WEREWOLF: THE BEAST AMONG US

The inhabitants of a European village are terrified by a terrible creature that, during the nights of the full moon, commits abominable crimes. It is undoubtedly a werewolf. Some werewolf hunters, led by the intrepid Charles and lured by the generous reward for the capture of the beast, head towards the village armed to the teeth. There they will meet the young aspiring doctor Daniel, who will offer them his help in the hunt for the werewolf, going against the will of his fiancée Eva. On more than one occasion, this film has been mistaken for a sequel to "Wolfman" by Joe Johnston, released in 2010, in which Benicio del Toro transformed into a beast in the remake of the Universal's 1941 classic of the same name. In reality, it is an incorrect interpretation of the film's tagline, which reads "After Wolfman, the werewolves have returned." Completely deceptive presentation probably to give visibility to an otherwise anonymous film. The fact is that there are no connections between the two films, except (obviously) the presence of werewolves. Despite the similarities, especially those related to the 19th-century setting, these are two completely different stories, starting with the fact that in this film, there is the awareness that werewolves exist and everyone knows it. Therefore, the entire part of the people's amazement at the news that a fierce beast is besieging the village is skipped, giving a strong contribution to the fluidity of the story. Released directly in the home video market, the film adds nothing new to werewolf cinema: a wolf sows terror, someone hunts it, and the girl of the moment inevitably falls in love. All in all, although loaded with the defects that can have low-budget direct-to-video productions, one cannot deny it a certain underlying charm, starting with the colorful team of werewolf hunters in which the fascinating cremation officer of the dead, Ana Ularu, a beautiful and unknown Romanian actress, stands out. The 19th-century setting is good, well-cared for, the werewolf transformations are low-level digital but skillfully inserted into dark settings where they seem veritable. Even the splatter enthusiast will not be disappointed thanks to a good number of guts and smashed heads. Another point in favor of the film is a good management of the rhythm in which the initial introductory parts are redeemed by a couple of well-planned action scenes, with a fair dose of tension, such as the preparation of the trap in the forest with the ambush of the village inhabitants eager for the reward for the capture. Naturally, as mentioned earlier, there are also many flaws, such as the acting almost never up to par (although Stephen Rea, nominated for an Oscar for his role in "The Crying Game," is in the cast) or the choice to include other creatures besides werewolves, following the rampant Twilight-like trend. The screenplay unfortunately does not work properly and despite the clear intention of the film, the transitions between one scene and another are often not understood. It is even difficult to distinguish the secondary characters, all too similar to each other, in the vast majority equipped with thick fake mustaches. Overall, however, it is a film not to be thrown away. You watch it, you have fun, and you forget it quickly, but at least it allows the viewer not to get bored until the end.