Macabre…ish Horror Review: Werewolves Within

Werewolves Within, 2021/ 1 hr 37 min

Awkward good guy, Finn Wheeler (Sam Richardson) is reporting to his new post as Forest Ranger in Beaverfield, a small town whose residents are divided over a proposed pipe line.

He checks into his room in the Jeanine Sherman’s (Catherine Curtin) Lodge aka the local mansion turned B&B and he meets and befriends some other residents of the ‘mans’, including the mail carrier, Cecily Moore (Milana Vayntrub). She shows him around on her route and to his first complaint, on the way, he meets the colorful and quirky town residents.

That night a blizzard causes a power outage and the residents take refuge at Jeanine’s Lodge. And tensions ramp up after Trisha’s (Michaela Watkins) dog is killed and generators all over town are found sabotaged. Including that of reclusive survivalist, Emerson Flint (Glen Fleshler).

And by sabotaged, I mean a giant claw has torn through them with one swipe. While Finn was checking them out he finds a corpse under someone’s porch and it turns out to be Jeanine’s missing husband, Dave (Patrick M. Walsh Jr.).

Residents decide someone should ask Flint if they will help defend themselves against whatever this is. But everyone is scared of him. Some residents even think he might be the culprit.

Meanwhile, they attempt to barricade themselves in and environmentalist, Dr. Jane Ellis (Rebecca Henderson) has run tests on hair found on Dave and the dog’s outfit and the hair is not listed in any database. But she will soon have an idea of what it is.

And while they slept, Peter (Michael Chernus) was snatched out of bed, dragged down the hall and his hand bitten off…plus he was shot by residents trying to save him. Dr. Ellis illuminates everyone and tells them the culprit didn’t leave and is one of them and it’s a lycanthrope.

After she dies suspiciously, they are now wary of each other. The tension escalate and they start killing each other. Finn and Cecily end up in the town bar and Finn finds out other things he didn’t know about her and this town.

This is a comedy horror directed by Josh Ruben and it’s pretty good. The concept and physical effects are good. Score is great! This flick is not as bloody or graphic as you’d expect a werewolf movie to be. Very little is actually shown in this movie as far as gore and the violence and kills are more assumed and teased than overtly shown. Some of the humor is crass but not all of it is and I did find a lot of the humor funny. This movie gets a lot more violent and graphic toward the end. Though I wish there was more werewolf action, I really enjoyed this movie.