- Written by Josh Rubin
- Directed by Mishna Wolff
- Stars Sam Richardson, Milana Vayntrub, George Basil
- Run time: 1 Hour, 37 Minutes
- Link: Werewolves Within (2021)(https://amzn.to/3rZ7oOK)
Synopsis
The film starts out with an especially ominous quote from Mr. Rogers. Credits roll.
A man is killed in the woods just within sight of his home.
Thirty days later, Finn Wheeler drives into town for his new post as ranger. He goes to the Beaverfield Inn, the same building where we saw the man die in the previous scene.
Sam Parker wants to put a pipeline through Jeanine’s property. Jeanine has doubts about selling her land for the pipeline. Finn meets Cecily, the town mail-person. Before long, we meet the rest of this quirky, silly town.
Finn soon gets distacted by his phone and walks right by all the “Tresspass and Die!” signs outside Mr. Flint’s house. Flint is the town nut, but it’s hard to tell with all the other weirdos.
Finn and Cecily have some bonding time while they throw axes at the wall.
That night, there’s an excessive winter storm, and the power goes out in town. Something out there eats Trisha’s dog, which pushes her right over the edge. Also, there’s an avalanche that traps everyone in town. Finn finds claw marks on the generators all over town; then he finds an arm– It’s attached to Jeanine’s missing husband, who everyone thought ran off. Dr. Ellis thinks she’ll be able to identify the creature from the blood samples.
Finn suggests calling on Mr. Flint, the expert hunter, to help in trapping the wild animal. Most of the town gathers to stay in the inn since the power is out and they can stay warm there. Wait– could Flint be the killer?
Night falls, and paranoia sets in. Something pulls Pete out of bed and bites him. Dr. Ellis gets a sample, but she won’t say what the animal is. She barricades herself in her room and goes a little crazy, just like Wilford Brimley in The Thing(https://www.horrorguys.com/the-thing-1982-review/). She says it’s a lycanthrope. Then Parker opens the door and says Ellis killed herself. They all talk about werewolves and wendigos.
They all lock themselves in a room together and wait for someone to turn. Finn gives a “Can’t we all just get along” speech, and then most everyone just puts on their coats and leaves.
Finn, Cecily, and Jeanine board up the windows. Then Cecily finds a newspaper clipping about Finn’s previous posting. Could he be the killer? There have been other attacks along the route of the pipeline. Could the killer be Parker?
Nope. It’s time for the well-armed townspeople to turn on each other. Someone is secretly a werewolf hunter. Cecily and Finn go back to the bar with the axes to recover, and then we find out who the werewolf really is.
Commentary
At least Finn finally got to use some snowshoes; he’d been talking them up throughout the film.
The acting is appropriately comedic and good from most of the actors. Some of the characters are really annoying, and most of them don’t die fast enough. The transformation scene doesn’t come till the end, and it’s handled well when it finally gets there.
There are a lot of similarities to The Thing, even some of the musical cues toward the end. I guess that may be unavoidable with an “enemy within” kind of story.
I’m a little mixed on this one. It’s a mostly clean, not-especially gory, full-comedy, semi-horror film that’s fairly predictable, but still fun.