I didn’t know what to expect from this film. I’d read so many bad reviews before seeing it that I knew it couldn’t live up to the bad press. I knew that it was directed by Catherine Hardwicke who made the first TWILIGHT movie, a film my wife loves and I find okay. This would be her first film since and her chance to show that her contributions were part of what made that film such a hit. Unfortunately I think it was more of a hit due to the popularity of the books and the hormones of young girls and older women who long for romance that made the film popular.
The film takes place in a small medieval village in Europe. Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) is the second daughter of woodcutter Cesaire (Billy Burke) and his wife Suzette (Virginia Madsen). Even though she is the second child, she has been betrothed to Henry (Max Irons), the son of the village blacksmith. Unfortunately for her she’s in love with Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), an orphaned young man she’s known since childhood who is a woodcutter like her father. But her mother wants her to marry up so Henry it is.
Problems begin when Valerie’s sister is killed by a werewolf. The town is in an uproar and sets out to take matters into their own hands. They’ve fed the wolf for years with the best of their flocks and now the truce has been broken. While Father Auguste (Lukas Haas) sends word to the church to send help, the rest of the men head to the caves.
Henry’s father is killed by the werewolf but they still find their prey. Taking home the head of the wolf, they plan a big party to celebrate. But beforehand help arrives in the form of Father Solomon (Gary Oldman), a famous werewolf hunter whose own wife was killed by one of the beasts. Father Solomon advises them to refrain from the celebration since he claims the head on a stick is that of a wolf and not the werewolf. Of course they ignore him and sure as the full moon rises, the werewolf strikes.
Warned that a bite from the werewolf during the blood moon will result in someone becoming a werewolf themselves, when one of Solomon’s men is bitten Solomon must kill him in front of his brother. Is it just me or is this pretty obvious set up for something to come down the line?
The hunt for the werewolf continues through the film and the list of suspects range from both of the young men Valerie is in love with to quite possibly her grandmother (Julie Christie). When all is finally revealed it is somewhat of a surprise but not a great revelation based on clues we saw earlier. Instead it’s just tah dah, here is who the werewolf is and why and why the werewolf has done what it has done.
The film looks pretty, I’ll give it that, but there are just a few things that feel wrong about it. The first thing I noticed is that the costumes seemed more in line with an Uwe Boll film than a realistic depiction. Everyone seemed to be wearing new clean clothes. Kind of odd for a small village. Unless the village is named Fruit de Loom. The whole set up of the romance reeked of the TWILIGHT experience with two young men in love with the same woman and vying for her hand. When you toss in the term werewolf and it feels even more like that film.
As with another film I wrote about this week, THE LINCOLN LAWYER, this film isn’t quite terrible. It is a pleasant diversion from everyday life but it isn’t a great movie and won’t be one that I feel most people will want to watch again and again. It’s just light entertainment that some will enjoy and others will tolerate. Horror fans will just be disappointed. But if you’re looking for something to pass the time, this one isn’t all that bad.
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