phancy.com - horror reviews - MOH 2021

Werewolves Within



IMDb Info

Release Year: 2021
Runtime: 1h 37min
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre Tags: Comedy, Horror
Plot Summary: Feature adaptation of the video game where werewolves attack a small town.

Poster - Title Card


phancy.com rating:

phancy.com notes: Solid comedy horror with a fun ensemble cast. Like watching the Clue movie, but with more violence. Based on the video game based on the party game based on the other party game, though knowledge of any of those is completely unnecessary.


Outside Reviews:

Nick Allen
3 out of 4 stars - rogerebert.com

Ruben previously made his mark with the micro-budget horror Scare Me, and shows again that he has an inspired touch for the pitch of "it was a dark and stormy night." The films of Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz in particular) are clearly an influence here, and Ruben uses some of Wright's sharpest tools for instant, economical world-building: playful soundtrack choices (like the soda pop ditties that introduce us to Beaverton, juxtaposed with Anna Drubich's straight-up horror strings); whooshes in the sound design that ramp up one scene to a sudden cut; characters that suddenly pop into the camera's frame for comedic effect. All of these elements slightly elevate the world of Werewolves Within, so that when everyone is stuck inside a hotel (owned by Catherine Curtin's Jeanine, whose husband is werewolf food in the beginning), it's unmistakable what kind of horror this is. That is, a goofy and skillful one, with a lot of charisma across the board to paper over its shortcomings.


A.A. Dowd
Grade: B- - Werewolves Within puts a goofy, lycanthropic spin on the whodunit

At least Ruben maintains his comic instincts and crack timing throughout. The film possesses a strong touch of Edgar Wright in how it manages both the humor and horror of its conceit: Characters are ricocheted into the frame like silver bullets, while establishing sequences flip through ominous images at a speed that weds suspense to a farcical madcap quality. The movie opens with a quote that fades disquietingly onto the screen, one sentence at a time, before revealing the source of the sentiments as... Mr. Rogers. It's a great gag that perfectly sets the tone and the philosophy of the mayhem to follow - qualities that make Werewolves Within worth tracking down, even if Ruben can't quite break the curse of his subgenre, that ongoing failure to find magic in the intersecting hunting parties of Hercule Poirot and Lawrence Talbot.