Monsterwolf

That is right I got this movie for 50 P on Blu Ray. I wondered how bad it could be. This was before I worked out I had just bought a Sci fi Channel movie.

It has Robert Picardo from Voyager in it. He hams it up really rather well. Also The utterly gorgeous Leonor Varela. Not only can she act but she is also the main reason I liked this movie.

The story is typical nonsense. A spiritual wolf is protecting the ancient Indian burial ground gets lets loose evil frackers and oil workers. Who will win the battle between the monster wolf and them, etc. We have all heard it before.

They effects department switches between some pretty ropey cgi and what looks to be a prosthetic head. It conveys the monster is out there. That is about as good as it gets.

The acting is first rate for what it a fun attempt at a horror flick. This is a average action horror movie.

Also it stars Leonor Varela who is gorgeous. It is worth watching if it comes on the horror channel or the Sci fi channel.

For a TV movie, then "Monsterwolf" wasn't too bad. Well, let me rephrase that, it could have been worse.

The story told in "Monsterwolf" is sort of interesting; a spirit wolf is summoned to seek revenge for a wrong-doing against native Indian people. And the wolf is indestructible. Now, I am not overly familiar with Indian lore and legends, so I have no idea whether to be skeptic or embrace this idea. But as for a movie plot, it worked well enough.

"Monsterwolf" wasn't too shabby on the effects and CGI. Sure there were moments where the wolf looked kinda weird, but in general it worked well enough.

The cast in "Monsterwolf" was also good enough, for this particular type of movie. The movie was carried on the shoulders of Jason London (playing Yale) and Marc Macaulay (playing sheriff Bennett). There were other good actors/actresses on the list as well, but London and Macaulay were the ones most memorable.

"Monsterwolf" isn't particularly scary despite it being listed as a horror movie. I will go as far as saying it is not even a thriller. But still, the movie did keep me entertained for the entire feature length. However, it is not the type of movie that I will be making a second time back to.

Unscrupulous oil company boss Stark (Robert Picardo) orders his workmen to blast an ancient Indian artifact with C4 explosives, unleashing Monsterwolf, a vicious, shoddily-rendered, CGI animal spirit dedicated to defending native Americans in their time of need.

Monsterwolf doesn't like workmen. Monsterwolf doesn't like litterbugs. Monsterwolf doesn't like sell-outs. Monsterwolf doesn't like drunk drivers. Monsterwolf doesn't like being hit by a truck. Monsterwolf doesn't like mercenaries. Monsterwolf doesn't like Stark. And I sure as hell didn't like Monsterwolf, yet another crappy, low budget SyFy production sent to test the patience of horror fans.

Poor performances, a generic script, dreadful direction and cheezy special effects all go to make this one hell of a chore to sit through. A heavy-handed score works hard to inject some urgency and excitement into proceedings but is woefully unsuited to the lacklustre action. Worst of all, perhaps, is a truly amateurish animated sequence that tells of the Indian legend of the Monsterwolf.

2.5 out of 10, generously rounded up to 3 for Leonor Varela as tasty tattooed hotshot lawyer Maria, who swaps her power-suit for a tight white vest to battle the beast, and for Jon Eyez' laughable performance as hired killer Coughlin, the actor doing a half-assed impression of Ving Rhames from Pulp Fiction for his role.

Not scary. Most of the film is a soap opera about small town girl Maria having left for New York City, now returning to reconnect with old boyfriend and realize that There's No Place Like Home.

Other reviewers have listed this film's many idiocies. I'll list some that haven't been mentioned yet:

* Maria is an attorney for an evil oil company. In the middle of the film, she announces that she's changing sides. She's quitting her client, and intends to represent the other side.

In real life, Maria would be disbarred for that. You can't represent one side in a dispute, then switch to the other side in the same dispute. It violates attorney-client privilege. Maria would know her first client's plans, legal strategies, strengths and weaknesses, etc.

* Maria is attacked by the wolf in the middle of the night. By the time the police are there, taking her statement, it must be well past midnight. Then two women (one of them a teenager) show up with a fruit basket to make Maria feel better.

Huh? How did they know that Maria had just been attacked? Shouldn't they be asleep at home? And what's a teenage girl doing coming out so late, to pick up a fruit basket from the grocery store to take to Maria?

The writer wanted to show that small town folk care about Maria, inspiring her change of heart. But an intelligent writer would have set that scene for the next day.

Fairly average low budget monster romp, with the Doctor actor from Star Trek Voyager (Robert Picardo) and some native American stuff thrown in.

Evil oilman wants to drill on Indian land, Indian spirit of giant wolf gets revenge. Woman gets saved etc.

The wolf effects are cheap, the environmental message is a bit trite, and the native Americans are cliché, but hey it's what you expect.

It's not worth buying on DVD, but if it's on the television and you have some time to kill (no pun intended), you might find it quite a fun way to spend an hour and a half.

I think my favourite bit is when the villain tells the Indian chief that his views are "unamerican"!