In theaters December 6th, 2024
A man helps set up his brother’s widow to spend the night alone with her child in the house while he goes out to test a new solution to a global epidemic of werewolves which happen under super moons which is that night. Soon, things take a turn.
Written by Matthew Kennedy and directed by Steven C. Miller, Werewolves is as predictable as can be, but also as fun as they make them. Here’s the deal, Werewolves has a story that you can see coming from a mile away and that doesn’t keep it from being entertaining, fun, wild, and just a bit nuts. Yes, the characters are as expected, some of the story beats are very much SyFy original and yet it all works, giving us one of those films where you know how things will end, and you can’t wait to see how they’ll get there. The writing and direction seem to know that, and they make the most out of it, going balls to wall with the werewolves’ presence, the violence, and the mayhem. This is a very violent one, it has a lot of werewolf mayhem, so it works. The story is a bit thin, but who cares?
The cast here is led by Frank Grillo, so you can easily guess that he’s our hero here, the man who helps out his widowed sister-in-law and niece set themselves up for survival while he goes to work at the science lab to see if there is a way to prevent those entire population from turning into werewolves from the super moon. Yes, Grillo plays a scientist with a background in the military, for reasons. His character feels a bit like a mash up of all his previous characters with a touch of a little something extra. His performance here is basically as expected, and it works great for the material. Joining him and spending a good part of the film with him is Katrina Law as Amy, one of the doctors working on the werewolf-prevention project. Her work here is decent with a few moments that could have used one more take. Playing the sister-in-law Lucy is Ilfenesh Hadera who does well in her limited capacity. Playing her daughter Emma is Kamdynn Gary who is fantastic. As a top-billed yet doesn’t get enough screen time character, Lou Diamond Phillips is fun. The rest of the cast works quite well here, basically within the expectations for their characters. The werewolf performers here are great, giving these beasts life and making them fun to watch tear people apart.
The werewolf design here seems somewhere between An American Werewolf in London and Dog Soldier on perhaps a lower budget, but it generally looks really good. The practical effects here are great and the beasts have fantastic designs, each retaining the personality of their human counterparts including a few visual cues to them that are fun to spot here and there. The effects team here is to be commended, these are some fun creatures and a great bunch of looks for the werewolves.
Showing us all of this is the cinematography by Brandon Cox (and team), making what they can of the light design. You see, this film has an obsession with flashing lights. Once the mayhem starts, it seems there isn’t a single stable source of light anywhere. This works on some scenes but is mainly a nuisance for the rest of the film without even considering those who won’t be able to watch the film due to the strobe effect that is near constant for the majority of the film’s run time. This is massive frustration as someone who gets migraines from flashing light and who had to purposefully watch on a smaller screen to avoid some of the effect.
Werewolves is a greatly fun werewolf romp with tons of violence, good beasties, and performances that work. It’s one of those that some won’t be able to watch but for those without flashing lights issues, this is one to see on the big screen if you can.