WEREWOLVES (2024)
Label: Universals Pictures Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 94 Minutes 2 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Stephen C. Miller
Cast: Frank Grillo, Lou Diamond Phillips, Katrina Law
Werewolves (2024) is directed by Steven C. Miller (Silent Night), and it starts off with a text pre-amble quickly explaining that one year ago, a Supermoon event inexplicably triggered a global outbreak of lycanthropy, meaning that the moonlight of the supermoon transformed anyone exposed to it into bloodthirsty werewolves for just one night, causing mass death, destruction and mayhem. Now, a year as the next supermoon is set to rise once again. Our main character is ex-marine Wesley Marshall (Frank Grillo, The Purge: Anarchy) who now works for the newly established Global Rapid Response Team, who's mission is to find a cure to end this outbreak of werewolves. Marshall works with lead scientists Dr. Aranda (Lou Diamond Phillips, La Bamba) and Dr. Amy Chen (Katrina Law, TV's Green Arrow) to hopefully develop a cure. What they've developed is a "moonscreen", which is a topical spray, which they are set to test during tonight's supermoon, using test subjects in cages who will be exposed to the rays of the moon.
It's a very The Purge-esque sort of situation, prior to the nightfall we see an entire city preparing for the lycanthropic mayhem, boarding up and securing their homes, arming themselves with weapons and tricking out their home defense systems. As the flick gets underway it sets up that
Marshall's brother was killed during the last Super Moon event, and that he is now taking care of late brother’s wife Lucy (Ilfenesh Hadera, TV's Godfather of Harlem) and her daughter Emma (Kamdynn Gary, TV's Spartacus: Vengeance), fortifying their home to block out the moonlight and prevent werewolves from gaining entrance during the Super Moon event, before heading into the Global Rapid Response Team HQ/lab to carry out the moonscreen experiments.
Of course the experiment's don't go quite right, werewolves escape the lab when the moonscreen protection wears off, carnage ensues as werewolves tear into the lab staff and Wesley and Dr. Chen find themselves fighting for survival on the city streets chock full of werewolves, all the while attempting to back to Lucy and Emma at the house to make sure they're okay. The main threat to Lucy and Emma is a militant right-winger neighbor named Cody (James Michael Cummings, New Jack City) who was all gung-ho about blasting werewolves earlier in the film only to find himself transformed and hungry for his neighbors flesh, laying siege to their home and craftily evading their security measures.
I thought this flick had a pretty ingenious idea and set-up, the Supermoon inexplicably transforming people into werewolves, that's just a freaking cool idea, and mixing that up with some The Purge style wild-in-the-street mayhem is also a promising premise. The film uses a mix of digital and practical effects to achieve it's werewolves, and while I thought the digital transformation effects were a tad ropey I quite loved the application of practical effects and guys in werewolves suits, which were designed by Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. who are known from the Alien and Predator flicks. The flick is not perfection by many means, you can sort of feel and see the low-budget of it all, but it's still a blast. I loved the long-snout look, how the mouths sort of curl up into a grimace at times, they just look cool. The action-sequences are well-executed as well, soldiers spraying gunfire into advancing hordes of bloodthirsty werewolves, werewolves disemboweling and ripping into victims with a decent amount of gore, it's all good stuff.
The execution is slightly flat in spots, and what the fucking Hell is with the John Carpenter-esque lens flares in almost every dang shot? I don't mind a bit of artificial lens flare now and again, but it's almost a defying feature of the film, it was actually distracting. That said, it didn't ruin it for me, I had a fun time with this flick, and it's certainly one of the better action-packed and gory werewolf flicks I've seen in some time. If you enjoy Dog Soldiers, The Howling and The Purge flicks there is plenty to like here, I just thought it came across a bit dopey at times, but it is an entertaining horror-action mash-up, that is best described as The Purge meets Dog Soldiers, and if that premise sounds intriguing I think you'll have a good time with this one.
Audio/Video: Werewolves (2024) arrives in Blu-ray from Universal in 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1), the digital shot film looks solid. Depth and clarity are pleasing, colors look terrific, the black levels are strong. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles, the track is clean and the surround has some nice use of the directions, and the mix gets nicely aggressive during the punchier action moments. The only extras are Six Deleted Scenes. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork, inside there is a code for a digital copy of the film.
Special Features:
- 6 Deleted Scenes (6:33)
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