Werewolves Within

Werewolves Within (2021)
Directed by: Josh Ruben
Written by: Mishna Wolff
Starring: Cheryenne Jackson, Harvey Guillen, Michael Chernus, Michaela Watkins, Milana Vayntrub, Sam Richardson, Wayne Duvall

Its Knives Out with a furry howling creature in the midst……

I love nothing more than a good Werewolf movie but sadly the genre has been lacking some serious quality entries over the years with the likes of the modern classic Ginger Snaps being that rare entry that is still finding a new generation of fans every passing year.

Loosely based on a VR video game and directed with a delightful taste of quirkiness by Josh Ruben, Werewolves Within may not enter in many Top 10 Lycanthrope lists from fans, but its still achieves an utterly fun watch and I seriously will emphasise the word “fun” to our readers as anyone expecting a scare-fest will be bitterly disappointed.

What Ruben has gone for is witty wise-cracks alongside some sizzling dialogue than downright bloodshed, with a premise that on a few occasions you expect Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc to turn up and offer his advice on who the actual werewolf is among the crowd of some delightful characters.

Finn (Sam Richardson) picks the wrong time to be hired as the new Ranger for the tiny town of Beaverfield, with the residents in dispute over a planned new gas pipeline, a wintery storm, but most of all there seems to be werewolf resident who is just starting to pick off poor victims.

Before he can actually say “Hi” to his new found neighbours, that severe snow storm hits, knocking out the power and leaving Finn trapped in the local inn with a small crowd in which one of them is hiding a very deep howling secret. Can we guess who it is?

Among the suspects are the likes of Cecily (Milana Vayntrub), who befriends Finn, Trish (Michaela Watkins) and her husband Pete (Michael Chernus), the pipeline owner (Wayne Duvall) and a gay couple Devon (Cheyenne Jackson and Joaquim (Harvey Guillén) all offering some light-hearted humour while Richardson himself is just a joy as the chaos unfolds around him.

While the title may suggest a horror movie, this is more of a character driven piece that just happens to have a werewolf appear now and again. The work of Edgar Wright is clearly an influence and while the mystery doesn’t really stretch your brain cells, Werewolves Within works because of the comedy on display. A few more scenes of mayhem and gore and we could have been talking about a classic…..

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