Drew Turney
Why, this film continues to ask of such a misaligned genre, do so many werewolf movies suck so much? If a high school drama group filmed a first draft and rented the shoddiest werewolf costume they could find at a fancy dress store, it still wouldn’t be this bad.
There are several good reason we watch werewolf movies, not the least of which is to see a good werewolf – usually a good transformation scene thrown in. Yes, “An American Werewolf in London” set a very high standard, but John Landis and Rick Baker did that work on a shoestring, so there’s really no excuse for crap like “Werewolf Rising” to exist.
We endure at least half an hour before of abysmal acting and scripting before we even glimpse the monster, and when we finally do, the howls of laughter in your living room will drown those on the screen out.
When pretty country girl Emma (Melissa Carnell) returns to her country home for a break after a rough few years in the city, she does so right when a werewolf is terrorising the local populace. It might be the kindly former neighbour who turns creepy, or it might be the bad boy local Johnny Lee she can’t help being attracted to, even though the poor actor playing him (Matt Copko) is so bad he’s more ‘pervy Joe Dirt’ with his drawl and mullet than ‘misunderstood rebel’.
Completely devoid of either terror or talent, it will make you feel like the NRA after another tragic school shooting in your love for a genre that’s become almost indefensible.
DVD : No extras
