Director: Michael Levesque
Year: 1971
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Werewolf
Plot:
Traveling through the country, members of a biker gang stop off at a small town to take a break from the road, where they find a secret church ritual taking place, but after realizing they’ve been cursed into being werewolves set out to right the wrongs before they take a turn for the worse.
Review:
This one here doesn't have a whole lot right, but there are a couple good moments. One of the best elements here is the appropriately cheesy and silly setup that provides this one with the kind of overly goofy plot line. The initial idea of the group going around the countryside trying to engage in whatever they can to survive and coming across the sacred ground of the church, which brings them into the circle of the Satanic Church, sets up their fate, turning them into werewolves under their control. This makes for some really good parts to come from the ceremonial ritual that occurs in here, with some really nice creepy moments due to the build-up involving how the group was tricked into taking the wine that knocks them out, gets involved in the ceremony, and awakens to find out the deception pulled on them, which is what makes for a generally strong start.
The other good part here is that there's plenty of fun to be had once they've been turned into the creatures. There's a lot to like with how the whole ceremony takes place under a darkened room, with some great setting done in the underground cavern and with the different rituals that go on, from the nude snake-dancing to the hooded monks and everything that occurs during it, setting up the fist-fight that breaks it up afterward, which provides some action to it. A later attack on the group out in the countryside is pretty good as it's got more nudity, some drunken fun to be had before it happens, and a really nice gore effect where the creature rips the victim's throat out. With a fire-packed finale since there's also a full-on fight against a werewolf, torching and more going on to make it entertaining and end on a high note, these here are the film's good parts.
This here did have a few flaws that keep it down. One of the main issues is that there's a lot of time here where nothing much happens. This one has a couple of long stretches where nothing at all happens other than the antics of the gang, and these are really dull and uninteresting to sit through. The beginning is fine since it's to build up to the main point, but then there's the interminably long period after the attack at the church where they're lounging around talking about whatever or are riding through the desert completely ignoring werewolves to the point you almost forget it’s about them, with this instead feeling like a biker drama rather than an action or even horror film. That has a very damaging effect on the film as it makes it hard to feel scared or terrified of what's going on, and that reduces the effectiveness of it quite badly. The short run time doesn't help matters, as it's so unevenly paced it feels much longer due to all the boredom that occurs, and it really needed more to make it feel more entertaining. These here are the film's flaws.
Overview: */5
A cheesy but still somewhat enjoyable film with some good parts to it and a couple of flaws, this one here is really hard to recommend. Fans of the genre, those who find it interesting or enjoy these kinds of 70s fare will find something to like, but those who prefer otherwise should heed caution.
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