The Beast of Bray Road

Review: The Beast of Bray Road(2005) So here's another one of those straight to DVD horror films that can either be really fun or really bad. So besides vampires, the second most played out genre is werewolves. Besides Neal Marshell's Dog Soldiers and Underworld, there has yet to be a were wolf film that has yet to broken new ground. Beat of Bray Road is somewhat based on a true legend in the Midwest about sightings of a real life were wolf on this road. This film comes from the same people who delivered the kick ass and fun "Jolly Roger" so I was pretty much expecting the same kind of film and hoped it would be just as good. Well the good news is the it is pretty good but the bad news is that it's as fun as Jolly Roger. While Jolly Roger was horror fun, Beast of Bray Road is more serious and straight forward horror film. Is that a good thing or bad thing...well truth is it's not a bad thing but it's not but it does hurt the film a little.

The Beast of Bray Road is more about telling a story then having killing and nudity every 10 minutes. The film feels like a real real story as it unfolds through out the film. I really liked the fact that the film was more about the characters of the small town and how the strange creature effects the town. So I liked the characters interacted with each other and slowly unfolded. But the bad thing is that the film makes the same mistake as other low budget films that want to be like real films...it tries to tell a story that sometimes feels dragged on in certain places. I liked the story of the film a lot but there were some moments that seemed too long or uninteresting(plus some of the bland acting by some of the actors really doesn't help either). I really loved where writer/director Leigh Scott took the story and I knew just want he was trying to do. He really wanted to make a different kind of low budget horror film by taking it back to more of a classic story telling point of view ala Stephen King based classic like Pet Cementary and Graveyeard Shift. So I knew just were he was coming from and I really respected him for trying to do a different kind of film. He really does deliver a pretty good film here and a great story. I really liked that he made it flow so smoothly and had the set up of other bigger films. On the downside, I saw a lot of things coming but I really didn't care. I was really digging this film to bother with that. But the film's twist ending did have me bummed. I could tell from the way the character was written that they were going to be the werewolf because it was a classic set up of making the character so likable that I knew they were setting it up for them to be the were wolf. I knew they were going to do it for twist's sake, I didn't want them to do it but they did it and I hated it. But besides that...Scott writes a great film considering the budget he had to work with so much love for him for that.

Acting wise, this film suffers again...like most low budget horror does from bad supporting cast. The leads were pretty great a believable. Jeff Denton as our lead Phil was great and I really liked the guy. Sarah Lieving was great as Kelly. Not only did she look good but the girl could actually act and was just fun to see on the screen. At least Jeff and Sarah had noticeable chemistry unlike the bigger budgeted The Fog remake where the awful Tom Welling and Maggie Grace had ZERO chemistry on screen and couldn't even act.Tom Downey from Jolly Roger is in this film and is great again. I really like him...he plays it straight but realistic. Now comes the only really draw back to the whole film...the acting of some of the supporting cast. Afew are pretty good at doing what they have to do but others here are just plain bland. They have zero personality on screen and it really comes across and hurts the film a lot. With the kind of script that Scott wrote, it would have really needed good actors to make the story interesting and alive but instead they drag the interesting script to kind of a bore. Then there's Tom Nagel, once again...he blows another role. I don't get this guy, he acting is just that...acting. He doesn't seem natural at all and is straight out acting and it gets annoying fast. I'm not a fan of his at all.

Direcing wise Scott does a really bang up job. I really liked all the different stuff he brought to this film. First he shot it pretty straight forward, there's nothing wrong with that because it gives the film a real classic feel to it. It seemed more like I was watching a real film than some low budget horror. Scott has a real feel for capturing that old school feeling and I really dug him a lot. All in all The Beast of Bray Road was as fun as I hoped it would have been but it was pretty interesting to watch. I really liked how the story unfolded and I liked the cool bloody kills. The film was hurt by some bland acting by actors here and there but I dug the whole film a lot. It's a smart, good little film that gave me what I wanted but still has it's problems. But it's all good. Great show.

Leigh Scott's "The Beast of Bray Road," released in 2005, is a very loose telling of the legendary "dogman" of SE Wisconsin. In reality, the beast has only been sighted and has never killed anyone. In the film, however, numerous people bite the dust in extremely gory scenes, heads getting torn off, the beast eating their innards, etc.

In the beginning it's unclear what type of beast the "dogman" is, is it a bigfoot? A werewolf? A cryptozoologist appears and helps the police pinpoint the probable nature of the creature.

POSITIVES:

• I liked the main protagonists, the police chief (Jeff Denton), the cryptozoologist, the beautiful bartender Kelly (Sarah Lieving) and the other police personnel.

• The story is generally compelling and moves right along.

• The killer creature looks excellent and you get quite a few good looks at it; no CGI.

• The story turns out to be a mystery. The beast may be a human being that transforms into the bloodthirsty creature. If so, who is it? If you've seen films like "The Howling V: The Rebirth" you know what to look for.

NEGATIVES:

• Although the story takes place near Elkhorn & Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, the film was shot in friggin' California, near Los Angeles, likely to keep expenses down; they did fine, however, making sure the scenery didn't look too much like typical Southern California. It sorta passes for SE Wisconsin, I guess.

• The film is filled with gorgeous women from beginning to end but Mr. Scott fumbles the ball and doesn't truly take advantage (and I'm not talking about top nudity or sex scenes at all; the film has some of both). Scott does much better in this area in 2008's "Flu Birds" and 2009's "The Dunwich Horror."

• Until the last act the film has a we're-not-taking-this-too-seriously vibe. It wasn't so bad to ruin the horror experience, but it was there. This is a minor cavil, however; all-in-all the filmmakers did a decent job balancing camp with serious horror.

• Every Wisconsin yokel, male or female, is portrayed as a hip, dour, alcohol-guzzling sex-fiend.

BOTTOM LINE: "The Beast of Bray Road" is a worthwhile killer beast flick but contains enough negative elements to prevent it from being truly good. The non-CGI monster looks great, however, and is worth the price of admission, not to mention this is a must if you're a gorehound (I'm not; I can take gore or leave it; all I care about is that the story & cast be interesting and entertaining).

The film runs 80 minutes.

GRADE: Borderline C+ or B-

OK I felt the need to stick up for this movie a little bit. You have to take it for what it is, it's a low budget independent werewolf movie. With that in mind this movie really wasn't as bad as another reviewer has claimed. I purposely rent low budget indie horror flicks to see what people can do with a low budget, and sure there were things that could have been better, but there were a lot of good things about it too. For one, the fact that it didn't look like a kid grabbed his mom's video camera and started recording is a big plus, considering the picture quality on many indie horror flicks out right now is absolute CRAP. Most of the effects weren't bad. If you are like myself and can enjoy a mindless horror movie than you might like this one.

The Beast of Bray Road is certainly not an A-List picture, and to put it mildly it is very rough around the edges. The budget must have been extremely low, production values are negligible, and while there is a legend in Wisconsin concerning what may be a "real" beast of Bray Road, the film's claim to be based on a true story is plainly a gross exaggeration. On top of all that, the script populates the small town that is its setting with hardly anybody but unlikeable rednecks, the worst sort of white trash that you're often only too happy to see get torn limb from limb by the ravenous werewolf.

But despite it all, I had a lot of fun watching The Beast of Bray Road last night, so much so that it probably won't be too long before I watch it again. The story itself is built on a reliable formula, that of a small town beset by an unidentified monster which just might be something supernatural. Foruntately, our small cadre of heroes are more likable than most of the supporting characters. The protagonist is a local cop, but even so he's from the Big City and the locals mostly see him as an outsider not to be trusted. As our hero slowly puts the pieces together, he gradually comes to the realization that the predator he's looking for may spend most of its time hiding in plain sight as one of the townsfolk he's sworn to protect--even if they hate him for it. A cryptozoologist, drawn by the lure of fame and renown, shows up to lend the esoteric knowledge it takes to track down a werewolf, and aided by the deputy's beautiful almost-girlfriend and the rest of the rather clueless police squad, they put the truth together piece by piece, leading to a climactic hunt for the bloodthirsty monster in the dark of the forest.

Yes, this is a b-movie, but so what? It lacks polish and while its tough to ignore the obvious lack of funds, the picture still puts together a suitable atmosphere that, despite its official setting in Wisconsin, could be a small town almost anywhere in the USA. Direction is competent, with some creative shots worked in throughout the movie, and the acting is for the most part more than acceptable. The script does take some bold jumps in logic that require more than a little suspension of disbelief on the viewer's part, but that was okay with me. The werewolf itself is exceptionally well-done, and though we only see it a few times head-on, the eponymous Beast is very fearsome. Despite the low budget, the kills are pretty elaborate and gory, if you're impressed by that sort of thing. The big reveal near the end is quite a surprise, and the climax highly suspenseful.

This is a movie that would be pretty easy to pick apart, if you really wanted to. There's no denying its weaknesses, but it also has quite a few strengths. If the cast and crew don't have the tools to make a first-class blockbuster, they make up for it with a remarkable level of enthusiasm and dramatic flair. Together, everyone involved helps to create a story that is entertaining enough to overcome any inherent shortcomings. Thanks to an impressive werewolf, a simple but sound plot, surprisingly good acting, and a nice atmosphere, The Beast of Bray Road adds up to be more than the sum of its low-budget parts.

So what happens when The Asylum veers away from their Hollywood cheap send-ups and puts their heart into something original ? Well, a damn good b-movie, that's what ! "The Beast of Bray Road" is apparently based on local Wisconsin lore, but do not think this "based on true events" tag line means your next Lindsay Wagner & Robert Urich TV movie of the week. It's probably based on a true story told around a campfire. What this is is a fun, fast werewolf movie like you haven't seen in a while, better than recent submissions like "War Wolves" or "Never Cry Werewolf", shot efficiently on a tight budget. It has blood, beasts and boobs (well, just one quick pair) and makes for the perfect midnight movie.

The frequent and very clear views of the beast is a nice surprise for monster fans, and for the budget, I'll say it looks really good. The deaths are gruesome and plenty, sticking to a slasher template. All the actors make a good job and actually are given some basic development and dialogue to play with. I was completely taken aback when I burst out laughing at a one-liner delivered by a drunk bimbo just before her demise in a car. This is definitely not a comedy, but the joke was good and unexpected.

All in all, very recommended for B-movie fans.