Wes Craven has made some of the best horror films of all time. This is not one of them.
Re-teaming with SCREAM writer Kevin Williamson, this supposedly tongue-in-cheek werewolf movie is predictable, cliché and cheesy. Craven does the best with what he has and the flick is never boring, but the script is clunky. Ellie (Christina Ricci, SLEEPY HOLLOW) works on THE CRAIG KILBORN SHOW and takes care of her teenage brother Jimmy (Jesse Eisenberg, ROGER DODGER). Their parents are dead and Ellie has been having trouble with her boyfriend Jake (Joshua Jackson, TV’s DAWSON’S CREEK). She feels her life is cursed, which is the theme of the film even though it’s not dealt with in any really interesting way. (Having to work with a smarmy jerk like Kilborn is really being cursed I guess.)
One night on the way home, Ellie and Jimmy are in an accident with another car driven by Becky (Shannon Elizabeth, AMERICAN PIE). In trying to save Becky, Ellie and Jimmy witness her mauling by a werewolf and are infected. Like all nerds with new superpowers Jimmy uses his new werewolf skills to woo hottie Brooke (Kristina Anapau, CRUEL INTENTIONS 3) and seek revenge against jerky jock Bo (Milo Ventimiglia, TV’s GILMORE GIRLS). Ellie sniffs around for food and inadvertently attracts men like Scott Baio (HAPPY DAYS), whose caddy PR rep Joanie (Judy Greer, 13 GOING ON 30) is trying to get her client on THE CRAIG KILBORN SHOW.
The plot tries to twist things around, but it never works. The humor in the SCREAM series works, here it’s really lame and often groan inducing. The dialogue is the worst area of the film. The “serious” dialogue comes off sappy and laughable.
Ricci and Eisenberg are good, but don’t have much to work with. The visual effects work on the werewolves is good in close-ups, but weak in wider shots. In the end, the film is just an average, disposable horror flick that doesn’t revamp the werewolf film in anyway. Check out GINGER SNAPS if you want a solid modern werewolf take and leave this one for late night on the SCI FI Channel.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
