chaotic and bloody. There are more lens flares than one would see if they were standing inside of a prism, but for a change, they actually look great and not just like random streaks of light. The script from Matthew Kennedy has some choice one-liners and zingers that alleviate the tension and show that this is all in good fun. The characters are interesting in the fact that Werewolves is about people who actually want to find long term solutions to problems instead of giving into mob mentality. Action superstar Grillo – who plays a more credible scientist than Mark Wahlberg did in The Happening – is exactly the kind of hero something like Werewolves needs, probably because Miller’s film shares a lot of DNA with The Purge franchise (amongst others that are lovingly referenced throughout), and he just happened to star in the best of those films, too. But the biggest attraction to Werewolves would have to be the practical make-up effects that meld perfectly with light CGI touches, which look better than many modern blockbusters that clock in at ten times the budget of whatever this cost to make. (Special mentions have to go to the punk rocker werewolf who shows up wearing a battle vest, the little girl who threatens Grillo in a convenience store, and to James Michael Cummings, as the gun nut jerk next door who perpetually ruins everything.)
B-movies aren’t a bad thing, and Werewolves hits a laid back sweet spot. It’s well done, unpretentious, and most importantly, engaging. They serve a place in multiplexes that seems to have been forgotten. Back in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, mid-budget films like Werewolves – from a variety of different genres – would offer moviegoers a bit of respite from the kinds of movies marketing campaigns and critics would tell people they should rush out and see. Sometimes, you just want a movie that gets in, gets out, and leaves you satisfied. That’s precisely what Werewolves does. If you want depth, there are other movies at the theatre. If you want bombast on a grand scale, there are other movies at the theatre. If you want genre comfort food, there’s Werewolves.
Werewolves opens in theatres everywhere on Friday, December 6, 2024.
