'Werewolves Within' Review
R: Some bloody violence, sexual references, and language
Runtime: 1 Hr and 37 Minutes
Production Companies: Ubisoft Film & Television, Vanishing Angle
Distributor: IFC Films
Director: Josh Ruben
Writer: Mishna Wolff
Cast: Sam Richardson, Milana Vayntrub, George Basil, Sarah Burns, Michael Chernus, Catherine Curtin, Wayne Duvall, Harvey Guillén, Rebecca Henderson, Cheyenne Jackson, Michaela Watkins, Glenn Fleshler
Release Date: June 25, 2021
IN Theaters & VOD
When a killer terrorizes the snowed-in residents of a small town, it falls to the new forest ranger to find out who — or what — lurks among them in this hilarious horror whodunit.
Usually, when I’m super late to review a movie, chances are my editor Myan is super busy and I only rely on her because she knows how to turn my gibberish into gold… or I go through a myriad of events that kick my ass, which prevent me from seeing the movie. For Werewolves Within, it was the latter. In June, I had a screener for the film and planned to watch it from the comfort of my home, but I was able to nab tickets to the premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival in NYC. Unfortunately, the screening was located in the most inaccessible (via public transportation) area in the city. By the time I got there, I — along with 30 other people — was turned away. I was fine with that since I had my screener, but I was also in the process of moving to Brooklyn and gearing up for a post-grad vacation in Texas. Needless to say, by the time I had a moment to breathe, I was all movie-d out and my screener expired. So I did what any right-minded person would: see it in a theater with an audience during my vacation. I wasn’t gonna let this movie escape the wrath of the Rendy Review…. even though this is late af.
Director Josh Ruben has been delving into the subgenre of horror-comedy lately. Just last year he made his directorial film debut with the fun horror-comedy Scare Me starring him, Aya Cash, and Chris Redd, which you can find on Shudder right now. The film, while overly long, was a funny showcase for Ruben as a director, for he played with horror elements with shot composition in a single set location and lighting to get a spooky atmosphere in the midst of the well-timed comedy. While it was a decent debut, his sophomore feature, Werewolves Within, has him barking louder than ever before as a filmmaker. Unlike his first feature, Ruben is working completely behind the camera with a full ensemble of comedic talents set in a small town. Werewolves Within has him expanding his range as a filmmaker and, once again, he nails it, balancing both horror and comedy in a fun and tense whodunit narrative. Ruben sets the stage in a wintry location and he’s no stranger to delivering a cold and isolated atmosphere that makes you feel uneasy. When characters are trapped indoors and pointing fingers at each other to uncover the mystery of the werewolf in their midst, you feel the tension and aggression between the situation and the characters themselves.
Despite this feeling like an original horror-comedy romp, Werewolves Within is a video game movie based on a simple VR game that was rated E for Everyone. The fact screenwriter Mishna Wolff spun that around and developed an adult horror-comedy full of blood, gore, and vulgarity is pretty impressive. She layered a small-town community full of kooky and eccentric characters who all have their own tea going on, which includes wealth and social hierarchy that is just so enticing to watch. The story beats are well-paced and structured where the first act introduces all of the key players via the wide-eyed and upbeat town ranger Finn (Sam Richardson) and once the werewolf makes its first bite to act two, that’s when the madness starts. The characters are all quirky and weird and their dynamic makes for a slew of well-written jokes, but it’s when that anger bubbles through the surface, as the story progresses, that the fun really gets going. At times, you’re having too much fun seeing all these comedic talents quarrel that it makes the film’s pacing feel faster than its already short runtime.
The ensemble is hysterical in their designated roles. You have a wide array of recognizable faces, such as Sam Richardson, who is everywhere these days (as he should be), the AT&T woman Milana Vayntrub, who is surprisingly funny as hell and deserves to be in more features, Harvey Guillén from What We Do in the Shadows, and Michaela Watkins, to name a few. It’s so great to see Sam Richardson shine in the lead role of a film, for he’s such a hysterical performer. Everyone who watches this has an MVP cast member who thoroughly cracks them up throughout, and mine was Michaela Watkins as the high-pitched and high-spirited Trisha, who everyone in town just hates. Every time she opens her mouth she says something that cracks me up. Due to Ruben’s experience with his CollegeHumor days directing ample shorts with a wide array of talented folks, it’s needless to say he does a great job making all these recognizable comedic talents shine.
