Werewolves Within Movie Review

It’s a dog-eat-dog world. Director Josh Ruben, mostly known for television, has only directed one feature film before this, which was 2020’s “Scare Me.” With the ease he handled this project, it sure seems horror-comedy is his genre.
But for a horror-comedy, “Werewolves Within,” based on a popular multiplayer VR game for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR by Ubisoft, starts out a bit oddly. By that, I mean with a quote by Mister Rogers. The selection is “Listening is where love begins. Listening to ourselves and then our neighbors.” As strange as it may seem, the passage will come into play later.

You’ve heard the line, “There’s a new sheriff in town,” right? The town of Beaverfield is more or less living that moment here, except the newcomer in town isn’t the sheriff. Instead, he’s ranger Finn played by Sam Richardson of “Veep” and the new film “The Tomorrow War.”

After getting to the hotel, he meets the kindhearted mail carrier, Cecily. Cecily is played by Milana Vayntrub from “This Is Us.” She fills him in on everything he needs to get acquainted with. She introduces him to the people he needs to know, and, for good measure, she enlightens him with the town gossip.
Ruben uses her very likable character to allow the audience to get a complete picture of what’s going on.
This is where you also get the sense that the people in town have NONE. They’re an eccentric bunch to say the least.
A snowstorm hits, making Finn’s first day on the job much more difficult. Well, that and the deaths. There was a murder 29.5 days earlier, and now, no one trusts one another. This plays throughout, making you a large part of the whodunnit and keeping you engrossed in the storyline.

You can trust that the movie is worth seeing, as the script is written by best-selling author Mishna Wolff. She is wise enough to follow the guidelines of films that have come before it, films such as “Clue” and, most recently, “Knives Out,” to make the movie campy yet scary. She uses her talents to make you laugh but doesn’t drop the ball on unsettling you. The plot twists, the introduction of the weird guy covered in animal skins, and the strange doctor who just might have too much knowledge of what’s going on build on the movie’s mystery. The jump scares are plentiful, which helps with the horror part of the script. The actors do a fantastic job of bringing in comedic elements that the screenplay calls for. Honorable mention goes to Cheyenne Jackson and Harvey Guillén, especially Guillén. They’re both hysterical in their roles of a wealthy gay couple who are new to town themselves. Their work alone almost makes it the sole reason to watch.

With that said, everyone brings something to the table. The creature turning members of the small community into his victims, along with the writing, the acting, visuals, and the outstanding score makes “Werewolves Within” a summer must-see.

*Theater release is LIMITED, starting June 25, 2021

*Streaming release date is July 2, 2021