Werewolf

Not the horror you think it is. Dealing with young children rescued from a concentration camp by the Russian forces at the end of WW2. Taken to a country house with limited food and water. Their situation deteriorates dramatically when they find themselves surrounded by vicious guard dogs from the very death camp they escaped from. Part Lord of the Flies, part Cujo, the tradegy of their existence is brought home time and time again - be it fighting for a simple potato peeling, or the stories they tell of the sights they witnessed. The struggle here is for them to hold on to the slender thread of humanity they still have within them, or decent into a vicious existence, that matches the dogs that threaten them.

Absolutely stunning movie! Really good acting, these children are haunting me for days now. Children who have been liberated from a concentration camp are left at in an abandoned palace in a forest without food and water. But the real nightmare starts when the house is besieged by hungry wild dogs that were used to guard the nazi camp.

This is not your average World War II movie. This is not your average Holocaust movie. The is definitely not your average werewolf movie.

This film is something special. I don't watch many foreign films, but I think you'll like this one as much as I did because it's a film-lovers film - or an actor's film, perhaps.

The story follows a group of children recently liberated from the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, they land in a huge, empty mansion in the care of sinister Russians. That's not the worst of it, though, because the place is surrounded by vicious animals. Are they escaped military working dogs or something much, much worse?

While I don't know the cast or crew, I am certain they are at the top of their game in their home country (Poland). Watch this film - I promise you can't guess the ending!

If ever a film demonstrated man's inhumanity to man, this has to be up there. Here we have a few half starved kids so terrified of their Nazi guards that they perform automatic, humiliating tasks just to get through each day. You get the distinct impression that they have never known any other kind of life. Once their camp has been liberated and they are effectively abandoned, they take a chance to bond together in a derelict country house for survival and turn into quite an effective group against a clear and natural animal enemy that is now just as deprived of freedom (and food) and many of them. There is certainly some gore, but it seems appropriately inflicted on the deserving. The title is slightly misleading, I thought. There is nothing supernatural about the "horror" here - it's as plain as the nose on your face. Certainly worth seeing on a big screen.

Polish horror drama 'Werewolf' concerns a group of children recently liberated from a Nazi concentration camp. As they settle into an abandoned mansion deep in the forest, they not only have to overcome thirst and hunger, but also fend off a pack of vicious dogs...

Those hoping to see a werewolf will be disappointed, but this film cleverly combines coming-of-age elements and survival horror thrills. It has an interpretative title; whether meant for the Nazi's and how war has transformed them into beasts, how a young child might view grisly injuries on a decaying corpse and conclude that it was caused by something from fantasy, or even how the children themselves have been forever changed by their horrific ordeal. And it's quite understandable why one of the young ones poses the question: Have the SS officers turned into wolves? As the animals attack with bloodthirsty intensity.

You won't get familiar with any names, but the group of characters are good. And of course there's an unstable member who threatens to endanger everyone more than once. (Is he the metaphorical werewolf?) The psychological and physical effects of past imprisonment has worn these children down, but they combine their wits when the dogs lay siege to their decrepit shelter, and there are a number of tense sequences and savage attacks, some of which are done in slow motion quite nicely.

Overall, 'Werewolf' is a solid, unexpected treat. The acting and cinematography is faultless, and it contains a thematically rich narrative that keeps you engaged even when it settles into a more straightforward horror groove.

7/10.