“Werewolves” (2024) is set in a world where exposure to the super moon’s light changes people into werewolves. People prepare for the next supermoon by locking themselves up in their homes while the CDC looks for a cure. Unfortunately, the werewolves are smart, and the people are dumb. Though it is a global crisis, the action is limited to one American town with the action revolving around two scientists, Wesley Marshall (Frank Grillo) and Dr. Amy Chen (Katrina Law), and Marshall’s sister-in-law, Lucy (Ilfenesh Hadera), and niece, Emma (Kamdynn Gary). Will they survive the night?
After a long hiatus, along with arguably “Nightbitch” (2024) and the upcoming “Wolf Man” (2025), “Werewolves” joins a seeming resurgence of onscreen lycanthropes. The idea of a human being losing consciousness and giving in to their basest nature to run around as a hairy, naked and strong killing machine that cannot be stopped does not seem to resonate as much with audiences as vampires and zombies. This movie deserves credit for establishing new rules for how people get infected. Leave your silver at home. Instead of a bite or scratch, it is the rays of the super moon, and no one knows if they will become activated or not. The film is a little inconsistent in terms of the aftereffects of a night howling at the moon. Some people seem to appear scarred, but others return looking no worse for the wear. It is also unfortunate that unlike “Stake Land” (2010), it failed to fully explore the Christian fundamentalist rhetoric.
“Werewolves” is the kind of action horror movie that would find its audience in the eighties complete with silly one liner, terse quips directed at the monsters like “Bite me.” It feels like a cross between a disaster movie with the goal of preserving and reuniting a family and “The Purge” franchise with the masses desperately trying to prepare and be safe while some are jubilant at the prospect of a night of violence either from weekend warrior wannabes like neighbor Cody (James Michael Cummings) or a nameless volunteer, Lab Subject #1 (Omalik J. Rosado), who is psyched for the transformation. It is also clear that a lot of thought was put into the world building with all the posters advising the public how to behave. Having Grillo as the star enhances “The Purge” vibe since he appeared in two of the excellent sequels, “The Purge: Anarchy” (2014) and “The Purge: Election Year” (2016), and gives the impression of the tough guy who will survive a wild night. It is forgivable that most of the characters are archetypes. Wesley is basically a man torn between professional and filial duty to protect his brother’s family. Through his journey, the flick shows glimpses of how other communities act during this crisis from the vigilante ghost dogs to the afterthought inscrutable rain slicker folks holed up in a mall.
Unfortunately “Werewolves” narrative does not live up to its premise and devolves into people consistently doing dumb things that will make movie goers wonder how they survived the first year of the outbreak. The first third of the movie spends too much time with news broadcasts featuring officials discussing the crisis as a thinly disguised prose dump, which gives Wesley’s credentials more credibility. When the moon emerges, all that preparation rapidly dissolves like cotton candy in water, but worse, the action direction is often inscrutable as shots of people’s faces in their helmets like Robert Downey Jr. in the “Iron Man” franchise intercut with action makes it feel as if none of the headliner actors were on set for the filming of the mayhem. Also, it is almost impossible to discern where everyone is in relation to each other which is kind of key if a person is trying to avoid a werewolf pouncing and ruins a Lou Diamond Philips cameo as a top scientist. The action ends up being messy instead of satisfying.
The special effects are initially decent, particularly during the transformation, but the snoot sniffing feels vaguely animatronic. With zombies and werewolves, it is most fun when the remnants of their outfits shed some light on who they were during their regular days. “Werewolves” is at its best when the werewolves turn out to be smarter than their human alter egos and are apparently the MacGyvers of monsters, complete with implied screwdrivers. The “Three Little Pigs” fairy tale lied because werewolves would have gotten into that brick house. Now it is unclear why the werewolves hyper fixate on certain human beings or their power of super senses glitch out. For example, they only target Marshall and Chen over the massive group aiding them. This underdeveloped aspect of the lycanthrope reinvented mythology was frustrating, but as the story approached the denouement, it started to take on a psychosexual texture, i.e. everyone in the neighborhood apparently thinks Lucy is hot and becomes predatory when the moon releases them of their inhibitions. If the writers could have made up their mind who Marshall’s future love interest should be, this plot point could have worked. Fact check: sadly many would not need a super moon to get put on the sexual offender list. Apparently fog automatically accompanies a super moon for atmosphere. These werewolves clearly were fans of “Jurassic Park” (1993).
It was frustrating when people would break their own rules by making noise, opening doors and hesitating before shooting. Side note: shooting through a wall is probably a waste of ammo. In the US, how is it possible to run out of ammo? Seems like a you problem. Also putting the lab in the same room as caged werewolves seems like an obviously bad idea. If flashing lights triggers seizures, skip “Werewolves.” With all due respect to Grillo, making him a lead molecular biologist is probably the most unbelievable part of the film, but considering what a disaster the research effort is, it retroactively makes sense—he was at the bottom of the class. A halfhearted scientific explanation for the outbreak is quickly abandoned, and while no one is here for a biology lesson, it feels like a letdown to revolve the plot around scientists and not at least continue to pretend to care about their research. There is an underdeveloped theory that Dr. Chen has about how to survive the night using wolf pack mentality, but other than one cool moment, it goes nowhere and is ultimately disappointing. If Law looks familiar, you may know her as Nyssa al Ghul in “Arrow” or Mira in “Spartacus” TV series. Maybe stop using alarms that make loud beeping noises. If you get into a car accident because you do not see an enormous vehicle, surviving werewolves are the least of your problems. And who leaves their ringer on? “Remember when a full moon meant something cool, magical.” No. Lucy took all the wrong lessons from “Halloween” (1978).
“Werewolves” has some great moments: ripping off faces, kiddie werewolf savaging a stuffed animal, werewolf showdowns. The latter is the best because it is so obvious from the opening of the film that moviegoers are secretly rooting for certain people to become werewolves so they can finally beat each other up. It is the best part of the movie and may feel very “Predator” (1987) coded. It is a ridiculous idea that becoming a werewolf seems like a good plan considering all the possible side effects after transformation, which the dialogue likens to becoming a drug addict. Instead, it has the side effect of making one character into brand name Wolverine.
While “Werewolves” may not be worth the ticket price and effort of going to the movie theater, at least it is often fun unlike a movie with more resources like “Kraven the Hunter” (2024). While it never rises to the level of seamless monster pandemic like its vampire counterparts such as “Daybreakers” (2009), if you have a penchant for movies that would ordinarily go straight to streaming and is not complete crap while simultaneously not reaching solid B movie levels, then this film is for you. For anyone curious, but not sold, see it at home.
