Monsterwolf

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.

What a stellar performance by Griff First. I really can't believe he wasn't nominated for best supporting at the Oscars. Well I have all the confidence in him to keep on plugging away at these all important roles that have such depth and character. This character wasn't much of a stretch for him though. I mean a mullet wearing dude who likes to get high is right up his alley. As a true Trump supporter and Louisiana resident redneck this wasn't much of a stretch for him either. There's no doubt that he will go far in the Hollywood industry. A real chip off the old block. I see a best actor award soon.

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.

I just finished watching this on the Sci Fr Channel. Needless to say, I have insomnia. The channel has made and broadcast several awful films over the years. However, some of them are so awful, they're fun. This one is about some kind of native American werewolf who is awakened when an oil drilling company tries to buy land from a tribe in southern Louisiana, then breaks its word and drills without their consent. This one turned out to be above average for that network. The special effects are surprisingly good and the actors are competent. Also the script is slightly more logical than usual for these people. I also got a little bit of local flavor, with the scenery and music being good enough. I'm not saying it's a good film. I'm certainly not recommending it. But it was a few notches better than most of their work.

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"!