Project: Metalbeast

Despite my love for all things horror, I had never actually heard about it. I managed to track down the movie, as I found out that Kane Hodder was in the movie, and thus I had to get to watch it, given his iconic horror status.

Sure, I had no idea what I was in for here, aside from what I could discern from the synopsis, and thus only knew it was a werewolf movie of sorts. But I had zero expectations to the movie as I sat down to watch it for the first time here in 2025, and thus director Alessandro De Gaetano had every opportunity to entertain and impress me.

Writers Alessandro De Gaetano, Timothy E. Sabo and Roger Steinmann put together an okay script. I mean, it was watchable, but nothing extraordinary. The pacing of the narrative, however, was a bit slow paced and the interesting events in the narrative were few and far between one another.

I was surprised to see that the movie was starring Barry Bostwick, so there was a familiar face on the cast list, aside from Kane Hodder. The acting performances in the movie were fair.

The effects in the movie were quite good for a movie such as this, and definitely added to the overall enjoyment of the movie.

My rating of "Project: Metalbeast" lands on a generous four out of ten stars.

I must admit I wasn't expecting much when I first rented this movie, but the concept of a metal covered werewolf is a unique twist on an old story. Also the effects were very good. But if your not into werewolf movies then you may not like Metalbeast.

I GIVE IT (7 STARS) ******* ON THE POSITIVE SIDE (+ HITS)

+ CONCEPT (I always give kudos to an original or a new twist on an old concept)

+ CREATURE EFFECTS (The Metalbeast was just plan cool)

+ ATMOSPHERE (It has spooky atmosphere with substance)

ON THE NEGATIVE SIDE (- MISSES)

• SLOW (It has several places of slow peroids while they build up suspense, a little too long at times)

And Finally:

• FAN BASED (If you are not a fan of horror or werewolf movies then steer clear of PROJECT: METALBEAST)

There's no such thing as an idea for a horror film that's too ridiculous to work, but I don't think it's unreasonable to argue that the more complicated the concept - the more ideas that are layered on top of one another - the harder the road to success. Take 'Project: Metalbeast,' for example. Filmmaker Alessandro De Gaetano and co-writers Timothy E. Sabo and Roger Steinmann tossed together werewolves, military experiments with werewolves, corrupt government programs and officials, and not least, synthetic metal skin. Oh my. None of this means that success was impossible, but it does mean that one has to stretch the limits of their imagination and suspension of disbelief to accept what the movie is putting down. When one further considers how lax this tends to be in its tone and pacing, leading to a paucity of major goings-on, well, one's attention begins to wander.

It's not like this is abjectly awful. Everyone put in an earnest effort, and between the cast and the crew everyone made fair contributions. The acting is fine, the sets are fine, and the costume design, hair, and makeup are fine, if a little too overt. The stunts and effects are fine. I'm more concerned about the unconvincing dialogue, the halfhearted characters, and the lethargic scene writing. The plot doesn't go very far at all for the preponderance of the first hour, and all that's left for the last third is for the carnage to ensue (less than you'd think, honestly) and for the threads to be wrapped up in the manner in which we know they will be. The direction feels less than fully engaged, and for as relatively little action as there is in ninety minutes, the result feels like a bit of a slog. No, 'Project: Metalbeast' isn't fully bad, but there's just so little here to keep us invested that the picture falls quite flat.

Yawn. There are some recognizable names and faces involved here. The last act is fine. The climax is fine. Would that there were more substance to this of any sort, or that the feature did anything to make a lasting impression. As it is the viewing experience is just rather bland and dull, even in the moments of the most violence or would-be disturbing imagery, and it stops only a little bit shy of being sleep-inducing. Sure, there are worst things one could find themselves checking out, but the simple truth of the matter is that there's just no real reason to watch this flick. I suppose if one is extremely curious or bored, and open to all the wide possibilities of cinema, then one could claim sufficient impetus to press "play," but otherwise one's time is surely better spent elsewhere. 'Project: Metalbeast' was just kind of dead on arrival.

In 1974, two American agents are sent to Hungary by his superior Miller (Barry Bostwick) to get werewolf blood for a secret project for the creation of an invincible warrior. One of the men dies and the other decides to inject the blood in himself, being killed by Miller. There is a shutdown of the secret project. Twenty years later, the scientist Anne de Carlo (Kim Delaney) is carrying out a research of mettalic skin to replace burned ones under the command of Miller, and the body of the dead agent is delivered for the experiment. The agent is transformed in a kind of killing metallic werewolf.

"Project: Metalbeast" is a low-budget movie, with a screenplay wirhout originality. I do not know how many films I have seen with similar storyline. The villain performed by Barry Bostwick is the best this movie can offer. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Metalbeast"

Note: On 07 June 2024, I saw this film again.

A group of militants head to a Hungarian castle to get a sample of werewolf blood from the apparent tenant. Despite one of the men being killed in the process, the mission is a success. Back in the U.S., military scientists are studying the blood under the supervision of Colonel Miller (Barry Bostwick) and the militant who secured the blood in the first place, Butler (John Marzilli). The latter tires of waiting for the scientists to do their thing, so he foolishly decides to inject himself with the remaining blood. It isn't long before he turns into a werewolf and mauls two of the scientists, but Miller puts him down with some silver bullets and has him cryogenically frozen. 20 years go by as Butler remains on ice. The same military installation is now home to a research group working on a synthetic skin called bio-ferrin. Metallic in nature, the skin is meant to help burn victims. Miller gets wind of their work and decides that it's time to thaw out Butler and have these scientists fit him with the skin, in turn making an indestructible killing machine for use on the battlefield. As usual in these types of films, things do not go according to plan.

I rented this film back in the mid-90's and found it to be an entertaining shot in the arm to the then all but dormant werewolf sub-genre. I recently revisited it for the first time in over a decade, and I'm happy to say that it still holds up as an enjoyable treat amidst the sea of bad werewolf pictures. The idea of creating a super soldier is hardly original, but who cares? Where else are you going to see a werewolf with armored skin? Lycanthropes are threatening to begin with, but this film takes it a step further with it's metallic monstrosity. It's a hulking behemoth of a creature too, as it should be with Kane Hodder wearing the monster suit. We also get some pretty good half man, half wolf make-up following Butler's first escape from the lab. Most of the killings are partially offscreen, but they're juicy enough.

The gorgeous Kim Delaney plays Dr. Anne De Carlo, head of the bio-ferrin research group. Delaney is a personal favorite of mine, and a sorely under-appreciated actress to boot. Despite appearing in popular TV shows like "NYPD Blue" and "CSI Miami", she also did her fair share of horror films such as this one, "The Drifter" and a few others. Her character here immediately clashes with Miller, who naturally keeps the scientists in the dark about his true intentions. As Miller, Barry Bostwick chews the scenery and relishes the slimy nature of his role, that of a man who takes time to touch up his hair while being mauled by the titular "metalbeast". The rest of the cast members are nothing to write home about, but Delaney and Bostwick do more than enough to carry the picture.

While "Project: Metalbeast" certainly isn't a masterpiece of the genre or anything like that, it succeeds at being an entertaining little monster flick, which is exactly what it set out to do. Yes, Delaney runs a little too easily for someone who just had a metal rod run through her foot and the werewolf's impenetrable skin isn't milked to it's fullest, but whatever. This thing makes for a damn good time while delivering a new spin on lycanthropy. Watch it if you like low budget monster romps. And someone get this out on DVD already!