Werewolves Within

Films based on computer games tend to fall into two categories. Absolute crap or forgettable fun. Super Mario Bros? Crap. Tomb Raider? Forgettable fun. Assassin's Creed? Crap. Rampage? Forgettable fun. Far Cry & Max Payne? Craaaaaaaaap. Mortal Kombat & Monster Hunter..... you can see where this is going. There's just something about the brilliance computer games are capable of that hasn't yet translated across to the silver screen. I wonder which side will Werewolves Within fall? 

The town of Beaverfield is split in two. A gas pipeline tapping into the natural resources of the surrounding area has been proposed and while it will bring money to Beaverfield and it's people, many are against it saying it will ruin the look of the town and put other people out of work. Into the middle of this argument arrives an amiable forest ranger called Finn Wheeler (Sam Richardson) and with the help of postal worker Cecily Moore (Milana Vayntrub) he starts to get the lay of the land and a sense of the zany inhabitants of the place. As Finn and Cecily grow closer odd things start to happen, people are going missing, machinery is being sabotaged, pets are being mangled and gory discoveries are being made under peoples porches.

The title kinda gives it away doesn't it. Werewolves Within was never going to be a romantic drama but the hint of attraction between Finn and Cecily is one of the winning things about this new comedy horror that definitely leans more into the comedy side of things. Within minutes we're economically introduced to the meat......I mean the people of Beaverfield and it's here the fun begins as you start guessing who'll live, who'll be minced, who you want to die horribly and who or whom may be the things that go bump in the night. As a light hearted take on The Thing or that creepy X-Files episode Ice it works well with the snowy environs evoking their same chilly atmosphere but it's the utter lack of anything resembling a scare that lets the film down. Every edge is blunted by a one liner, building tension is dissipated every time by silly arguments (there's a lot of them in this and they are all annoying) and at times it feels like the movie is afraid to alienate it's audience by actually scaring them.

The best comedy horrors are remembered because they went for broke with their scares and let the laughs afterwards soothe the viewers. An American Werewolf In London, remember those petrifying dream sequences? Return Of The Living Dead's Tarman or the ghoulish exploits of Christian Winter in Extra Ordinary. Proper horror intertwining successfully with full on belly laughs. With Werewolves Within we get the haha but none of the horror. It's a genre that works best when you get to like the characters before seeing 'em torn asunder and Finn and Cecily are a likable pair, especially during an early scene set to an Ace of Base song but never once will you feel like they're in any bit of danger. Something that's pretty crucial in this genre dontcha know.

As such it definitely falls into the forgettable fun category. Sam Richardson's bumbling schtick (used so well in Veep) hasn't quite gotten old yet and Milana Vayntrub has the type of charming screen presence that will no doubt be absorbed into the Marvel money machine sooner rather than later. Both work well together and their chemistry is the high point here.

Werewolves Within is streaming on google movies now. It will pass 90 minutes for you but you won't remember much the next day.