Indie Spotlight: Werewolves (2024)

An intentionally schlocky throwback to old-school creature features, “Werewolves” is a blast if you watch it with the right expectations.

Werewolves is a 2024 Action-Horror movie from director Steven C. Miller (Silent Night, Extraction) and stars Frank Grillo, Katrina Law, and Lou Diamond Phillips as doctors who are tasked with a special unit that researches the emergence of Werewolves following exposure to a recent Supermoon event. 

There is a brief CDC-type announcement in the opening where a block of text briefly drops enough exposition to lock the viewer in before we quickly cut to a montage sequence of Frank Grillo prepping his home and weapons cache for an encroaching battle. 

We are also privy to an over-enthusiastic neighbor, decked out in Capitol Riot gear, which includes a bullet vest with ‘Wolf Killer’ emblazoned across it and stars n’ stripes face paint because… of course. 

In these short sequences, we are welcomed into this unhinged reality at whiplash speed, and the action does not let up from here. 

The movie flirts with modern Pandemic and medical research themes.

Still, at its core, Werewolves is a Schlocky love letter to the Action-Horror franchises of the 1980s like Romero’s Dead trilogy and Aliens. 

The story centers on a mother named Lucy (played by Ilfenesh Hadera) and her daughter Emma (played by Kamdynn Gary), who are grieving the loss of their husband/ father as they navigate life with the aid of a close family member, Wesley (played by Frank Grillo). 

Wesley is a researcher who is testing willing participants who have a particular immune reaction when exposed to the light from a Supermoon. 

One year prior, many people underwent a strange metamorphosis when exposed to the celestial Supermoon event, and Werewolves explores the implications of a society dealing with a new pandemic: Lycanthropy. 

The movie unfolds across 24 hours when both the government and the public prepare for a Purgesque night where people must fortify their homes and defend themselves against the encroaching onslaught. 

In this world, there are gangs of humans who willingly transform themselves into Werewolves because they love the thrill of the hunt. Conversely, there are Militia/ Preppers who believe that the Lycanthropy disease should be eliminated, and they’re armed to the teeth, ready to murk as many Lycans as they can. 

These aspects are what is most intriguing about the movie: the idea of a Werewolf vs. human militia fighting tooth and nail during a government-approved battle.

While we are treated to many fun Lycan action scenes, I feel that the movie became a little disjointed at the halfway point. Particular scenes and elements of the lore had evidently been cut from the version I viewed in my region. 

While this did not spoil my overall enjoyment of the movie, certain scenes became confusing as it felt like we were missing some important expositional context around the emergence of particular Lycans and how they fit into the overall narrative. 

The cool thing about Werewolves is that every Lycan has unique traits and idiosyncrasies. They may have distinctive facial features in wolf form or maintain some of their human qualities, pre-transformation, such as face paint, dyed hair, and even Punk attire. 

Another fascinating inclusion to the movie’s lore-building is that when humans revert to their natural form, they retain horrific and distinctive scars all over their bodies from their grueling transformation. These humans are seen as degenerates by people like Wesley, who view the Lycanthropy epidemic as a curse; the fact that they bear their scars of war announces to the rest of society which side they stand on. 

The film has enough self-awareness to comment upon recent world events without ever devolving into gratuity. The divisiveness that we have collectively experienced in society is turned on its head here: us vs. them simply becomes human vs. wolf, and boy, do the filmmakers have fun with it. 

The movie employs a nice mix of CG and practical FX for its wolves: the wolf suits are practical, with some CG thrown in to embellish the transformation scenes.

Seeing so much movement from the actors in their prosthetics was also genuinely refreshing. 

In most werewolf movies, the Lycans don’t tend to move around a lot and instead pose in stationary positions. In Werewolves, however, we are treated to Wolves ominously perching in tree branches, leaping through the air onto moving vehicles, and moving independently during action sequences despite their heavy bulk (props to the stunt team) 

Stylistically, however, I have a bone to pick: the movie HEAVILY uses lens flare, much to its detriment. Many shots include a jarring lens flare. This, coupled with chronic out-of-focus shots, resulted in a rather Bokeh-heavy aesthetic, which I admittedly found distracting. 

The balls-to-the-wall action sequences and gnarly wolf scenes more than compensate for some flare issues, so all is forgiven. 

The acting involves some scenery-chewing; however, Grillo and Hadera bring levity and badassery to their respective roles in equal spades. Frank Grillo’s ability to steal every scene he’s in reminded me of Bill Paxton’s acting style, including his flawless ability to hook the audience with a few simple lines. His serious delivery of the line, ‘’Alright, you hairy motherfuckers! Come fetch!’’ made me spit out my drink laughing; the man is a gem. 

We have witnessed something of a resurgence in Werewolf movies of late. From the Blumhouse Studios’ upcoming Wolfman remake to the comedic horror of Werewolves Within, it would appear that my favorite Creature Feature subgenre is gaining some new popularity. 

Werewolves is a film that fits nicely into this sliver of Horror cinema, and it offers as much humor as it does impressively gory fight sequences. 

I have noticed that the movie is receiving some negative reviews. I believe the reason for that is that many reviewers misunderstood the film’s intentional tone.

Werewolves know what it is: a pastiche popcorn movie, and it has fun with it.

Neither the tone nor dialogue implies that this is a serious movie, and if you go in simply expecting a cheesy Action-Horror movie featuring some throwback FX and action pieces, you’ll have a blast. 

So many movies have intentionally tried to create an 80s aesthetic or tone that it has become a fad at this point; however, Werewolves succeeds in presenting itself as a late 80s/ early 90s movie without really trying. 

The filmmakers get it: they’re not trying to recreate Universal Monsters. They’re more focused on presenting a movie where you can fall into a different era that values cheesy dialogue, practical FX, and WTF creature work over polished computer-generated box office cash grabs.

Steven C. Miller stretches every dollar of the movie’s slim budget, resulting in charming Indie fare, which illustrates why less cash should not limit a good director. 

The film is something of an anachronism. More tone-deaf audience members don’t seem to understand that this movie KNOWS it’s an intentional horror hodgepodge. I’m confident that, given time, it will eat its way into the hearts of many Cult film fans. 

Werewolves would perhaps benefit from a longer cut or from another movie set in this universe so that its audience can explore some of the unique mythology that became lost in the chaos of consecutive action scenes (ain’t complaining: this movie rarely has a dull moment).

If you like your action stars hairy and your Horror dripping with comedic flair, you will have a howling good time with Werewolves.