Director: Dennis Vincent
Year: 2026
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Werewolf
Plot:
Heading out into the woods, a group of models on a photoshoot find that the spot chosen for the shoot is marked by a resurrected werewolf summoned by a local witch to prowl the woods, and a woman must gather her friends to help stop the creature before it leaves more bodies in its wake.
Review:
Overall, this was a rather solid and enjoyable cheesy creature feature. Among the better elements with this one is the rather involved and wholly likable setup that manages to go for a more supernatural and occult-based mindset than a traditional werewolf creature feature. The central origin of the creature, operating more as a slave-like spirit to the witch who roams the woods and does her bidding with an obedience and ferocity usually associated with these kinds of films, helps to make this one quite fun when it switches up the usual means of werewolf lore associated with the genre. Rather than being the cursed individual trapped in the form of the creature and going on a rampage as a result, this adds a different enough take on the creature as a pet-like guard dog for the witch who summoned it, helping to overcome the more simplistic human storyline about models going on a photoshoot in the woods and stumbling upon something hunting them one by one. This does have a likable enough and easy to root for the main group, but it's still a bit straightforward to get them there.
With this established, the werewolf attacks here have a cheesy charm to what’s going on that makes everything quite fun. The practical effects werewolf costume is immensely effective and satisfying when it’s shown, capturing a more old-school wolfman look than more modern tales on the creature, but the viciousness and ferocity featured during its attacks are a lot of fun. Opting for a slew of atmospheric touches, being out in the woods with a thick fog rolling in around them, the darkness and shadows that it hides in make the sudden ambushes feel that much more chilling when combined with the savagery of the sequence itself, leaving the opening attack on the couple traveling home through the woods, the first attack on the modeling couple screwing in the woods, or the later attack on the campers hanging out nearby to come off incredibly well. The whole point of these scenes is to bring about the great practical effects and creative ways of mutilating victims, setting the stage for the wild finale, where everything is turned into a fantastic supernatural battle with a creative way of dealing with everything and stopping the creature that leaves this with a lot to like.
There are a few issues here that bring this one down. One of the biggest drawbacks here is a bizarre finale that tries to do too many things for its own good and just feels drawn-out and overlong. The werewolf is defeated and everything has been settled, yet it decides to introduce the witch’s coven and other supernatural figures controlling it before turning into a half-hearted battle for control between her and the witch for no reason. This whole thing makes little sense and has very little explanation for why she’s chosen or what’s going to happen as an outcome, with all the conversation about doing it more than anything. This never brings up the point of everything, and it feels empty as a result, much like the actual finish that tries to change around the whole point of the film into a different kind of film altogether by offering a take that erases everything about the film so far for a different kind of reveal overall. These issues, along with the low-budget limitations, hold this one down.
Overview: ***.5/5
A really solid indie werewolf effort, there are plenty of worthwhile factors to this one that manage to hold this one up against a few small factors that hold this one down. Those with an appreciation for this type of genre fare or who are hardcore werewolf fanatics will have the most to like, while most others out there should heed caution.
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