A Werewolf in England (2020)

This movie has been sitting in my to watch pile for a year or two. Werewolf movies can be hard with a decent budget so when an independent filmmaker tries to tackle one on a low budget it normally doesn’t work out too well. But I’m always willing to give them a chance to surprise me so with that in mind I dove right in.

The movie opens with a prisoner, Archie Whittock, being taken for his trial and execution. I suppose the results are a given at least to the Councilor who is transporting him. The coach is stopped when the horses get spooked, so they are forced to stop at a creepy inn that is run by a sketchy brother and sister. Here we are introduced to a couple of locals including a “working girl” and a reverend. They all settle in for the night but soon discover that something is up. The innkeepers are killing and butchering the guests as some sort of tribute or offering to the creatures in the woods. Those creatures are of course werewolves!

The rest of the movie is the ever shrinking group of survivors fighting the monsters while trying to make it until sunrise. Along the way we get some kills, attempts at humor, and lots of guys running around in furry monster suits. The rules for the creatures are established and we are treated to some attempts at plot twists that may or may not make a lot of sense. Then the movie ends like it started with folks talking while riding along in a carriage.

Clocking in at an hour and twenty or so minutes I was impressed with A Werewolf in England. The story is interesting but not terribly original. Then again this is just a siege flick with werewolves beating at the doors, so they weren’t trying to reinvent the wheel. The pacing is solid as the movie introduces the characters and gets right to killing them off. While the movie takes a bit of time getting to the actual monsters while spending some time on the crazy innkeepers trying to kill and butcher folks that is okay. When we do see the creatures the story kicks into an even higher gear as they do their best to make sure something interesting is always happening. Combined with their attempts at humor, this movie does lean into the comedy, and you have an entertaining watch. Be warned though that not all the jokes land and if you don’t like poop jokes then you may not have that much fun with it.

The cast does their best, but this is community theater level acting. The lines are stilted and delivered oddly. Though the fact that they are trying to make it somewhat comedic I was willing to cut them a bit of slack. I got a real Amicus classic Hammer vibe at least on a parody of those movies level so again I was okay with it. The action sequences and fights are painful to watch as the cast was clearly not up to the level of mayhem that they were attempting to bring to the screen.

As I expected the movie does struggle a bit bringing the creatures to the screen on a low budget. The monster suits have obvious seems and folds that makes them look a bit like a Halloween costume, a decent one, but not what I’d expect. We get three different creatures, though they dress them up a bit to make it look like there are more. Honestly, I think it may have been overly ambitious to try and tell this story with the resources they had on hand. Then again, we do have some fun kills with severed limbs, skulls with spines still attached, and a neat split head. I also thought the eyeball gag as well as the severed arm chasing the characters around was decent.

In the end I want to give the filmmakers kudos for trying to tell a story that they likely had no business attempting with what they had available to them. The fact that A Werewolf in England turned out as well as it did shows how much work and talent that they have. While far from a perfect movie I think it is worth checking out. Just manage your expectations and appreciate the obvious love of the genre that everyone involved has and I think it will give you a few chuckles as the blood sprays and bodies drop.

 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

La Loba aka. The She Wolf (1965)

I keep finding odd movies in my “to watch” pile and this is yet another of them. It turns out that this is a Mexican made horror flick about a lady werewolf. It was made during the Santo and other wrestlers vs. monster fad that lasted until the early eighties, but there isn’t a luchador to be seen in this bad boy. What do we get? Might as well pop it in and see.

The opening scene is very cool with the camera starting on a cross and pulling back to reveal a cemetery. A furry hand pushes back the stone from a tomb and a full on werewolf creature climbs out. We don’t see the face of the creature but do get to see it go on a rampage and murder three folks. This is all in the first ten minutes of the movie, which also has not a bit of dialogue but is just the creature moving around the woods jumping and slinking like an animal. Very cool stuff.

Then things go a bit of the rails. After the creature crawls back into the grave we see that it isn’t a grave at all but is a tunnel that leads to a nearby house. The werewolf is a woman named Clarissa and she is one of two daughters who live there with there mother and father, Professor Fernandez. Once the characters start speaking the movie grinds to a halt. Clarissa’s secret fiancé, Dr. Bernstein, shows up to ask her father for her hand in marriage. Here is where we realize that the professor knows what his daughter is. He is experimenting with freezing things in an effort to cure her affliction. They never explain how this will help, but it is what he is doing.

On the subject of not explaining things, we find out that Dr. Bernstein is also a werewolf. Did he infect her, or did she infect him? Don’t worry about that since we never find out. He wolfs out and goes into the woods to stalk a deaf girl. Then a man with a dog shows up and the dog damn near kills the werewolf. The man is a hunter who is looking for lycanthropes… the fancy name for werewolves. Is he tracking Bernstein or is it the girl? Don’t worry about that since we never find out. After more talking the pair of monsters are dispatched by the dog and an ivory knife. Why ivory? Do you really have to ask?

Clearly this movie isn’t very good. The plot is all over the place and never takes the time to explain the rules to these creatures. It also has characters appear and disappear for long stretches without explanation. It makes for a choppy and confusing watch. This is very disappointing because the first ten minutes with the lady werewolf running around was establishing an interesting and engaging story. Again, I remind you they did this without a line of dialogue. It seems that all their creativity must have been expended in this brief opening bit because it is all downhill from there.

Much like the plot the movie teases the audience with the appearance of the first werewolf. Initially seen only from the back the actor appears to be wearing a body suit with some fur on it and amusingly a large tail. That is a first for me I think. The way that they move around the woods and stalk the victims as well as the way the attacks are staged really sell the creature and how animalistic it is. But eventually we get to see her face and realize that it is nothing more than the actress with some whiskers and pointy teeth. It looks downright silly. The male werewolf is running around with some fur pasted to the actor’s chest while still wearing his suit pants. So not much to speak about there. Again, I wish they had carried the early creativity throughout the entire movie because they were onto something. We also get a couple old school transformation scenes that I’ll admit worked well enough.

La Loba is an interesting movie that as a nerd for Mexican horror I’m glad to have checked out. But unless you have the same need to watch all examples of a subgenre, I don’t think that this flick has much to offer. I know that I’ll never need to check it out again. I suppose you can consider this a non-recommendation.

 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

Two-Fisted Tales of Times Square by Pete Chiarella

Okay before I start off with this review, I want to be transparent and let everyone know that Pete is not only a frequent collaborator with me but is also my friend. That said I’m not going to give him a free pass and will treat this review like any other book review that I have or will do in the future. Anything else wouldn’t be fair to you the reader nor Pete.

Tales is a collection of short stories set in and around the environs of 42^nd Street back in the seventies and eighties. They cover the gamut from ghosts and werewolves, to corrupt cops, and mobsters. While I enjoyed all the stories, I’m going to highlight the ones that I found the most fascinating and fun. With this out of the way lets jump right in.

The Acquisition is a tale about a pimp named Omar who goes overseas for some new “talent”. That is a fancy way of saying he collects himself a lady vampire who they chain up and charge customers to do what they want with her. Omar is more than a little sketchy and eventually greed as well as the need to feed Lilith someone other than the paying customers causes things to get a bit dicey. Lilith eventually gets loose, and things get bloody. The moral to the story here is that you never ever piss off a vampire! I loved the supernatural bits as this is a much different take on vampires than I’ve seen before. The “monster” here isn’t the undead but the scumbag Omar. That was a fun twist.

Retribution is a fun ghost story… well maybe not fun. Candy is a working girl who is kidnapped, brutalized, and murdered by a serial killer. She can’t move on and eventually finds a drunk named Joe who can hear her. She talks him thru stopping the killer and saving his latest two victims. This is a shorter story coming in at seven pages but is another cool story and something that I’ve not seen before. 

The third story I wanted to call out is The Fixer. This has a recently paroled mobster named Vince getting out of jail. We get to see him doing some collections and making bank. His work is noticed and soon he is fixing things for all sorts of folks. I’ve always been a fan of mobster movies and stories so seeing a low-level guy doing his rounds was fun.

There are also stories about a werewolf hitman that actually is mostly just about him being a hitman and not a werewolf. That was an unexpected twist but was cool. There is also a cool bit with an old theater and a slasher movie that causes some issues for a pain in the ass kid. Another story has us following a repurposed location that used to be a peep show but is now a burger joint. That one is a lot of fun.

There are also some characters that pop up in multiple stories as Chiarella uses them to establish a common world where all these events occur. There are crooked cops, an unfortunate former massage parlor employee (she maybe should have stayed put!), a pair of mismatched hustlers, and of course a cool dog. Between the setting and these characters all the stories in Two-Fisted Tales of Times Square fit together nicely. That means they can be consumed one at a time or you can sit down with the book and read them in one sitting. Either way this is a lot of fun. I recommend checking the book out. If you want to get yourself a copy email Pete at mr42ndstreetpete@yahoo.com 

 

Ó Copyright 2022 John Shatzer

 

The Werewolf of Woodstock (1975)

Damn I found another batch of made for television movies that I’ve not seen before. The first on to jump off the page at me was The Werewolf of Woodstock. Set days after Woodstock left the surrounding countryside wrecked and full of garbage an angry farmer runs outside in a storm. Running onto a stage he grabs a live wire and is electrocuted. He survives and is next seen laying in his bed covered in bandages. Then we get to see a group of hippies headed to Woodstock to record their demo tape. Mostly just as a gimmick to say that it was recorded at Woodstock.

Here is where things get weird… or maybe even weirder! The farmer turns into a werewolf because he was electrocuted and because he hates hippies. I’m not kidding here folks; this is the story. He runs around, kills a cop, attacks a hippy, kidnaps a girl, steals a dune buggy, and is chased down by an L. A. cop who was visiting. How do you kill a werewolf that was created with hatred and electricity? With of silver bullet of course.

I loved this movie. From the farmer raging out and yelling, “You miserable freaks!” to the dune buggy carjacking The Werewolf of Woodstock gave me stuff I’ve never seen before. The story, while absurd, is fascinating to watch unfold. Leaps of logic come from nowhere, like the fancy lady psychiatrist going immediately to werewolf. What rational person would jump to that conclusion without any evidence? The answer is a character in this movie! The dialogue is very seventies with lots of “lay it on you mans” and “enough bad karmas” to make any of you groovy cats happy. There is a lot going on here which is why the time flies right by. Before you know it the silver bullet brings down our hairy hippie hating predator!

The cast of this movie is insane. Two of the hippies are played by Belinda Belaski (Food of the Gods, Piranha) and Andrew Stevens (Day of the Animals, Vigilante Force). These are early roles for both but the talent is obvious. We also get the amazing Michael Parks (The Savage Bees, Planet Terror) as the visiting L.A. cop. If that isn’t enough Robert Dix (Satan’s Sadists, Five Bloody Graves) has a small part. Basically, this is the last role he would have, though he did something right before he passed away forty three years later.

There is an odd look to Werewolf of Woodstock. It was shot on tape like the soap operas of the day, so the image quality is not great. It feels very much like a Dark Shadows episode. I know that some people are turned off by things like this, but it doesn’t bother me as much. Still, I thought you should be warned. The werewolf is basically a guy in a mask and furry gloves. Cheesy as hell it works for this movie and is fun to see on the small screen.

Do I recommend this movie? The werewolf carjacks a dune buggy so hell yes! I miss goofy and weird seventies television movies like this. They don’t make them like Werewolf of Woodstock anymore and that is a damn shame. Track this one down and check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

 

© Copyright 2022 John Shatzer

The Beast Must Die (1974)

This is an old favorite of mine that I’m shocked I’ve not covered here for the site yet. The movie opens with a wealthy man named Newcliffe throwing a party at his country estate. We have already seen that the place is wired and locked down so that no one can move around or leave without him knowing. Why you may ask? Thru his research he has determined that one of his guests is likely a werewolf and he wishes to hunt it. See Newcliffe is a big hunter and is looking for a challenge. Sort of The Most Dangerous Game meets The Wolfman. 

After disabling the cars, he waits for the werewolf to reveal itself and it does. Employees and guests alike are killed by the beast. Thru some discussion it is established that lycanthropy is a disease and that as it progresses the person suffering from it has less and less control until it eventually kills them. There are also some familiar rules about Wolfsbane and silver, which gives them a chance to run tests to prove who is the monster. The rest of the movie is hunting and figuring out who it is. 

This isn’t a great movie, but I’ve always enjoyed it. The story is straightforward and gets to the action right away. The bodies start to drop on the first night which leads to some discussion and mystery as quickly everyone is convinced that there is a werewolf among them. There are also attempts during the day on Newcliffe’s life, which lets us know that the person who is the werewolf knows what they are. The Beast Must Die plays out much like a detective/murder mystery as well as a horror flick and that was a nice twist on the genre. 

This is the werewolf

Now I must warn you that this movie is also very cheesy. From them using a large black dog as the transformed creature to the infamous werewolf break where you get a minute to shout out your guesses as to which character is the creature this isn’t trying to be a serious horror movie. At least I don’t think so because if they were then they screwed up. But I have noticed when I show new people the movie, they do get into it and are yelling their guesses at the screen, so it works and is fun. If you want gore, great creature design, and a serious story this is probably not the one for you. 

The movie was made by Amicus, which was the “other” British horror studio with Hammer being the more well-known one. Though I’ve always had a passion for Amicus as they put out some great movies that in my opinion rival anything anyone else was doing in the sixties. Because this was an established studio, we get a lot of familiar faces including the great Peter Cushing, Anton Diffring, Michael Gambon, and Charles Gray … Dr. Scott! Though the star of the movie is Calvin Lockhart as Newcliffe. You may not recognize his name, but he was in a ton of stuff. Here he gets to be the star and is excellent. 

Like most of the Amicus movies this was hard to find for many years. But you can track down copies easily now and I’d suggest doing so. Again, this isn’t a great or gory werewolf flick, but it is a ton of fun. So go grab a copy, invite some friends over, and have yourself a werewolf break! Trust me it is a blast. I highly recommend The Beast Must Die. 

© Copyright 2021 John Shatzer

Dire Wolf (2009)

Time for some more Fred Olen Ray in my life! This time I check out a gem about a science experiment gone horribly wrong. Things kick off with a science lady doing science stuff. A critter gets out of a tube kills a security guard and spoilers… the science lady! Then we meet an OCD sheriff and his adopted son who is a park ranger. Stuff happens, Gil Gerard calls some agents… we only ever see him on the phone, but it is Buck Freaking Rogers! Eventually we find out that the crazy science people made a half man half dire wolf hybrid. That explains the terrible Halloween werewolf costume! Another science guy is killed, and the military loses their weapon when the critter is killed by our heroes.

This isn’t a good movie, but it is fun. Director Ray knows what he is doing and manages the audience’s expectations nicely. The sets are super cheap and the monster, which we see early, is too. The plot is straightforward and follows most if not all the monster movie tropes we are used to. It’s by the numbers here folks and that isn’t a bad thing. The familiar path does have the movie dragging a bit in the middle and the who lives and who dies is predictable. It would have been some fun to see a twist or two, but we don’t get that. Still, I found the movie to be worth a watch.

Seriously... Fred Olen Ray is awesome!

I say that because the execution is solid and the cast entertaining. In addition to Gil Gerard, we also have another favorite Maxwell Caulfield as Sheriff Parker. He is clearly having fun playing up the quirky aspects of his character, especially his OCD. Though that doesn’t end well. But it is funny. The rest of the cast I recognize from other low budget productions and honestly, they are all okay. Of course, the above is helped with a decent script and a tight runtime of eighty-six minutes. This makes the previously mentioned slow spots brief and therefore bearable. Let me just say this again, Fred Olen Ray knows how to make a fun flick on the cheap.

The characters are introduced after some killings, the story tosses in enough fodder to give a decent body count. The gore is on a budget and mostly forgettable, but there is a decent kill with a victim getting shredded on screen. In addition to the nods that I was enjoying to the genre in general I loved the fact that they basically lifted the ending from Thing from Another World to defeat the creature in the big finale. Again, no original but sort of fun to see a movie fan like Ray tip his hat to a classic.

Fred Olen Ray’s stuff is a mixed bag for me. Some are decent and some are downright awful. But the one constant is his love for the horror and sci-fi genres. Dire Wolf feels like an old school cheapie monster movie from the fifties, and I think that is why he was going for. If it was then he hit it out of the park. If that isn’t your kind of movie then maybe this one isn’t for you.

 

© Copyright 2021 John Shatzer

Werewolves Within (2021)

Finn has arrived in a small town, Beaverfield, to serve as their new park ranger. He arrives and spends some time meeting the locals, who are an odd bunch. One of those locals is postman…er postwoman? Her name is Cecily, and she is also a newcomer to the town. They stroll around delivering the mail and she fills him in on the town gossip. This is a clever way to introduce the audience to the characters and the setting.

Not long after this is established the killings start. Bodies are found, dogs are killed… boo movie… and paranoia reigns. At first, they band together as there is safety in numbers. But soon after they turn on each other and split up. This is just what the werewolf wanted as it starts to pick them off. Or does it? The people of Beaverton seem just as happy to kill each other before the creature can get to them. In the end we find out what is going on and why it is happening. Honestly it is a solid way to finish the story.

Low budget werewolf flicks are normally not that great. But this movie bucks that trend. They keep the creature under wraps and don’t show us anything until the end. That allows them to not do too much with the effects, though when we do see it, the creature doesn’t look too bad. Though if we saw the monster on the screen too much it might have ruined it for me as I’m not sure how it would have held up under the scrutiny. The kills and gore are okay, but not terribly explicit. If you are looking for limbs to go flying and blood spraying everywhere this isn’t the flick for you. What does Werewolves Within give us, you might be asking.

Werewolves Within is one of those odd horror flicks that is carried by the cast of quirky characters. Finn and Cecilia are our main characters in the movie but there are lots of supporting roles like the crazy mountain man, the rich gay guys from the city, the local pipeline businessman, and a couple of crazy redneck types. At times they do come off a bit as stereotypes, but overall, the story never feels like it wants to be overly serious, so this doesn’t bother me too much. The cast does a very good job in their roles and the movie is paced decently so that it never drags or feels dull. It is a good time from start to finish.

As I was researching for my review, I came across the fact that this was based off a video game. I’m not a huge gamer but I can’t believe that I missed that fact before watching Werewolves Within. This makes me even more impressed with the movie because most video game adaptations are a mess as I firmly believe it is hard to translate from one type of media to another. The fact that this was done so slickly here is very cool.

Obviously, I dug this one and am going to recommend it. I will drop a warning here. If you are looking for a serious horror flick this isn’t for you. It has a more lighthearted feel, though with a body count, than a flick like the Howling. This isn’t that kind of movie nor was it intended to be. Manage your expectations and I think you will have a blast with Werewolves Within.

 

Ó Copyright 2021 John Shatzer

 

 

Wolfsbane by William W. Johnstone

This is the second book that I’ve reviewed here at the website from prolific author Johnstone who was better known for his westerns. I mention that again because I feel like some of that traditional cowboy storytelling found itself into this supernatural horror tale. More on that later.

The story takes place in a small Louisiana town and involves an ancient family of Satan worshipping werewolves and witches. A few decades earlier the locals found and killed one of the men of the family who was afflicted with the werewolf curse. His elderly wife, who is a powerful witch, has waited until the time was right to return to get revenge on the descendants of those that killed her husband. This involves bringing her werewolf relatives back to life as well as turning her victims into zombies to do her bidding. All of this is overseen by Satan himself, who apparently lives in the swamp nearby.

The granddaughter of the evil witch lady is somehow ignorant and innocent of this family curse. She ends up hooking up with a mercenary that was chosen by God to do battle with Satan. The mercenary quickly goes from “this is all bullshit” to “hey Satan how goes it?” Being the chosen one he does what a mercenary/soldier/hero does and takes the fight to them. This all leads to an abrupt and forced ending that clearly was meant to set the rest of the series up. And yes, there are many more books in this series.

I don’t think that I’m a Johnstone fan. While I was enjoying the other book I read from him, Bats, it didn’t stick the landing. Here I have the same problem. The story ends with our hero falling into the basement of the house and waking up five years later. The characters that were established have all either died or moved away. We are just left with our mercenary climbing out, meeting a priest that was apparently waiting for him, and getting ready for what I expect is the action in the second book. We don’t get an ending that satisfies this story but rather have a “to be continued” ending and that annoyed me.

Beyond the ending I have to say that for the most part I wasn’t fond of the story. First, we have werewolves, witches, zombies, and vampirism all mixed in with Satanism. This is a bit too much for the story to define and support. None of it is fleshed out and you get the feeling that Johnstone is sort of tossing stuff in because it is evil. Plus, the werewolves drink blood, the witch can only be killed with silver bullets, the zombies inexplicably can talk and aren’t killed with head shots. They never define the rules to the monsters in the story and that is annoying.

The story itself structurally has issues. Let’s take the zombies for example. They just sort of show up and no one is surprised by it. Some of the victims are killed and stay dead after their bodies are found. Others reanimate and stroll around… why? Also, characters go from minor and hardly defined to suddenly showing up and speaking as if they have been vital to the story all along. There were many times I had to stop and go back to try and figure out who the hell they were. That is just bad storytelling. I could give more examples of this, but I don’t feel the need to.

I know that Johnstone has a hardcore fan base who love him. Based on the two books that I’ve read from him I’m not one of them. There are so many much better written horror novels out there that I’ll not be spending any more time with this author. I can’t recommend Wolfsbane.

 

© Copyright 2021 John Shatzer

Full Wolf Moon by Lincoln Child

Child is one half of my favorite writing team and while not as great as his collaborations with Douglas Preston his solo efforts are still superior to most else you will find in the modern techno thriller aisle at your local bookstore. When I saw a copy of his latest novel I had to pick it up and give it a try.

Jeremy Logan is headed to an isolated hotel in the Adirondacks to work on a book he has been writing but hasn’t finished yet. This is because while his day job has him working in academia he is best known as a world famous “enigmalogist” which I think means he goes looking for all sorts of inexplicable stuff and tries to solve the mystery. But again, he has come to work on his book and avoid distractions. When an old college friend who is also a park ranger shows up asking for help with some odd killings in the deep woods Logan is sucked into yet another mystery. This one finds him unraveling the secrets of both an insular clan of locals, some science types who may or may not be up to no good, all while ducking those who wish he would leave things alone. It all builds to a satisfying if not predictable ending.

I enjoyed the heck out of this book. From the first page you are sucked right into the story with a hiker being killed. This sets up some foreshadowing as our main character, Logan, appears in the pages following looking forward to a nice quiet time focusing on his academic pursuits and finishing his book. Of course, we know that isn’t going to happen. Child then takes his time setting up the locations and the inhabitants painting a realistic world that is one hundred percent believable. This is important for later when things get weird. The pacing is brisk, and the characters are well fleshed out.

One of the best choices that Child makes in his books is to place odd supernatural events next to logical characters and scientific explanations. Here we have a story filled with skeptics who are forced to come to grip with the fact that they might be dealing with a werewolf! This conflict isn’t the focus of Full Wolf Moon, but it is referenced as everyone around Logan has to deal with what is happening. The character of Logan comes off a bit more willing to accept the creature, while looking all the time to try and fit it into a scientific explanation. This makes the story more realistic and a heck of a lot creepier than it would have otherwise been.  

Child isn’t the kind of author that will relish or dwell on the gorier parts of the story. He does briefly describe severed heads and other nasty wounds. But unlike some of the other books I’ve reviewed here this is less about the creature and kills. Instead it focuses more on the mystery of who, what, where, and why. While it is different it can be just as much fun when done well. That is the case here and because of that I highly recommend Full Wolf Moon. I finished this book in two sittings one of which included a night where I stayed up way too late unable to put it down.

 

Ó Copyright 2021 John Shatzer

High Moon (aka. Howlers) (2019)

With the Slasher marathon wrapping up I decided to go back to some random fun. I pick a movie from one of the streaming services and watch it without having any idea what I’m getting into. I’ve been having a lot of success lately finding some gems, so I was due for a mess like High Moon. Spoilers this isn’t a good movie.

The story kicks off in the old west, specifically eighteen sixty-three, with a gunslinger coming into a small Texas town chasing after some outlaws. Of course, things are as simple as they appear because the outlaws are also werewolves. Luckily, our gunslinger is prepared with some silver bullets and guns them all down. He buries them and then a ninja shows up to kill him and bury him as well. Wait… what the hell was that? The action then moves to the present where our hero wakes up and crawls out of his coffin. See there was a flood that unearthed where he was planted in the ground. The werewolves also were washed up and woke up as well… because that is a thing that dead people do? I only ask because the movie never explains why. More stuff happens and the werewolves are re-killed, hopefully for good this time.

Time to sound like a broken record. The one thing that isn’t hampered by a low budget is your script. Write something that makes sense and that you can afford to shoot. The story here is bad. There is a gem of coolness with the concept of werewolf cowboys, especially after they steal some motorcycles. Werewolf cowboys on choppers! How do you screw that up? Well I guess it was easy. We spend a lot of time with the hero, Colt, as he wanders around town meeting the locals. Luckily, the lady who finds him takes him home and nurses him back to health. He is doubly lucky that she has a guns and most importantly silver bullets. Why? Who keeps a bunch of silver bullets around? This makes no sense.

Werewolf cowboys on motorcycles... it could have been cool

There is also a subplot that takes a chunk of time that involves the local sheriff and his wife, who is having an affair with the local big wig Bob. This sucks because Bob and the sheriff used to be partners in Houston when they were both on the police force there. Something bad happened that caused them to no longer be friends. What you might ask? Yeah because they are going to explain that to us in this well written script. That was sarcasm in case it didn’t come across as we never find out what the big deal is. We get all that drama instead of you know… werewolf cowboys.

The werewolf makeup

Let’s talk werewolf makeup. Have you ever seen those kits that they sell at Halloween that allows you to slap a hair piece on and some brown makeup to darken your skin? There you go. We do get a couple bits of gore, but it is limited and mostly happens off screen. Some of the action sequences are choreographed nicely, but then ruined by some terrible editing. Things just feel choppy and awkward. Toss in some terrible CGI bullet hits and the dreaded blood spraying on the screen gag for an overall miserable experience.

I’m not recommending High Moon. This is an absolute waste of time as it is not even bad enough to be fun to goof on with friends. This is one of those painfully mediocre movies that I run into more often than I’d like to admit. Let me take the bullet for you guys on this one and skip it.

© Copyright 2020 John Shatzer

Dog Soldiers (2002)

I remember many years ago browsing the shelves of my local video store. That is right kiddies there used to be a place where you went to borrow actual physical copies of movies for a small fee! I saw the cover to this DVD and thought it was worth a watch. Sure, it was a low budget British made werewolf flick from a director, Neil Marshall, that I had never heard of. But there wasn’t anything else that I was interested in, so I figured why not. 

The movie kicks off with a man being chased in the woods. Very quickly you find out that he is in training to become part of a special forces team. His last test is to shoot the dog that allowed the other soldiers to track him. He refuses and the asshole in charge, Captain Ryan, shoots the dog and fails him. Later we find that Cooper, the man that failed, is back with his regular unit on yet another training exercise. They end up running into some weird shit as they find a bunch of bodies or at least bits of them. The only survivor of that group is Ryan, who is torn up and clearly scared. Werewolves show up and the shit hits the fan!

The rest of the movie is the group stuck in a siege as they have barricaded themselves in a farmhouse and do everything they can to defend themselves from the creatures trying to claw their way in. Lots of blood is spilled and there are a couple of twists along the way. I will point out that while the twists are good the ending is predictable. But I can honestly say that it didn’t affect my overall enjoyment of Dog Soldiers at all. The story is solid and wastes no time to getting to the good stuff. The action is ramped up right away and never lets up. There is always something interesting and exciting happening from start to finish. The characters are developed a bit with some dialogue but are more importantly defined by their actions. I have a prime example of that later on in the review. Admittedly that they fall into predictable categories for anyone that has watched a horror flick with an ensemble cast before. When done correctly, as it is in Dog Soldiers, I have zero issues with that.

I love the creature design!

Many of you who read my stuff know that I hate it when movies do bad things to dogs, so I clearly wasn’t happy in the first few minutes. But I have to say that it is such a shocking and twisted bit that in that one act they establish exactly who Ryan is, which is used later in the story. I can’t think of a better way to cement him as heartless asshole then to have him kill a dog so I get that choice and the movie does redeem itself later on so I’m willing to cut them some slack. Heck there is even a “hero” dog that ends up with the main characters. And yes, that one does make it to the end.

Seriously how cool is this?

I believe that I’ve mentioned this in my past reviews of werewolf movies, but it doesn’t hurt to repeat it. Your success in filming a story featuring lycanthropes is going to rely on how well you are able to execute the special effects work. They do a fantastic job in Dog Soldiers with what I don’t think was a huge budget. The special effects work is all practical and looks spectacular. Early on they keep them in the distance or mostly covered by the night and trees but fear not when they attack the house things are out in the open and fun. There are several creatures on screen with each having a slightly different look, which I noticed and appreciated. Different people shifted into the monsters so they shouldn’t all look the same. I was somewhat surprised by the lack of gory kills, but we do get some guts shoved back in and super-glued into place. That was pretty good and sort of funny. But most of the really brutal stuff is implied by blood sprays and piles of gooey bits lying around after the fact. Still if they decided to blow the budget on creature makeup rather than the kills I’m good with it.

This is a great movie that I recommend to anyone who hasn’t seen it. If you have, I’d still say it is worth a re-watch. I hadn’t seen it in a few years and was pleasantly surprised how well it has aged. I have zero issue saying that Dog Soldiers is one of the best horror flicks of the last twenty years.

Ó Copyright 2020 John Shatzer

The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman (aka. Werewolf Shadow) (1971)

Paul Naschy was a prolific star of horror movies coming out of Europe for many years, but somehow many fans aren’t aware of him or at best know him as that werewolf guy. He was a heck of a lot more than just that… though he did a lot of werewolf movies, including this one.

Naschy plays Waldemar, a nice guy who also happens to be a werewolf. We see him come back from the dead after the silver bullets are removed from his chest. He kills a doctor and cop then the action moves onto a couple young women. Elvira and Genevieve are traveling to the north of France to research a legendary lady vampire. They are in search for her tomb to do school stuff like papers and PHDs. They almost run out of gas looking for the village before they find Waldemar who invites them to his house. Then things get weird.

He is of course a werewolf. His crazy sister lives with him trying to protect him from himself by chaining the man up on the full moon. I say she is crazy because for no reason she decides to try and choke one of the girls out! Some more things happen, Genevieve and he open a tomb and accidentally bring the vampire woman back to life. There is some girl on girl action, a silver cross is found that can kill the vampire as well as the werewolf. Though it can only be wielded by someone who loves him. Which works out well since he and Elvira are madly in love after a day or so. There is a big showdown where sad stuff happens, and a few people live happily ever after.

Naschy as the werewolf

When watching a Paul Naschy flick you need to adjust your expectations when it comes to storytelling. There will be some overall cohesive narrative that drives the action, but many characters will come and go, as well as do mind boggling odd things that require the audience to make some rather large leaps in logic. A prime example of that is the sister trying to kill one of the girls when she arrives. It isn’t explained why she would do that? At least later on when she attacks again it is because they found where she has been chaining Waldemar up and is afraid they will tell someone. But why the crazy bits when they first arrive? Mostly I think it is to show a bit of skin and hint at some naughty stuff. Can we fault them for that?

I should also explain two things that you need to understand and accept if you are going to enjoy Naschy movies. First it will get a bit sleazy with lots of female nudity and girls kissing on each other. These were made for a seventies audience and the man knew what they wanted so it was shoehorned in no matter what. You have to respect the man for that. Second the werewolf effects work is going to be Naschy in simple makeup that leaves him recognizable. He likes to play the werewolf, growling and drooling all over the place. His energy as the creature is part of the fun and what makes these movies very watchable. But don’t expect any over the top makeup effects.

Of the Naschy films this is one of the weaker movies. I only say that because I wanted a much bigger showdown in the versus movie. I want the werewolf and vampire woman to seriously throw down. Sadly, its over quick and left me disappointed. Other than that, this one checks all the boxes that I look for. Not great but worth checking out if you are interested in Naschy or European horror movies of the late sixties and early seventies.

© Copyright 2020 John Shatzer

Wolfcop (2014)

I’m going to do something a bit different with this review. Normally I let you know at the end if the movie is getting my recommendation or not. Most of the time you likely know which way I’m leaning before that, but it still isn’t “official” until the last paragraph. Hear me now… GO WATCH WOLFCOP! This movie is awesome, and I love it. If you need convincing, then feel free to continue reading.

Woodhaven is a small town best known for its world-famous drink and shoot! Basically, they invite a bunch of hunters to get wasted and head out into the woods with loaded firearms. Folks really seem to like it and they get angry when it is cancelled. Though the authorities sort of had to do it when a body is found in the woods. Lucky for everyone that local cop Lou Garou is on the job. Well actually he is a drunk that accidentally stumbled onto the weird ritual murder and only kind of remembers what he saw. The important thing to know is that he is now a werewolf and a cop. WOLFCOP!

Be warned spoilers are coming. Really if you haven’t seen the movie go watch it now! Well I warned you… Woodhaven is infested with shapeshifters who need to kill a werewolf every thirty-two years to keep themselves alive and in power. Something about the blood does it. They pick Lou to curse because he certainly isn’t going to give them any problems since he is an incompetent drunk. Of course, being the natural born hero that he is they thought wrong!

Horror comedies are hard to pull off. Sometimes you are really funny but lack the gore to scratch that itch. Other times the horror works but the comedy doesn’t. Here we get the perfect formula with lots of laughs and plenty of blood in the perfect ratio. Lou Garou is played up as the village idiot, which is why he is chosen to become the werewolf. This allows some early slapstick stuff as Lou stumbles his way thru becoming the creature. He goes from drunken shenanigans to supernaturally powerful drunken shenanigans. This is all with the help of the local gun shop owner and conspiracy nut, Willy. Lou stops a robbery, gets some liquor doughnuts, and customizes his car in a great montage scene. There is never a dull moment as the story and jokes come at you quick. This is what happens when you have a great script before turning the camera on.

Trust the liquor!

Wolfcop is also a very bloody movie. I know when we got our first transformation scene that the filmmakers hadn’t skimped on the gore. The first time Lou “wolfs out” he is in the men’s room. How does one put this politely? He inner wolf busts out of his wang! Then some dudes come in to capture him (they are late and are working for the bad guys) which leads to some flesh ripping limb tossing goodness. More mayhem ensues as Lou works his way thru the minions of the shapeshifters before the big finale. Which I’d like to add involves an alcohol power up.

This movie has everything that a fan would want from a horror comedy. It is funny and gross. You get cool one-liners and a face ripped off. What isn’t to love? I keep saying it but will do so yet again. GO WATCH WOLFCOP! I highly recommend it.

© Copyright 2020 John Shatzer

Howling V the Rebirth (1989)

Not going to lie. I gave up on the Howling franchise after part three. But upon hearing some friends talk about part five I figured it was time to revisit the series. Though I skipped ahead a bit and checked out the one that they recommended.

It is the late 1400s and there are a lot of bodies lying around the castle. The lord and lady have killed everyone and finish themselves off last. While he is dying the lord hears a baby crying which disturbs him greatly. Fast forward to today, if today were the eighties. A group of people have been invited to the castle’s reopening as it has been uninhabited since the massacre. They were seemingly chosen at random and don’t know each other. After arriving and being met by the Count they head off for the party to celebrate and promote the castle as a tourist attraction. But not long after arriving the guests start to die. Eventually the Count lets everyone in on the secret to the castle and why they were invited. Spoilers, it wasn’t random.

This is a werewolf movie with very little werewolf in it and that is okay. The creature is kept in the dark for basically the entire movie, but still drives the plot. Howling Rebirth plays more like a murder mystery with Lycanthropy then it does a monster movie. At first no one knows that people are being killed. Then they still have to figure out it is a werewolf, which then leads them to trying to figure out who the werewolf is. Toss in another twist that the count has to offer about who everyone is and you have a movie that keeps you guessing. That is where the story excels. I was interested from start to finish and was guessing throughout as to who the monster was. Man was I wrong.

Hey gang lets split up and wander around... again!

The movie appears to be a very low budget affair. Almost the entire thing takes place at the castle location and the cast is full of unknowns (at least to me). But it is a great location and the actors do a fine job in their roles. The direction, cinematography, and lighting are good as well. This is important with so much of the movie taking place in the castle, which is dark and creepy looking. The only place that the budget shows is in the creature effects. We get very little werewolf in movie and what we do see is again kept in the shadows. Given what we do see this is probably a good idea. But with the kind of story that they are telling not seeing the creature is a huge asset as it allows the mystery to build instead of getting bogged down in “hey look at the makeup” moments.

The only issue that I can find with the movie is that the characters do the typically silly eighties horror movie thing and keep splitting up. They split up to look for missing guests, split up again when they find a body, and split up yet again after they know a werewolf is wandering the halls of the castle. This is probably not the best idea. Other than that, I really enjoyed Howling Rebirth and am going to give it a recommendation. Crap I guess that means I should check out the other sequels… This is going to suck.

© Copyright 2019 John Shatzer

Bonehill Road (2017)

I’ve never shied away from covering independent flicks here at the site, though some subgenres of horror are much more difficult to pull off than others. But like I’ve said in the past in many ways the independent scene is where most of the creativity and interesting movies are coming from. Here director Todd Sheets gives us his take on a werewolf movie, which is one of those subgenres that are very hard to do on a budget.

Things start off with a woman and her daughter being caught up in an abusive situation. The husband/father is basically beating the hell out of his wife when the tables get turned and they escape. The mother decides to head to her father’s house but along the way they hit something in the road that eventually leads them to crashing the car. That is when the werewolves show up and terrorize them! They manage to escape to a nearby farmhouse only to discover a creepy psycho has been torturing women there and they end up tied to chairs at the kitchen table. Some days you just can’t win.

Horrible things happen including some murder, stabbing, forcing a vegan to eat meat… that turns out to be her friend! Eventually the ladies turn the tables and beat the hell out of the abusive man, which given how the movie starts is damn satisfying. But then there are still werewolves to deal with and now they have arrived at the house for supper. Also arriving is grandpa come to check on why his daughter and granddaughter are missing. Grandpa is played by the legendary Gary Kent which is insanely cool. More violence happens and then there is an escape. Who lives and dies? I’ll not spoil it because Bonehill Road is a must watch for horror fans.

Damn it Todd Sheets how did you manage this movie! It appears that this movie only had a budget of around fourteen thousand dollars. Not only does he put some decent gore effects on the screen for that, but we get several werewolves as well. Not shitty CGI ones either, but just like the gore it is all practical work. Did you hear that? He made kick ass werewolves with practical appliances for far less than the catering budget for those big budget CGI werewolf crap fests that the studios keep pushing on horror fans. Thru a combination of makeup artists who are just that… artists and Sheet’s knowing how to shoot the scenes it all works perfectly. And I’ll be damned if we don’t also get a couple of transformation scenes that are equally as impressive.

I love the werewolves!

The movie is worth spending your money alone on what I’ve already shared above about the makeup and special effects. Toss in a story that is entertaining, well-paced, and surprising and there is no reason not to love Bonehill Road. The twist with the werewolves disappearing for a while during the big fight with the crazy serial killer was odd but worked. Like I mentioned earlier it also the demise of the killer gave a nice resolution to the abusive conflict. Even if it is by proxy seeing the character fight back and kick ass was nice. I’ve also already mentioned how much I enjoyed seeing Gary Kent on screen, but he isn’t the only familiar face. Linnea Quigley pops up as one of the women being held hostage by the psycho. This isn’t your typical “stunt casting” which turns out to be a glorified cameo to put their names on a DVD box. Here Sheets gives both genre vets actual parts to play. I dug that.

I could keep going on but won’t. Bottom line is that this is one of the best independent movies to hit distribution in the last few years. Do yourself a favor and find a copy. I highly recommend Bonehill Road.

© Copyright 2019 John Shatzer