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[Wolf Moon]
Plot:A small-town girl's life changes when she falls in love with Dan, a mysterious drifter who brings with him a family curse and unimaginable horror. Things are going smoothly until Dan's father Bender shows up to raise some hell in the quiet town.
Cast:Sid Haig,
Maria Conchita Alonso,
Chris Mulkey,
Billy Drago.
My Thoughts:This moon be bad.
Review:"Wolf Moon" is the latest werewolf tale to hit DVD, and fail to really impress on any level. The movie, which clocks 2 long, excruciating, painful hours long, follows a young mysterious drifter who falls for a smalltown local girl. Her father (Haig) doesn't approve of the relationship, which gets more complicated when a series of murders strike the town. Murders of animals, and murders of people.
The question is, is the killer of the local livestock and some of the local people the same person, or two different people? And how does the drifter and his "secret", connect to it all? First off, I wanna ask what is this seemingly recent obsession with setting werewolf movies in small, dusty, nothing happening towns in the middle of the country? "Animals", another werewolf failure, did the same thing. And it was so annoying. Now the same issue here in "Wolf Moon".
Another werewolf film set in a tiny, dusty redneck town. This holds any film back from any decent character development beyond scenes at the local dive where rednecks in cowboy hats are cracking offensive, sexist, or unfunny jokes. And those usual scenes where some "good ole boys" cross the wrong person, an end up killed bloody. At some point, I understand you have to expand horror films out of the usual suburbs of places like California or upstate New York, but small, dusty towns are a step down, not a step up scenery wise.
The characters in this film suffer from the place where the movie is set, even Sid Haig, who usually brings his A game for just about any film, seems strangely constrained in this film. And although an appearance by veteran Latino actress Maria Conchita Alonso was a major plus to the movie, it's money-making monster, the werewolf, didn't sharpen it's teeth enough for this go round. Most of the deaths in the film are poorly shot, lack sufficient or proper lighting, and just fail to make you squirm, clap, gasp, or do anything really beyond shrug and take another sip of your lemonade.
"Wolf Moon" also lacks enough characters to build around. The film seems to be like a hot potato, being tossed around to various actors to carry at any given time. First, the female lead and the male lead are asked to carry the movie. Then Conchita Alonso and Haig, and then near the end, it's Billy Drago, who plays the father of the mysterious drifter. A father who's got some "secrets" of his own. Very dark ones.
The movie lacks stability, and having two young actors who aren't really proven in this genre carry the movie in it's early going, sets it down a bad path which is never manages to recover from. Mix that in with the repetitive and depressing backdrop of this small, defunct town, and you have a recipe for one bad movie. Now don't get me wrong, movies set in small towns can work. "Critters" and "Children Of The Corn" are perfect examples.
But those films had a quality storywise, and exceptionally well-written characters, that "Wolf Moon" lacked in spades. Oh, and the script for both of those films was far more coherent, and the entertainment value was far higher. "Wolf Moon" could've learned a thing or two from both of those movies, before implementing it's story and characters into the script.
Instead, this film runs on empty from the moment it sets out on it's cinematic journey. And that's why from beginning to end, it doesn't impress, excite, or come off as cool and edgy in any way. ''Wolf Moon" is a really hairy situation for anyone who blind buys this movie expecting something special. Might wanna take a bite out of your luck, and see if you can pawn it off on some unsuspecting customer on ebay instead.
Positives:Haig and Alonso give modestly decent performances.
Negatives:Boring script, equally boring characters, a severe lack of enetrtainment value, and hardly any good kills or werewolf action.
Overall:One star out of four.
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