Review: Werewolves is a fun, not so serious horror-action movie

Just from watching the trailer, I sat down to watch Werewolves with some low expectations. What intrigued me was the look of the werewolves. They look more practical than they do in movies these days, like they're animatronic beasts right out of an '80s movie. I like that a lot.

Werewolves is reminiscent of films like The Howling and Wolfen, with the same level of cheesiness and plot holes. It’s also fun. The lycanthropes are not as spectacular as the ones in 2010’s The Wolfman featuring Anthony Hopkins and Benecio Del Toro, or Josh Harnett’s werewolf in the Penny Dreadful TV series. These creatures were as I expected with their growling, rivers of drool, and massive teeth. We get occasional information about who they once were thanks to personal items such as dog tags and a protective vest with the words ‘wolf killer’ on it. The action is a bit faster and higher tech in places, such as when the scientists put on protective suits which have electronics in the helmets. The lighting was annoying in places, but I still enjoyed watching Werewolves from scene to scene.

The premise

Supermoons have begun transforming people into werewolves without even the necessity of getting bit first. This movie opens on the eve of one of these moons, and people are making their preparations to survive the night.

A group of scientists are also preparing. They concocted a spray which is supposed to work similarly to sunscreen to prevent the moonlight from affecting anyone. They have several volunteers, people who turned during the previous supermoon cycle, to test it on.  At first I didn’t recognize the actor playing the head scientist; it's Lou Diamond Phillips, star of '80s movies like La Bamba and Stand and Deliver.

Of course, things go awry and all the plans fall apart. There are plenty of bodies being dragged off, heads ripped away, and lots of blood. That’s expected, right? These lycanthropes aren’t just dumb creatures either. They retain knowledge of how to overcome some protections put into place…foil an electric fence, destroy cameras, etc. Frank Grillo does a nice job portraying the hero trying to fill his deceased brother’s shoes. His transformation is a bit of eye candy.

If this sounds like fun, give Werewolves a watch. It's playing in select theaters now. It was worth an hour and 40 minutes to me.

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