Review: Warmly satirical Werewolves Within is comic horror with a heart

After so many years of zombies dominating the horror genre, it’s nice to see the classic werewolf making a comeback. Last year’s sleeper indie film The Wolf of Snow Hollow was a wry, clever take that mixed elements of Fargo, Scooby-Doo, and the lesser-known 1981 film Wolfen. And now we have the horror comedy (emphasis on the comedy) Werewolves Within, loosely based on the Ubisoft multiplayer VR game of the same name. I’m happy to report that the film is a worthy successor to the GOAT of the genre: 1981’s An American Werewolf in London.

(Some minor spoilers below but no major reveals.)

This is only the second feature film from Director Josh Ruben, who cut his teeth making viral video shorts for College Humor. His first feature was last year’s winsome Scare Me, about two writers holed up in a remote Catskills cabin who compete over who can tell the scariest story. Ruben, who is also an actor, wrote and co-starred in that film (opposite Aya Cash, whose portrayal of Stormfront was a highlight of The Boys S2). Scare Me earned positive reviews for its witty script and creative camera work, among other strengths. So when Ubisoft was looking for a director for its film adaptation of Werewolves Within, Ruben seemed an obvious choice.

There was already a solid draft script, penned by Mishna Wolff, and Ruben was immediately struck by its tone, which he deemed a cross between Fargo and Hot Fuzz. (I’d add Clue and the 1990s TV series Northern Exposure to those influences.) He knew he’d be able to revise and polish the script to reflect his own sensibility. There was limited shooting time because of the tight budget, and no possibility of reshoots, so the entire cast and crew had to get every shot they could in the moment. (Ruben told Screenrant he couldn’t even afford trailers; the trailer embedded above is courtesy of IFC Films, which picked up the distribution rights.)

Ruben sets the cheekily irreverent tone right off the bat, playing a deep cut from 1959, “The Phantom Strikes Again,” as Finn Wheeler (Sam Richardson, Veep) arrives in Beaverfield to take up his new post as the local park ranger. Innkeeper Jeanine Sherman (Catherine Curtin, Stranger Things, Orange is the New Black) pauses mid-debate with Midland Gas tycoon Sam Parker (Wayne Duvall, The Hunt, The Leftovers) to show him to his room. And mail carrier Cecily Moore (Milana Vayntrub, This Is Us) quickly befriends him and introduces him the rest of the residents, with a side of “hot goss” to get him up to speed on their eccentricities.

There’s gay tech-bro couple Devon (Cheyenne Jackson, Glee, Borderlands) and Joaquim (Harvey Guillen, What We Do in the Shadows) Wolfson; Gwen (Sarah Burns, Enlightened) and Marcus (George Basil, Santa Clarita Diet), who run the local garage; Pete (Michael Chernus, Manhattan) and Trisha (Michaela Watkins, Wanderlust, Casual) Anderton, and their little dog, Cha-Chi; the crusty, reclusive Emerson Flint (Glenn Fleshler, Barry, Boardwalk Empire), who chases any intruders off with his shotgun; and Dr. Ellis (Rebecca Henderson, Russian Doll, Westworld), an environmentalist staying in town who opposes Sam Parker’s plans for a new Midland Gas pipeline in Beaverfield.

Tensions are running high between the residents because of that proposed pipeline, since the decision must be unanimous, with Devon, Joaquim, and Jeanine being the remaining holdouts. It’s mostly just small-town bickering, such as Pete complaining that “Brooklyn hipsters” or “antifa” knocked down his pro-pipeline sign again. But then a blizzard blocks the only road into town and cuts off the power, and someone (or something) sabotages the back-up generators. When Finn discovers the badly mauled body of Jeanine’s husband Dave (Patrick M. Walsh, Lapsis) under the inn’s porch, it’s clear there’s a vicious predator on the loose. And those tensions flare into increasing paranoia and suspicion.

The VR game is essentially a social deduction game, where players take on cartoon avatars, sit in a virtual circle, and try to guess which of them is the werewolf terrorizing a medieval village. Werewolves Within updates the setting to a contemporary mountain town in the Hudson Valley (like Scare Me), but ultimately it’s the same premise: the people of Beaverfield have to figure out which one of their quirky neighbors is a lying, murdering werewolf.

There’s no shortage of suspects. Devon and Joaquim’s last name is “Wolfson.” Emerson is a hunter and trapper who wears the pelts of all the animals he has killed (including wolves). Dr. Ellis keeps to her room a lot and seems super concerned about the full moon. Cecily is the youngest of seven children, and in Argentinian folklore, the seventh child was usually killed at birth lest they become a werewolf, according to Joaquim. Pete is a compulsive sexual predator. Gwen and Marcus are aggressively imbalanced and prone to violence. Jeanine told everyone Dave had run off to Belize with his new girlfriend. And can we really count out the newcomer, Finn, despite his bumbling nice guy veneer? At least pretty much everyone’s packing heat in this remote mountain town (“I am yessir Amurrica!”)—except for Finn, who prefers to wield his trusty bear spray.

To say anymore would spoil the fun. Werewolves Within is first and foremost a successful comedy, and the ridiculously talented cast members all possess the skills and onscreen ensemble chemistry to make the script come alive. Granted, the characters aren’t especially deep—more akin to what you’d find in the best sketch comedy—but that suits the warmly satirical tone of the film. And there is a moral to the tale, courtesy of Finn and his role model, Mister Rogers: that at heart the town is a community, despite their differences, and everyone is at their best when they remember their common humanity.

Werewolves Within premiered last month at the Tribeca Film Festival and had a limited theatrical release. It’s now available to stream on demand. Rogen told Vanity Fair that he hopes to make a third film set in the Hudson Valley, thereby creating a trilogy in the spirit of Edgar Wright’s Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy. Personally, I can’t wait to see what he comes up with.

Listing image by IFC Films