Review: Hollywood Werewolf

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

Hollywood Werewolf
Directed by James Balsamo
Acid Bath Productions
91 minutes, 2023
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As I have said before, when you get a James Balsamo film, you get consistency: bizarre silliness, puns, cameos, and it rarely rises above ridiculous. And yet, every time I hear a new one is out, I get excited. If you are looking for some deep, serious narratives, meaningful acting, and arty motifs, well, you just have not been paying attention.

Andy Dick, James Balsamo

For his latest, he has managed to rope in Andy Dick (most known for “NewsRadio” and bad behaviour) as the titular Elliot Wolf. He was a child star who hit the lowest points possible, not including being a werewolf (which we see right off the bat). But it was this that led him to the lead part of (a different, as is pointed out multiple times) visionary director Elliot Wolf’s new film, Hollywood Werewolf.

The premise of this film is a mock documentary by director Wolf about actor/werewolf Wolf. Confusing? I think not. This style sets up well for the inclusion of many and many a cameo by cult musicians, actors and filmmakers, a motif that is omnipresent in Balsamo’s films.

Documentary films tend to be short segments strung together in a common theme or topic. This gives a chance for multiple people to ad lib and have some obvious fun as they promote their own characters, such as “Saved by the Bell’s” Troy Fromin’s audition tape for (director) Wolf’s next art film, “The Life and Death of an Avocado.” Mixed in are insults to (actor) Wolf by the likes of a fired cue-card guy, his limo driver (who turned Wolf in when he killed three strippers, but still drove him to the trial), and his poor bedraggled manager, Marvin Orange (Balsamo regular and voice actor for multiple Manga films, G. Larry Butler).

Then, of course, there are interviews with (actor) Wolf’s ex-girlfriends, whose talking heads are mixed with “sex tape” scenes of them in a shower, covering themselves with various food substances, such as chocolate sauce and baked beans/hotdogs (surely to show up in Balsamo’s nudity Sexy Time collections).

I will say that some of the jokes that are bandied about throughout generally work pretty well here, many dealing with the names of films, or insults to actors (such as Lindsay Lohan; see the trailer below). Some people interviewed are given names like Chet Taint and David Davidson, and have descriptor titles like “Wind Enthusiast” or “Urethral Sound Enthusiast.”

Balsamo has come a long way from cameos where some band member(s) or actors were obviously filmed in an alleyway or on the street during a convention where they just insult Balsamo’s character, whichever it is in a particular film. Here his drop-ins play parts and seem more connected to the storyline (and from what I can tell, this ain’t nuthin’ compared to one of his next films, Robot Dracula), such as Eric Roberts, who has also appeared and starred in a number of Balsamo releases.

As for Andy Dick being the star of this, well, I will say he was physically present. He did not seem very engaged with what he was doing, but he actually is not in the film very much (which is probably a good thing), but the name recognition works. I liked the sparse werewolf make-up, though, which reminded me – in part – of Michael J. Fox’s in Teen Wolf (1985)

Despite the bouncing boobies and petulant puns, there is an interesting sociological aspect to this film. No, I’m serious! On one hand, it is a commentary on the temporary fame of child stars and how it can screw up one’s life. There are so many examples of this, like Anissa Jones (d. 1976, age 18), Aaron Carter (d. 2022, age 34), Todd Bridges, Erin Moran (2017, age 56), and Dana Plato (d. 1999, age 36), as well as so many others. Child actor Paul Peterson even “founded a child-actor support group, A Minor Consideration, to improve working conditions for child actors and to assist in the transition between working as a child actor and adult life” (Wikipedia).

Another aspect worth noting is the effects of fame on those unprepared for it, and how the need to sustain that level of notoriety even when undeserved for any real talent (think Kardashians). That is where our titular Wolf stands, at the crossroads of both of these junctures.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Wolf Hollow

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

Wolf Hollow
Directed by Mark Cantu
Mezek Films, Big Bell Productions; Hinds Productions; Cineworx
80 minutes; 2023
#wolfhollow #FollowTheHollow #mezekfilms
#pittsburghfilm #cineworx2023

Of his thirteen films to-date, be it features or shorts, so far, I have seen/reviewed three of them (this will be the fourth), each of a different genre. There was action thriller Elite (2017), post-apocalyptic anger infection Night Zero (2017), and slasher Massacre Academy (2021). This time at bat, it is the lycanthropy field.

While saying it fits into the werewolf canon is true, there are so many horror genres mixed together here in a Horror ghoul-ash. Y’gotcha cabin in the woods, backwoods hunters and murderers, and even the meta-filmmaking (a group shooting a film within the film). The latter with werewolves has been done before as well, such as Wolf Manor (2021). But every film is different, and I am looking forward to this, as a werewolf fan.

Lynn Lowry

Filmed outside Pittsburgh, PA, some of the scenery is quite awe inspiring, showing off the forests and mountains of, I am assuming, Oak Hollow Park. You get to see less of it as time goes on due to it being night, but meanwhile, enjoy.

With a prologue that reflects on themes from both The Howling (1981) and Blade (1998), we are off to a bloody start that had me smiling. A year later, there are two storylines that are bound to converge. First, there is the film crew heading to said Wolf Hollow to make their movie, starring washed up diva Marla Taylor (The Lynn Lowry, of 1971’s I Drink Your Blood, GA Romero’s The Crazies in 1973, Cronenberg’s 1975 Shivers, and more recently, Debbie Rochon’s 2016 Model Hunger, among so many other classics). The second is that a larger township is commandeering a local area – yep, said Wolf Hollow – and plans to kick out the Neuri (the name means the nervous system) family, run by matriarch Evie (The Felissa Rose, most famous as Angela in 1983’s Sleepaway Camp, but has become a major actor/producer in the indie film field). The town leaders are quite obnoxious and condescending about the land grab (i.e., their “tough nuggies” attitude).

Brian Ceponis, Feissa Rose (foreground)

There is tension all around: for the Neuri family: a member of the clan who has run away to New York, Ray (Noah J. Welter) has returned with the young and green film crew (e.g., one just graduated from NYU Film School), bringing additional tension between him and his brother, Bart (Brian Ceponis), who is struggling financially, along with his wife Evie. As for the potential filmmakers, well, it is one argument after another, as they try to placate their spoiled faded star, Marla. I love that many of the strongest characters are women, though it seems to me that even though there tends to be more women victims in horror flicks, they also tend to be the fiercest (check out Carol J. Clover’s amazing book, Men, Women andChain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film). 

With all the arguing going on with both sides and each other, it makes it hard to find a connection with some the characters, who tend to be a bit flat at times, though mostly undefined personalities. But with mishaps and anger comes the night, and the filmmakers are trapped in their trailer while the beasties beat on the door, metaphorically and eventually literally. But that should come as no surprise.

Christina Krakowski

It should be quite apparent to anyone who has a history of watching creature features to figure out who are the werewolves. It starts with a slow burn first half (after the prologue), but then it just spins the dial up. A major saving quality to the film is that once the action really starts, about a third of the way in, it does not let up. It is wolf-brutal with, to paraphrase Arlo, “blood ‘n gore ‘n veins in the teeth.” While there are few surprises throughout the film, and parts are predictable, that does not take away from the fun factor: there are a lot of wolves, though you see one at a time. My guess is that there was only one suit that was used over and over. This would make total sense given most indie’s budget constraints.

That being said the wolfies, designed by Midnight Studios FX, looks great, seeming to be modeled on those in The Howling (no complaints there), with the exception of the head of the lycanthropes, who’s initial change looks more like the human/cat face in Sleepwalkers (1992). The overall gore effects are also quite well done, if sometimes a bit dark (remember, it is night when the action comes).

Noah J. Welter

Most of the main characters are likeable, though some of the cast is almost interchangeable given such little exposition background (more time for action, I guess). Some of the personality standouts include the meta film’s director, Alex Romero (Christina Krakowski) – filmed near Pittsburgh, of course she is named Romero, duh – and her beau, Ray (Noah J. Welter), brother of the head of the Nuri clan. Another role of note is scene stealing Lucky Steve (Brandon Krum), who is the comedy relief of the film crew, and definitely has the best lines. There are a lot of local police who tend to blend into each other, even those at the higher level, but a standout is Officer Mills (Valena Zitello).

The question that nagged me for a while is why Ray brought the crew to Wolf Hollow, whether it was to see family, to get comeuppance to the clan, or was he a Judas Goat. It becomes clear by the end, and I ain’t spillin’ the beans.

It is pretty apparent that the director, Mark Cantu, is a big Wes Craven fan. There are many references to Craven’s cult films, such as the RV trailer-under-attack-by-bloodthirsty-locals as in The Hills Have Eyes (1977), and one of the wounded characters comments, “I’m feeling a little woozy here,” arguably the most requoted line from Scream (1996). I believe Craven would have been proud to have his work referenced here.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Wolf Manor

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

Wolf Manor (aka Scream of the Wolf)
Directed by Dominic Brunt
The Club of Wyrdd Tales; Mitchell Brunt Films; Wild Edric Media;
Francis-Castle Pictures; Lightbulb Screen Distribution; Strike Media
85 minutes, 2021 / 2022
www.Strike-Media.com
@wolfmanorfilm #WolfManor Film

Whether it is zombies, vampires or especially slashers, there are a lot of films about low-budget filmmaking under duress. It’s a meta look at how films are made, and how someone in the cast, crew, or at the location, is out to getcha. For this release, if you have not figured it out from the title, deals with a film crew is being jeopardized by a werewolf.

Who can complain about a good lycanthropic film, eh wot? There have been a number of noteworthy ones in the past few years, and happily this one joins the canon. There is something about the transformation of a man (or woman) to a monster that can be like, say The Thing (1982), where a person can look normal, but inside lay a deadly secret. For this British opus, filmed in Leeds, mostly, the monster is declared at the beginning as it starts in the night of the full moon.

At the titular Wolf Manor, the now-abandoned home of a magician, The Great Mascalini, in the countryside of small-town UK, the film crew, led by director Derek (Rupert Proctor), is making a low-budget vampire film starring washed up once-star, Shakespeare-spouting Oliver (James Fleet). He is just part of the whole uninspired crew near the end of a long shoot, who just seem weary of dealing with him and the whole production in general.

There is a very dry comedic tone to this, such as two reporters from a Fangoria type magazine who are on their way to interview Oliver, but first heading to the local pub for directions, The Blue Moon, and commenting that it should be called “The Slaughtered Lamb,” before mentioning to the owner that perhaps they should “stay off the moors.”  I am assuming I do not have to mention the reference. Another is people assuming a severed arm is a prop; the prop master, Owen (Martin Portlock) steals the scenes he is in regarding this.

We do not see the beastie (Morgan Rees-Davies) in all its glory for a while, but we visit his actions pretty early on, and they are nicely blood-soaked albeit a bit visually dark as it is the night (full moon be damned). When we see the creature’s point of view shots, it is in black and white, and through a handheld camera (a bit cliché, but it still works).

When we finally do get to see the werewolf, the make-up is really good, and I was impressed with the way it both walked upright, and ran kind of wolf like on all fours (front being claws rather than paws).

Obviously, the cast and crew are fodder, and luckily there is enough to make a decent body count, with some really glorious gore effects, without being too “technical” in its look. The detached heads, hands, intestines and other body parts have a realistic look that made me smile, rather than cringe in details.

One has to wonder if and who each of the characters are based upon. That is the thing with meta making-of films, the writer is bound to add characteristics of people he/she/they know. Most of them are not people you would necessarily want to meet, but the two most solid characters are just about the only females in the film: the boom mic operator who they just call Boom, Ellie (Sade Malone), and especially Fiona (Taila Zucchi), who seems to be the only one with brains in the entire cast, and for that is one of the central figures in the story, and the most sympathetic to the audience.

The kills are nicely spread throughout the story, rather than just being a bloodbath in Act 3, which makes this more enjoyable with less slow points in-between. Also, there are a number of jump scares, and some of them are effective, as the kills come out of nowhere most of the time. What drives the monster is an overwhelming need to kill, as well as hunger; if a werewolf eats a human, is it cannibalism?

The entire film takes place in one night, the time of the full moon, obviously, though this is the UK, and the overcast weather makes this very dark (lighting), both indoors and out. Oddly, we never actually see any scenes of the film-within-the-film being shot and instead the story is totally behind-the-scenes, so no bright lights for the cameras, inside being as murky and full of shadows as the outside. You may have to squint at certain points to see clearly.

For an indie, lower budget film, the acting is quite good with just a few moments of scenery chewing by the lead, Fleet, which is quite purposefully added to indicate he is a big ham.

The ending was partially what I expected, but then again it also had some surprises mixed in with it. This was an enjoyable watch, with just the right amount of both gore and humor. And speaking of the finale, be sure to see the origin story after the credits.

IMDB listing HERE  

Review: Lycanimator

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020

Images from the Internet

Lycanimator

Directed by Sébastien Godin

C-Word Productions; Melting Man Films; Wild Eye Releasing; MVD Entertainment

41 minutes, 2018 / 2020

www.facebook.com/Lycanimator

www.wildeyereleasing.com

www.mvdentertainment.com

Just going in, merely by the title, I’m going to predict this is about a (green) formula that turns people into werewolves. That’s what the combo title seems to imply, mashing lycanthropy and the title of the 1985 Stuart Gordon (d. 2020, RIP) classic, The Re-Animator.

First off, it is important to know that this film is short. I mean, the story part clocks in at just over 30 minutes, with almost eight minutes of slow crawl credits, stills with the actor’s names, and a brief Marvel Universe-esque tag at the end. It probably could have been cobbled together with three others to make it a feature-length anthology. But y’know what, that’s okay, it’s the story that counts, and let’s get on to it.

A bunch of friends take a trip to stay at a secluded house. We don’t get to learn much about the history of these two couples and the third wheel (classic trope), but we sure get an idea of their personalities.

Jonathan E. Smith

First off, there’s milquetoast Jeff (Jonathan E. Smith). I don’t know about this guy, as he looks pretty young, wears a lot of eyeliner, and his hair is dyed black while his scrabbly beard is either blond or red. Mostly, he is a buzzkill, seeming always negative. His girlfriend is May (Cayt Feinics… wait, pronounced cat phoenix? It's probably Kate). She is a tattooed gal who is mostly in control of the relationship, but seems to put up with Jeff’s nonsense. The second couple is Brian (Kii Hornick) and Nikki (Briana Wyman). Brian is a tall, thin and violent bully and a total douche tough guy to everyone, especially Nikki. Oh yeah, you hope from early on that he will be part of the body count. Nikki is a cute, multi-pierced redhead who for some reason also puts up with her boyfriend. The last is Allie, who organized the get-together; we never see her sober, so I know nothing about her except, “Oo-hoo, par-taaay.”

Essentially what this film does is it takes the usual first act, where we are introduced to the characters, and truncates the standard first 20 minutes or so into about 5 minutes. In that time, we are also presented with the standard “warning older man” character, Niven (Scream King and filmmaker Joel D. Wynkoop, who has been in films like Clownado, Dreaming Purple Neon, $kumbags, and the classic Creep, most of which were reviewed on this blog) who in this case, is more of a key to the story than just an ignored sideman.

Joel D. Wynkoop

The secluded house (as opposed to a cabin in the woods) that our jolly travelers have rented to spend the weekend has a dark secret past concerning a Herbert West-ish scientist who has invented the (yes, green, albeit not florescent) formula for, well, you know, and has conveniently left some of it in a jar in the basement (rather than a book that raises demons). When one of our intrepid quintet meets up with the goo, we go to act two and body-count city.

The creature looks both cool and silly at the same time. We’re definitely dealing with miniscule budgets, and it’s so obviously a person in a mask with a costume cobbled together, but because the filmmakers just accepted it for what it is, I believe so should we in cases like this (one of the joys of non-$$ filmmaking, in my opinion). I mean, the beastie is no An American Werewolf in London or Dog Soldiers creature, but you get what you get, if you get what I mean. There is a decent head-only version (for biting) that looks cool, designed by the one-and-only puppet master, Dustin Mills.

Lots of cameos abound in this short piece, most of them literally phoned in. In other words, they appear merely as voices usually on the telephone, such as filmmaker James Balsamo, actor Michael O’Hear, and 1980s Italian actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice (who appeared in films by Argento and Fulci, among others).

There is some interesting editing and visual FX thrown in, such as the gratuitous cameo scene with Niven and truck driver Ben (cult director Todd Sheets) – despite terrible sound quality – as Niven grabs hold of a Bowie knife. The gore, however, is all practical SFX, rather than digital.

There is also a bit of subtle humor that runs throughout, such as when the werewolf thingy is chasing one of our campers, it stops to close the pocket door to the room. Wait, what? My fave though, is a line from Officer Tony (Alberto Giovannelli): “Sweet Christmas Jesus on toast!”

The extras are few, but nice. There are selected trailers (though not for this film), a 4-minute Making Of that focuses in on the director that is short and sweet, and the inclusion of one of Godin’s 13-minute shorts, “Fleshflower.” In it, a young woman is dying, I am assuming, as she is bleeding out her mouth profusely. She eats from a mysterious flower with dire effects. It’s a nice piece with some really artistic editing and minimalist sound.

Review: Night Howl

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020

Images from the Internet

Night Howl

Directed by Michael Taylor Pritt

Fun Time Productions / Wild Eye Releasing / MVD Entertainment

75 minutes, 2017 / 2020

www.wildeyereleasing.com

www.mvdb2b.com

“It’s a family affair….” – Sly Stone

Zombies are everywhere these days. So are evil clowns and masked serial killers (both mortal and im-). Things go in cycles, like the moon. Which brings us to werewolves. While there have been some lycan films of late, like Bonehill Road (2017) and The Snarling (2018) – sorry, I’m not counting mainstream crossover tripe like the Twilight or Underworld franchises – this particular subgenre is generally ill represented, in my opinion, so I’m happy to see a new indie wolfie flick pop up.

Michael Taylor Pritt

Before even starting on the film proper, I believe it’s important to note that this truly is a family output, both in the story and behind and in front of the camera. So, let’s start with the latter. Fun time Productions is truly clan cinema. In front, there’s Michael Taylor Pritt, who stars in the film, wrote, edited and directed it; his mom Tracy Pritt who plays his mom; and Shandi Rae Pritt, who plays a receptionist. Between them they also handle multiple backstage tasks, including cinematography, make-up and script supervision, among many others. All three are also Executive Producers.

Right in the prologue, we are introduced to the hairy beast, who is costume rather than CGI, I’m happy to say. Considering the micro-budget this is built on, it looks surprisingly good. Mama is mauled and the little kid grows up to be our hero, photographer Kaci (the director), possibly suffering from PTSD, maybe lycanthropy, or is it all in his head? It’s fun to guess throughout the film, as I am sure you/we all do.

The thing that is consistent with werewolf films more than any other creature feature, is that the monster is represented by the Id, described on Wikipedia as “the part of the mind in which innate instinctive impulses and primary processes are manifest." This is also known as the animal brain, the deepest and darkest reaches that reacts with fear and violence, a refection of anger out of lack of control.

It’s important to keep in mind that this is a low budget, out-of-pocket kind of film, and not to expect something that has studio backers. It’s a completely different mindset to watch a film like this, and honestly, I had fun with it because of that. If you check out the IMDB reviews, they tend to be either over-the-top glowing (10/10) or completely dismal (1/10), with very little falling between. In the past, as with here, I have found this to indicate that neither one is accurate. Sure, this isn’t Kubrick, but it’s important to remember what early Cronenberg or Craven was like, with wooden acting and scripts that sometimes make you scratch your head in “what were they even thinking by doing that?” moments. But more on that later.

Alana Mullins

Kaci is set to do a model shoot with potential love interest, Ema (Alana Mullins), who generally seems more intelligent and motivated by life than Kaci. She’s a strong, smart woman and he is kind of roaming around in his own problems. When something needs to be done, guess which one gets the situation going? Meanwhile, people close to Kaci are turning up mutilated. There is not a huge body count, but it’s a nice number to keep the viewer satisfied (reminds me of a Paul Simon song…). It’s also not overly bloody (again, that pesky budget), but what physical SFX are used look pretty good.

Throughout the film, the camera tends to hug close, mostly showing chest and up of characters and action, giving a feeling of claustrophobia. There is also the use of a slight sepia tone here and there, to give it some umph of dread. The editing is a bit rough on occasion, but so what? There are some odd choices for minor moments, such as more than one character vaping, or having to watch Kaci brush his teeth (something that grosses me out more than most violent scenes).

As I said earlier, there is a bit of wooden acting, especially with secondary characters. Kaci, on the other hand, tends to go from really quiet to rageaholic pretty fast which made me think that perhaps he should switch to decaf (or is that a fate worse than lycanthropy?). Mullins comes across best on the acting front.

Some of the holes in consistency and plot are more distracting than tripping up the story, such as Kaci’s hair style changing in the middle of a scene around mid-film, and I wonder why they investigate an abandoned building during the night/in the dark, when the structure has no electricity.

The extras are a nice Gag Reel that is short and sweet at 2 minutes. Along with the Trailer and captions, the main one is the short film “Smile” (7 minutes) from 2018. It’s in the scary clown subgenre, but it has a decent jump scare in it.

While there are ways to “pretty” up the film, my one negative – and again, this is more personal choice on my part – is that the film could have used a bit of humor scattered throughout (The Howling did this, for example); not make it a comedy per se, but just a couple of things to juxtaposition the fear. In all though, a decent film.

Review: Bonehill Road

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2017

Images from the Internet

Bonehill Road

Written, directed and edited by Todd Sheets

Extreme Entertainment / Eclipse Video /
Fuzzy Puppy Filmworx / Lycanthrope Motion Pictures / MVD Entertainment

89 minutes, 2017

www.facebook.com/BonehillRoad

www.zombiebloodbath.com/bonehillroad.html
www.mvdb2b.com

After a health hiatus, long-haired director Todd Sheets came back stronger than ever with the likes of House of Forbidden Secrets  (2013) and Dreaming Purple Neon  (2016). Now he’s dipped his toe into the waters of the even shaggier werewolf genre.

I haven’t seen many decent lycan films since Ginger Snaps (2000), though there have been the occasional ones like Sheep Skin  (2013) and Bubba the Redneck Werewolf (2014). No, I do not count the Twilight series as werewolf films, nor decent (though the first Underworld [2003] was okay).

My theory for the reason why werewolf releases are far and in-between is the cost of either the costumes or making digi versions. Most are full body suits, which tend to be cumbersome, or if digitized, take a full team to make it look good.

For this film, Sheets takes an interesting approach, asking us to question which is worse, the big bad trio of wolves outside the door, or the human monster inside with the knife and sadistic attitude. That is the predicament in which Todd has placed his main characters.

Anna Rojas-Plumberg and Eli DeGeer

Emily (Eli DeGeer) and her teenage daughter Eden (Anna Rojas-Plumberg) are on the run from one human monster, an abusive husband (Aaron Brazier, who has some great tats on his forearms, including Karloff’s Frankenstein’s Monster and Johnny Rotten Lydon). When their car is toast, in part due to the hairy trio, they wind up in a house with serial killer Coen (Douglas Epps) and his hostages, Tina (Millie Milan), Lucy (Dilynn Fawn Harvey), and Suzy (an extended cameo by Linnea Quigley).

Between our furry friends outside and the less hairy one inside, there is a lot of damage that happens to everyone involved, leading to tons of carnage and gore. Luckily, both of those are Sheets’ specialities, and so is a touch of nudity for which Harvey amply lends a – err – hand in that department.

Douglas Epps

While presented more as a werewolf flick, there is equally, if not more so, the dichotomy of what happens inside the house with the human monster as with the beasties without. That’s part of what makes this so interesting, rather than being just the dangers of a straightforward supernatural or shaggy human creature.

Also at the heart of the whole visual is that all of the effects and wolfie-poos are practical SFX rather than digital. Sure, the wolves kinda appear as people in full body costumes, but they actually look really good most of the time. The masks are also easily identifiable individually, so you know which is which. You can tell a lot of effort was placed into the costumes, which made me smile. As for the gore, other than sometimes the occasional innards looking a bit like pasta, the effects are quite well done. Sheets tends to show the carnage in extreme close-up, which is both fun for the viewer and I’m sure makes it easier for the filmmaker to use body doubles (which is totally forgivable if it works, which it does in this case).

Linnea Quigley (on the right)

Most of the acting is quite powerful. Other than the occasional over-emoting, such as Epps sporadic high-pitched maniacal laugh, the cast – including Epps – is pretty solid. As the two leads, Plumberg and especially DeGeer hold their own as strong women who are put in extraordinary circumstances. Even Quigley, who on occasion has had trouble with her boundaries (under- or overacting, as do her contemporaries, Brinke S. and Michelle B.), nails it here.

Generally speaking, there tends to be two types of werewolf films: the first is when the bearer of the curse becomes an out of control animal, such as in An American Werewolf in London (1981); the other is where they keep their wits and just like to screw with their prey, no matter what the form, like in The Howling (also 1981). This one falls into the latter category. While the werewolves, who were able to break through doors and rip a tire to shreds with a swipe of its claws, apparently could not seem to break through the windows of the house, even when banging on the glass – when I saw this, I said an audible, “Hunh?” – it was then pointed out to me by Sheets that the monsters were playing "cat and mouse" with the occupants. That makes a lot more sense to me.

IThe rest of the film looks great, with sharp editing and visuals. There is nothing really fancy here, no “artistic flares,” which suits me just fine. A meat and ‘taters creature feature is just what the witch doctor ordered for this Halloween.

If I had a wish, it would be the occasional dark humor here and there, but you know what, that’s my own thing and not the film’s fault. There are some nods, though, such as Quigley’s tee, a character named after Stephen Biro from Unearthed Films, another for Rolfe Kanefsky who recently directed The Black Room, and one called Tucker Woolf  

Of course, watch after the credits as an epilogue has become as nearly omnipresent as a prologue. As werewolfian cinema goes, this is pretty impressive and another positive notch on Sheets’ cinematic rap – err – sheet.

Trailer is HERE

Review: Sheep Skin

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2016

Images from the Internet

Sheep Skin

Written and directed by Kurtis M. Spieler

Unearthed Films / Invasive Image / MVD Visual

79 minutes, 2013 / 2016

www.unearthedfilms.com

www.mvdvisual.com

So I guessed the ending in about three minutes. Happily, I was wrong, even though I still like my idea, I’m glad they went in a different direction. That’s a good sign about this Boston-based production.

What I especially like about the film is the dichotomy of what makes a monster. Is the possibility that a man is a werewolf and slicing-and-dicing people (mostly women, it seems), a person who is a womanizer to the level of workplace harassment, or the people who are convinced someone is a creature and then goes about abusing that individual?

Let me back up and do some ‘splainin’. Todd (Laurence Mullaney) is a middle management douche office drone who is not exactly dedicated to his wife Nicole (Jamie Lyn Bagley) or two kids, but is more of a philanderer as is evidenced by the creepy opening scene. He gets no stars for sympathy at this point, though that’s also questionable at any time.

He is kidnapped by a punk rock band (!?) and brought to a closed warehouse. How can you tell they’re a punk rock band? The leader wears a leather jacket over a black hoodie, a studded belt, and one of those ‘70s-‘80s swinging chain things hanging from his belt to his pants pocket. It isn’t until near the very end that we find out actually they are a singing group, when they try to talk to a security guard and they say they have the band’s equipment set up.

The hoodied ringleader of this little excursion is Schafer (Michael Schantz). He knows Todd from high school days, and in a previous full moon his younger sis was butchered by what seems like a large animal. She was having an affair with Todd, and now Schafer is convinced that Todd is the wolfman in sheep’s clothing.

Helping Schafer out is his band, the Brutalizers, including unpredictable and impetuously hotheaded and violent Boston Clive (named for his accent; Zach Gillette), the scared and out of his league Marcus (Bryan Manley Davis), and Schafer’s girlfriend and lead singer, Dylan (Ria Burns-Wilder, who is also the singer for the band In Rod in real life). With most of them, even though they are the “bad guys,” they garner a lot of sympathy, especially Marcus and Schafer (okay, so let’s call them anti-heroes),

The warehouse set, filled with a chair and clear plastic dropcloths, looks more like it could be from American Guinea Pig (2014), A Serbian Film (2010), or perhaps even Reservoir Dogs (1992), for which there is a certain kinship of elements. Its simplicity helps the viewer concentrate more on the story than on the surroundings, which is a nice change. It’s also roomy enough to give both a feeling of claustrophobia and yet a false sense of freedom, without restricting the crew to a corner.

If you’re worried about me giving anything way, rest assured I’m not one to offer much towards spoiler alerts, even when I want to discuss them badly. Suffice it to say that things go unanticipatedly bumpily, as they tend to do in any film where there one group holds a person or persons hostage.

Most of this film is more of a psychological thriller, as alliances dally, fear and anger is a constant on both sides of the action, and as I said, the viewer begins to wonder who is the true monster(s). Rest assured all will be known. Without giving away anything, the ending reminded me a bit of a story from an old Eerie or Creepy magazine with a similar story ending, which often relied on a Richard Matheson-esque twist.

Most of the acting in the film is quite good. I’ve said in previous blogs that I am a fan of Bagley, who has a good sense of line reading and a keen way of expressing “Are you outta yer fuckin’ mind?” sentiments. Her role is more of an extended cameo, but she makes her scenes stand out. Mullaney does an excellent job as the focus of this group of amateur vigilantes, making the audience wonder whether to hate him or pity him, but he definitely makes it hard, because whether this band of outlaws is right or wrong, Todd’s a tool.

The standout for me, though, was Schantz. As the situation spirals further and further out of control, the intensity he projects come off as real, rather than cartoonishly over the top, even when the action is extreme. Nice job.

The effects are… well, here is where I don’t want to give anything away. The blood and gore look great, and it does please. That they use appliances rather than digital is a nice touch and earns bonus points. Let’s leave it at that for now.

The music by Yuppicide is excellent, of course, but the standout for me was the music over the final credits by the Dick Punchers, in actuality Ria Burns-Wilder and her band, In Rod. They do a hysterical song called “The Dick Punchers’ Anthem” that is straight out of old school punk, and is guaranteed to make you both gird your loins and laugh throughout (e.g., “If you eat my falafel / I’ll punch you in the dick… / Oi! Oi! Oi!”).

Lots of extras are included, such as a decent director’s commentary (also one of the executive producers, Nicholas Papazoglou, who unfortunately is hard to hear as he’s not close enough to the mic), a deleted/trimmed scene that I’m glad they too out because it gives too much information, “Tearing Back the Skin: A Look at the Making of Sheep Skin” which is 11-minute featurette about the SFX and is interesting, and the 12 minute 2007 short with the same name on which the film is based (also by Spieler; only Mullaney appears in both, in the same role) that is worth the watch. Also included is a second version of the film, but this time in Black and White, including an intro by Spieler to explain why. The only thing missing is the usually included long list of trailers of Unearthed Films, but probably due to lack of space considering how much is already included.

This is a meat and potatoes kind of film that is well written and shot on a shoestring budget, a decent cast, and well pace and put together. To be honest, I felt a bit impatient watching it through to the end because I wanted to know if my guess at the ending was correct. When I realized I was wrong, I sat down and watched it again (yes, this time in monochrome), and then I heard the commentary, which is only available in the color version. After spending over three hours in this film and its extras, it was still enjoyable.