“Love begins with listening to yourself and then listening to your neighbors.”
I was looking for a movie for a winter evening, and on the expanses of Kinopoisk I came across a fairly fresh film work by Josh Reuben “Werewolf Inside”. Of course, before I started watching, I went a little through the few reviews in which everyone wrote that this is a kind of banter (mockery) over the cliché of the horror genre, so it is impossible to strictly judge the film. This idea develops in my head, so let’s now call all mediocre comedies and horrors a banter (mockery) over the genre and put dozens together. No, that won't work.
We will evaluate this film according to the usual criteria, plot, acting, atmosphere. I will write a few words about the Werewolf himself, because the film should be about him, and also touch soundtrack.
A good-natured boy is thrown as punishment in a certain provincial fictional town of Beaverfield as a ranger. Since his arrival in the town begin to occur strange events and the boy, tightening his stomach trying to get to the truth. In the genres of the film, we see the presence of a detective, because of which, of course, you want to see at least some no plot to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the film and imbue it. Here, of course, there is some investigation, but you know, even if you put behind the screens of the same Kostoev Iss Magometovich, even he will not unravel who is the culprit among the whole company of people. Why? Because there is no logical chain here, by which one could guess who the villain is. The film, of course, in the tradition of detectives in the end fully reveals how the real villain managed to remain unsuspected, and when you listen to this explanation, you just catch face palm. I don’t even know if this can be considered a banter (mockery) over the genre of detective, but everything turns out to be as stupid as possible, and when you start analyzing, you realize that it is precisely impossible to hide suspicions from yourself like this, since a lot of circumstantial evidence would show against you. The downsides don't end there. The film has several storylines, and each of them is absolutely not worked out. You are thrown from one moment to another without any preparation or explanation. That is, there is no structure in the storyline as such, which is a natural drawback for me. The idea itself is very interesting and promising, but very poorly developed.
Acting: Here you can clearly feel the influence of comedy. What is strange and at the same time pleases me, the film managed to reveal the images of not only the main characters in the person of Sam Richardson and Milana Weintroop, but also the images of supporting characters, for example, Wayne Duvall or Sarah Burns. This is clearly a plus to the film from me for sure, as all the characters are colorful with their own individual character and image. But the acting itself is purely comedic, here I can say that this is already a mockery of the horror genre. The whole film heroes just fool around, cry and at the same time fool around, fear and at the same time fool around, rejoice and at the same time fool around. At the same time, it is important that no one is particularly overplaying because of which you feel sympathy for everyone. And from the screen, it feels like the actors are enjoying themselves and playing for their own pleasure. Despite the stupidity, you really believe every hero and sometimes even smile yourself, which is not a little important.
The atmosphere and the Werewolf itself: I was watching a movie on a winter night, so this winter forest, this snowstorm, the snow shining on the trees in the sunshine ... I really enjoyed it all. Despite the fact that the film is really full of humor and jokes of different categories, ranging from toilet humor to black, the atmosphere is really something. What exactly conveys this atmosphere is difficult to say, but most likely the geographical location, as well as good acting. The atmosphere in the film work is that for the horror genre is very important, for this it is worth paying special thanks to the director and screenwriters. But it's not that smooth. The film's title, "Werewolf Inside," plays both in favor and in detriment. There is such a metaphor here, because in a crucial and exciting period, the essence of each hero is revealed, someone begins to create outrage, someone first of all tries to save himself without thinking about his neighbor, someone does something else. Therefore, we can say that everyone has their own inner Werewolf, but in the film, which is not strange is the real Werewolf, that is, it turns out this subgenre of the horror genre, namely the film about the Werewolf, and when we see this Werewolf for the entire 1 hour 35 minutes only once, a strange dissonance occurs in our head: It was all good, why should I ruin it with this one scene? The Werewolf itself is quite interesting outwardly, it is not a modern Werewolf, which in modern mass culture has become a kind of personification of masculinity, and this is that there is no villain who cares only about one thing, namely to fill his stomach, this is a plus. But the fact that we see it only once in the entire film is really disappointing.
Soundtrack: The musical accompaniment of the film is good and very pleasant, which also adds an additional atmosphere. I really liked the music track. This is a funny, sometimes gloomy melody that plays where it is necessary and does not interfere with watching the film, but on the contrary, the film complements.
Thus, a horror film with an element of the comedy “Werewolf Inside” caused me ambiguous emotions. For me in the movies, and I think for most, the main plot, and when you see the genre of detective in the description, your expectations for the film increase. To be honest, I can't turn my tongue to call this movie a detective. It's not because detective and comedy can't go together, the same recent "Get Knives" is a posh detective with comedy elements. These genres can be safely combined, and to say that this is just a mockery of the detective genre is absolutely wrong, this is just a film with a mediocre plot, you can not put a sign in this matter equally. If you say that it is foolish to expect a sharp and thoughtful plot from this film, I will answer: What do you expect from this movie? Horror genre? The film is absolutely not scary. Then it turns out it's just a comedy? Nope. This is just a frivolous and slightly mediocre film, which does not carry any artistic value. Even if there is no artistic value, is that the meaning of this film? What was his purpose? Don't know. I won’t recommend it, but I don’t want to call it a bad movie either. This is such a middle class genre for five and a half. And then, only thanks to the presence of the genre of comedy in the description. Comedy and you value it differently. I hope my review was helpful. Thank you very much.
What if I told you about the existence of an R-rated black comedy released in 2020 under the brand name of the world-famous Ubisoft studio? It sounds crazy, but this movie really exists. 'Werewolf Inside' based on the VR game Werewolves Within, which was released as early as 2016, and about which I personally have not heard anything at all. And, ironically, the film adaptation of a nonaim project with an obviously extremely small audience turned out to be an order of magnitude better than all previous attempts to adapt the main Ubisoft franchises to the big screens. What kind of movie came out – let’s find out.
So, in the center of the story is a good-natured guy Finn Wheeler, who arrives in a remote village somewhere far north to take on the duties of a ranger. No, not like Chuck Norris, but a conservation ranger. After getting acquainted with the small population, Wheeler faces his first case - an unknown predator breaks down all the city's generators, plunging the town into darkness, and even someone's corpse is found under a layer of snow. After consulting, residents come to the conclusion that the culprit is a werewolf, and it is one of them.
' Werewolves inside' very reminiscent of the parody horrors of Edgar Wright, 'Zombie named Sean' and 'Type cool cops' You can see that the director was inspired by these projects: the structure of the narrative, the presentation of characters, even the presentation of the most ordinary actions of the protagonist as something dynamic - all this reeks of Wright's style. And in principle, there is nothing wrong with learning from the best, given that 'Werewolf' still remains an original project, not a simple thoughtless copy.
The set of characters turned out to be bright - colorful images, behind which, although there are only a few lines of the script, are quickly remembered due to their, so to speak, extravagance. And despite the fact that the film cannot boast of actors of the first or at least the second magnitude, the castes involved do not cause any claims - everyone is in their places, everyone knows what is required of them.
Naturally, the main mystery ' Werewolf' - who is actually a werewolf. And if for the characters it will be revealed only at the very end, then a prescient viewer who has watched more than two detectives in life will be able to name the culprit of the bloody celebration much earlier. Although without a werewolf, the film has something to surprise - being in a stressful situation and suspecting each other, the locals go into all seriousness, releasing their schizophrenia.
Verdict: 'Werewolf Inside' is a really interesting and fun project that clearly deserves much more fame among the people. If you like the style of Edgar Wright, which was obviously inspired by director Josh Reuben, if you like black humor, often built on the absurd, if you like chamber detective stories - this is definitely your film.
An unexpected but pleasant discovery in the genre, I recommend.
Beaverfield is a small town in the north. A new ranger, Fin Wheeler (Sam Richardson), arrives here and people start dying almost immediately. They are killed by someone who looks like a wolf or a dog, but they are neither. The locals are sure - the case took a real werewolf! Rallying together, they take refuge in a local hotel, but a series of incidents leads to the fact that everyone decides to stand up for themselves! But the werewolf seems to be one of them. . .
Not so long ago came the film Jim Cummings - ' Werewolf' which, as the name implies, also talked about a wurdalaka. And it also contained a touch of comedy despite the sometimes harsh scenes. And he was also talking about a werewolf that started in a small northern town. But ' Werewolves inside' rather similar not to 'Werewolf', and the film 'Scare Me', the script for which and the main role was played by Josh Reuben, also put 'Werewolf inside'.
The comedic subtext of the picture makes it possible not to strain especially when watching, because it will almost be scary. The abundance of absurd episodes, eccentric characters and sometimes wacky dialogues reduce the degree of tension, presenting the viewer with an abundance of comical horror, but at the same time all this comedy does not go beyond and does not translate ' Werewolf inside' into something resembling ' Very scary movie' for example.
Reuben’s project is focused on ensuring that the viewer for an hour and a half does not bother because of the heavy plot and does not think about the essence of what is happening. This is a light horror movie that could well become one of the series of some sitcom, because all the situations played out there and just would come to this format.
' Werewolves inside' play the standard clichés of many horrors and Ruben, as before in ' Scare me' went through the most common clichés of horror films, making a good laugh at mass hysteria, the desire of people to separate and die alone, refuse to believe others and of course suspect everyone and everything. And here you can find a certain element of banter over the same 'Faculty' or 'Something' as well as over other horror films where the killer is unknown, the circle of suspects is limited, and the number of deaths continues to grow.
For example, episodes in which some characters suspect others and some moments clearly make the viewer understand that such suspicions are groundless, very clearly demonstrate the very factor of suspicion in relation to all without exception. And of course, as in thrillers and detectives, there is a false trail along which both the characters and the viewer follow at the will of the director.
K ' Werewolf inside' do not take it seriously, because here the potential victims behave more like poor students behaved in 'Homic Holiday' The characters of the film are alien to such concepts as the instinct of self-preservation and they with ' readiness & #39; go to death, not even realizing that the group really has more chances to survive than individually.
But look at you. I do not impose my opinion on anyone.
Previously, horror films that managed to get the status of classics, who played the idea of their own-other: 'Something' (along with a remake and several analogues), 'Aliens Among Us', 'Invasion of body thieves', 'Puppetkeepers' and many others. What if we took the idea of these tapes as a basis and added to the werewolf formula? This question asked the American director Josh Reuben, shooting his new movie.
About a dozen people live in a small town. And all of them are quite strange: there is a hermit who shuns any stranger, a couple of rednecks, a half-crazy doctor of biological sciences, a cheerful young postman and several more people. But very soon a body is found in the city, and then the murders begin to occur one after another. And in all these horrors, the townspeople blame the real werewolf. But who is he?
The film does not focus on suspense and psychological pressure in the choice of the guilty - on black humor and surrealism. At some point, the residents, distraught with fear, almost forget about the werewolf and begin to cut off their neighbor, entering into a real rage, which almost no one can resist. Most of the characters are as clichéd as possible, which makes the situation even more comical.
But for all its seriousness, the story is fascinating. The answer to the main question remains unclear until the end. Of course, the viewer will guess before our main character, but, most likely, not at the very beginning, but already in our meager plot twists time - something.
'Werewolf Inside' is a horror comedy film that will surely appeal to lovers of black humor. This is not ' The Cabin in the Woods' but still quite a fit representative of his subgenre with very shameful
A fable about a well-fed Finn, who arrived as a new ranger in the provincial town of Beaverfield. The locals are very eccentric and hard-frozen, except for one pretty postman, pretty rolling up to the new one. And then suddenly the town covers a heavy snowfall, cutting off the path to civilization, depriving them of electricity and heat. By the will of fate, a dozen local commoners and a new ranger find themselves in a snow trap in an ancient hotel, where, as it turns out later, a real werewolf lurked among them. . .
Comedy horror with a pleasant winter background, funny characters and easy serve, skillfully and subtly mocking some movie clichés that not everyone will notice at first glance.
The film was a little reminiscent of “Get Knives”: a mansion, a group of people, including a bloodthirsty murderer, and habits for a detective investigation. Squabbles, funny dialogues, sharp and sometimes rude jokes are poured in all directions in abundance. True, humor does not always hit the goal, but also does not slide below the belt, which is already pleasant.
The plot is slightly twisted, so you may have to scratch your head to the very end in thinking, but is there really a werewolf, and if there is, who is he or they? Otherwise, the picture is a situational and straightforward horror film, moving from one event to another, gradually accelerating. Perhaps you will be disappointed by the absence of a werewolf in the frame, which always remains in the shadow of his atrocities, but here it is rather a director's move to show that in fact people are exactly the same werewolves by nature: lying, hypocritical and quarrelsome behind the backs of their neighbors.
Moral: you should always take a well-fed comrade with you on a campaign, for if you are surrounded by a pack of wolves, the puff-and-friend will distract them with his bodies while everyone else is fleeing.
As a result, the tape has a cozy winter atmosphere, a fascinating investigation and a funny series of situations, albeit without innovation for the genre, but quite cute and attractive.
7 out of 10
Josh Reuben continues to ironize in the field of horror. His second full meter was the conditional adaptation of the VR-game 'Werewolves Within'. Conditional, because from there only the concept of the game is taken ' Mafia' where the places of criminals are replaced by werewolves. There is no trace of the cartoon fantasy setting, the action of the film is transferred to the modern American backwater.
Immediately it is worth noting that those who want to see a full-fledged horror here will be disappointed - in the presence of screeners and other basic genre techniques, ' Werewolf inside' first of all, it is what ironizes and banters, using a wide list of stereotypes characteristic of horror films. The main purpose of the picture is to entertain its viewer, not to scare.
This is a great movie for a party with friends. It is not long and has all the necessary set of qualities to perform its tasks. The characters are diverse and effectively cope with their duties within the framework of the plot. The lead actor Sam Richardson is a godsend for this kind of film - in which the project he manages to perfectly embody the role of a simple guy on the screen, who, to put it mildly, is in shock from what is happening.
Separately, we need to talk about the atmosphere. Reuben works with her exemplaryly. Some scenes in their entourage spit venerable horrors, great immersing the viewer in what is happening on the screen. When it is necessary to raise the degree of madness, the director skillfully turns the action into a thrash farce. ' Werewolf inside' work as a well-functioning mechanism and, if you do not place mistaken hopes on them, more than pay off the time spent on them.
The Tale of a Good Ranger, Crazy Residents and Forest Neighbor Spider-Man
Quiet at first glance, northern Beaverville is visited by Finn Wheeler, who was unfairly transferred from another city. As a guide, the new ranger meets Cecil, a local postman. In the midst of bad weather, Finn finds the corpse of a local hotel owner. Here begins the most interesting, because the residents suspect not an ordinary killer, but a mythical beast of a crime.
Actors: Of all the performers, only four are known: Guillen, Weintrub, Richardson, Cherus. By the way, the first has already had experience in playing familiar in the service of evil spirits in the series ' What we do in the shadows'
Sam Richardson played a shy law enforcement officer. Naturally, he cannot get rid of his previous feelings for his wife, with whom everything is not easy. A man lacks the courage and courage to become himself. Maybe working in a new environment will give him happiness.
Milana Weintrub played a cheerful, interesting melomana - drying on the leitmotif from the series ' Olga' - carefree looking at the world. The postman immediately begins to like the main character, and it is no secret that Mishna Wolff did not relax the connection in the script, stretching for two hours of timekeeping, and immediately moved to active action. And it's going well, okay. Any of the heteroheroes would have made a choice in favor of this beauty, for example, such a notorious womanizer Pete (Cherus) with raking hands, and naturally got what he deserved. However, the circumstances force her, Finn and the others to be left alone with each other, whom she did not trust very much, even when delivering mail. The actress has not yet played Squirrel Girl in the long-planned Marvel series ' New Wars' but in this hat and down jacket it is impossible not to associate with her future superheroine.
Harvey Guillen plays a rich gay man who acts as the main storyteller of Portuguese folklore about werewolves, fanning already tense relations between residents stuck with each other in a hotel. One started, the other picked up. Fascinated by lycanotropy, the heroes realize that legends do not lie. They cannot get rid of the presence of an invisible guest hiding behind a human form.
I remember Michael Cherus from 'MIB 3' and then he surprised me more than he did here. For his hero, who is married, there is no woman he does not grope. And in the bloody scene, I think he saw the monster, but he wouldn't resist it. Because what he saw surprised him - even in a stressful situation - no less than Finn.
This picture was the debut appearance for Ritsa. Believably played Cha-Chi. That's right, she's a dog. But I did not believe Emerson to touch the poor girl, despite his personal collection of stuffed animals.
Everything else: The three-fold structure of the script is observed.
The film crew: Josh Reuben took as a basis the lycanotropy of the Frisians and Portuguese who believed that out of seven children of the same sex, born in a row in the same family, one certainly will be a werewolf. Other folk references to werewolves in reality, the director mentioned in one of the few, but successful adaptations of the video game of the same name from Red Storm Entertainment. In October 2018, the script was created by Mishna Wolff and produced by Ubisoft Motion Pictures. The main shooting days began in February 2020. The film premiered on June 16, 2021 at the Tribeca festival, a little later the picture migrated to a limited release. Only one question is imposed, to which the viewer clearly will not receive an answer: how a film with positive reviews from the main review aggregator could not earn respect from users of the native site. In fact, this is a very good, black comedy that touches upon Tarantin's commandment. It's cheerful and funny. And in the finale there is a comical moment when Richardson’s character makes a grimace, after agreeing to pour himself tea, I think the director decided to leave this moment, as he found it funny.
Impressions: the detective is amazing, and his characters are deceptive. And the brave forester-hermit Emerson Flint, who came to mind - according to the law of the genre - can prove to be a kind of unfriendly, but a neighbor who complains about the local protector of nature. In spite of its harsh appearance, it can take the path of justice. I suspected, even before I saw it, who the werewolf was when I saw the poster. And my expectations were met, even if not once, and not twice changed.
I am surprised, not so much the main character, as I myself, having learned the truth, who the mysterious cannibal will actually turn out to be. I'd be less surprised if it wasn't for the banal idea of whether the monster is capable of human relations with others. Sorry, I was fascinated by the memory of 'Twilight'. The question is, can you love a monster? Of course, if the feelings are mutual. And if not? Then the beast will stock up on your meat for the winter.
The movie was called Werewolves Within. This is the second film by Josh Reuben, director of the popular humorous shorts website CollegeHumor.
It is interesting to see how the career of a director develops and how he goes from a short meter to a full one. Both of Ruben’s works are something like the author’s horrors with an admixture of comedy and a sprinkle of social irony.
The first film was called “Scare Me” and one of the roles in it was performed by the director himself. The main characters here are only two - the second role was played by Aya Cash, who fans of series know as the Storm from The Boys. In Scare Me, two writers sit in a house without electricity and tell each other horror stories. If it starts out as a comedy, it ends up in tragedy. The film was interesting, but it failed excessive theatricality. Still, watching two actors endlessly scare each other while in a confined room was boring.
In the second film, with a modest budget of six million dollars, Josh Reuben managed to both complicate the scenery and pay for the labor of a large number of actors. However, these actors are hardly known to the audience - they starred only in TV series and not on the main roles. Nevertheless, they are all professionals. Ruben decided not to star in the second film himself and it was the right decision - directing is better than acting.
Curiously, the film is based on a Ubisoft game of the same name, something like our Mafia.
Let's take a look at the plot. A new ranger arrives in the town of Beaverfield - he was demoted at the very tops and sent to serve in an unremarkable hole. Something is going on in Beaverfield, people are being attacked and it seems to be the work of a werewolf. The werewolf can be anyone - the ranger, whose name is Finn Wheeler, has to find the criminal. Time is not on his side - people are slowly eating up. And then the classic mafia game begins to unfold, where every resident pretends to be good. Everyone is under suspicion - and a creepy hunter living in a cabin on the outskirts, and a representative of a gas company who wants to lay a pipeline through the city and even Finn himself looks suspiciously at himself in the mirror.
The main intrigue of the film is whether the werewolf exists in reality, and if it exists, it is a beast or someone exploits a terrible image. A similar dilemma existed in another recent film called The Wolf of Snow Hollow. There, too, the action took place in a sleepy town, and the budget was very microscopic - two million.
Unlike “Werewolf” where the ending was rather disappointing, Josh Reuben managed to solve the mystery of the werewolf more interesting – the suspicions of the audience will always change, as befits a game of “Mafia” in good company.
The rating of “The Werewolf Inside” is low, and under such a film there will always be a lot of negative comments and viewers can be understood. The number of stories about people walled up in a house with a terrible monster can be counted in the tens, if not hundreds, and captivating a spoiled film lover without bright names on the cover and powerful twists is difficult. All this has already happened, but nevertheless, a fan of the genre will find here an interesting balance between comedy and horror and well-tailored dialogue in which subtle irony is heard. For example, in the midst of a werewolf attack, residents of the town will argue about how to name the situation in which they found themselves, so as not to offend anyone, and the postman will clarify that she is not a postman, but a postperson.
In general, if you are fed up and ready to give a chance to new names, pay attention to the work of Josh Reuben. After all, he makes good films, and it is very difficult to reach the audience without having big budgets in your pocket today.
Well, you can not call this picture a horror movie, personally I did not see anything terrible here. But the genre of comedy fully suits this creation. And ' Werewolves inside' I was rather strongly reminded ' Very scary movie'.
A few words about the plot. The action takes place in the small town of Beaverfield, where mysterious murders of people and animals begin to occur. And it is not clear who does this, whether a person, or some mystical creature. The residents of the city need to rally to identify and neutralize this scoundrel. But that’s the main problem, all the residents of this town are stupid to one degree or another and behave as ridiculous as possible. It will not be easy for them.
That’s what makes the whole movie crazy. This approach is interesting, but at the same time dangerous. Because there's a slight drawdown in the humor, and the movie will be completely faceless. But I believe that the filmmakers coped with their task, as ' Werewolf Inside' does not make us bored. I personally watched the fools of the people of Beaverfield with interest throughout the film.
I can't say anything about the actress Milana Weintroub. She plays the postman Cecile in the film, or rather the postman (she calls herself that). It is Milana, on her charm and charisma, who pulls out this film and does not make it mediocre.
As a result. If you want 1.5 hours of fun, this movie is for you. I liked it, but I wanted something a little more. Absurd does not happen much, but even it is boring. I also had the feeling that I had seen it somewhere. But even those flaws can't make me give a bad grade. Thanks to the creators 'Werewolf Inside' for the good mood.