83 min/Rated R
Prose (Story): When a small, wintry mountain town seems to come under attack by a werewolf, mutilated bodies showing up after every full moon, it's up to John Marshall (writer/director/star Jim Cummings) - already under siege via raising a teenage daughter by himself and tackling alcoholism - to take over for his ailing sheriff father, to prove to his cop brethren and the town that the vicious killer is all too human.
Don's (Review): Just from reading the synopsis and viewing the trailer, I was SO stoked for this film; a werewolf stalking people under a full moon in the darkest nights of winter? And sure enough, the first "kill" kicks off some great, fairly grisly action (and chills), followed by some dark humor mixed in with the drama, as we see early on that (thankfully) the film doesn't take itself too seriously, either. Unfortunately, my hang-up right off was with the lead character, John Marshall, who comes off as a genuinely annoying, kind-of-pathetic loser who spends most of the first and second act of the film belly-aching or berating his team or playing victim. I think this was intentional on actor Jim Cummings' part (he also penned the script, and directed), but it rubbed me the wrong way and left me with little to no caring for the main character of the film - a big no-no. As the deaths ratchet up in suspense - and some really admirable special effects, for a low-budge production - I found myself warming a bit to the story and characters, and the film features from fine supporting performances by Robert Forster (in his last role) as John's dad, as well as the hugely-underrated Riki Lindhome as a fellow detective on the force. But while the film got better in its middle, as things developed a bit, for this viewer the ending - and truth behind the killings - while, an exciting finale, just felt like it came out of nowhere instead of organically growing from the script, and for me anyway felt a bit flat. All in all, some very nice parts that don't, unfortunately, add up to a satisfying whole. 2.5/5 stars
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