Werewolves Within (2021)
A whodunnit with teeth.
Here’s something I haven’t done in a good while - a movie that’s still “in theaters’ at the moment of the Thursday ritual. Yes, I nailed it as a rental from home, because i have a projector and crap and largely don’t want to be bothered with adding a step of “going somewhere else” on a review day (probably a sort of obvious fact, but I watch all these things immediately before posting them, unless I know there’s something that’s going to keep me from getting them out on time before hand). I strayed away from it for a while, because I used the Quick Flick format for it - but tonight, we want the spices of life. A zesty meal. A hearty serving of movie based on game based on other game. We want so many levels of werewolves that our brain is itching beneath the veritably village amount of hair it’s grown while the moon was out. Tonight, we hope our neighbors are good to us - it’s time for Werewolves Within.
I mean, the movie says it’s based on the video game made by Ubisoft, but i know I heard of it well before that as a board game with cards and roles and stuff - along with the million of variants like “Secret Hitler” and all that razzmatazz. That being said, the plot is super straight forward as the concept of those games. We have a bunch of characters - a village if you will - and amongst their numbers is a werewolf. Distrust and secrets come out in search of the beast, accusations fly wild be they right or wrong - and the only way for anyone to survive is to figure out who the werewolf is before it’s dinner time. For this adventure, we follow the lead character - an all-too-nice new in town Ranger. We get a quick setup time to set up who each character is and their general relationship grid against each other, killing off a character or two we haven’t even been introduce too along the way for setup - and then the murder mystery begins and the chaos ensues.
Of course, it’s not all life-or-death danger here. It’s part comedy - and a slice of this is from the overblown wacky characters. The comedy in regards to that is where things are going to be most hit or miss - even though comedy is generally pretty hit or miss anyways. Some might find a character annoying, others might associate with it somewhat. Some can offer some pretty believable reactions, others seem like they might be aliens in disguise as humans. The timing is usually pretty on point regardless of the actual joke though, so even if it doesn’t trigger your laugh reflex you can at least recognize the feeling of it not being minutes later then the punchline should have been. That said, one shouldn’t expect a ton of character building here - the main character will get a little tread of it through the story, but for the most part these people all exist to be their cartoon version of a character trait until they die, win as a werewolf, or survive.
Actors all do a pretty good job with their roles. I’m sure this thing won’t ever be nominated for any acting rewards or anything - but that being said the actors all play their characters as I imagined was whole-heartedly intended by everyone making this thing. When I initially saw the trailer for this thing, I thought it was one of those IGN April Fools style jokes - and I feel like the general level of performance is pretty on par with such a thing. It’s not bad - but with how over the top the characters all are, it’s hard to really call it impressive. Amusing, sure, but not exactly what you would expect when someone said a stunning performance. “Oh yeah, remember that lady that was absolutely mental for like 20 minutes about her dog getting killed off screen!” I feel it might give the wrong impression, but perhaps hammy would be a good way of describing what to expect here. It’s not like you flipped on an Asylum movie and people can barely deliver their lines - everyone in here throws those things out like professional actors, it’s just with dials cranked to 11 and the target is wacky game antics - like another popular whodunnit, Clue.
New in town.
I know what your asking - I said and the title said there was going to be at minimum a werewolf in this movie, how does it look? I mean, it’s not horrible. It’s a bit bare-bones wolf-man style werewolf, so it’s nothing as impressive as massive lean folks on digigtirade stilts like the lycans from Underworld or anything. Violence is in the movie, and usually pretty not graphic in the levels of detail. A person might have some blood on them, but you aren’t seeing peoples inner bits spill out on the floor or anything of that sort. Given the hidden nature of the werewolf, pretty near all of it’s kills are off screen - and the only real on screen kills you see are the ones performed by any of the normal folk guessing incorrectly as to whose the bad guy of the situation. They are performed well, particularly towards the end of the movie when things are at maximum tension levels.
We’ve already touched on the comedy to some extent already. There isn’t really straight slapstick in it - although some physical moments can be funny, it’s usually more like “I’m so scared I forgot to unlock the door so I couldn’t get out of it” kind of physical than any Three Stooges actual slapstick. There some fun lines and moments in there, on account of the characters being so guano crazy, but it’s all going to be very hit or miss for the most part with perhaps only a few that feel like a guaranteed chuckle. Audio is balanced well, and there’s a few classy songs in there that can scream a bit of nostalgia in an funny ironic sort of way. Line deliveries are all done well and easily understandable.
As to whose the werewolf? Well, in a way we all are - easily tearing each other apart at the drop of a hat in the right circumstances. Although it sounds like I’m just avoiding spoiling the plot for you because they do such a wonderful job of hiding who it is (I don’t actually feel like they did, but they did okay), I’m really just letting you know that like many a good horror comedy this thing has some commentary to throw at you as well. Some people love that sort of thing, and it doesn’t feel super heavy handed in this one - instead feeling like it’s an element of the plot. Are they trying to push that nature is beautiful and should be respected, or are they saying people should understand the needs of other people even if it costs a little bit of nature? Well, that depends what side of the group you listen to during the argument - see, natural. That said, despite it not ramming it down your throat, it’s not like it’s so subtle you don’t miss all the threads of commentary a person could pull out of it whether intended or not, just on the basis of all the overblown characters and the way they act against each other.
When we start trading werewolf campfire stories.
It’s not a bad little movie. It’s fun to watch on account of just how goofy it is, but never really quite feels like it’s trying too hard to master the horror element. Most of the time it’s an off-screen kill or a jump scare from an inanimate object when it comes to the immediate spooks, relying the rest of the time on the inter-group tensions. What this means is that honestly, it’s a pretty phenomenal adaptation of the game’s core premise. To some degree, it even has the roles of the game as sorts of cameo moments in there, although never being too blunt so as to make you call it out. It’s a movie based on a game that you can watch without having any knowledge of and still enjoy the same amount as someone who does. Just remember to take a lactose pill to deal with all the cheese!