Within the community? Within the house!? Perhaps the werewolves are within each and every one of our dark souls, man…! Or maybe just within the movie.
As a person who likes video games but has never felt invested in being “up” on video game culture, I will often see a title referred to as a “video-game movie” and be taken totally by surprise. There is a connotation there, for sure, that video-game movies are lesser-than, and that has been helpfully reinforced by the general level of quality of movies that were inspired by video game properties. So if I realize a movie is based on a game before I watch it, I usually don’t bother. In the case of Werewolves Within, I found out afterwards (just moments before I wrote this, in fact!), and I’m glad that I didn’t have that information ahead of time. Not only might it have impacted my expectations going into the viewing experience (of which I had none in reality), but I may well have just skipped it altogether for whatever else the algorithm served up that evening. I’m glad I didn’t, though, because I quite enjoyed this quirky horror comedy that puts an extra emphasis on the comedy but doesn’t shy away from the werewolf-y aspects of its story.
The titular game is apparently a Virtual Reality mystery where players try to figure out who the werewolf is, or alternately avoid being found out as the werewolf. It seems similar to a card game I’ve played with friends, or perhaps even the iconic board game Clue. That Clue comparison is particularly apt, since it represents the one example of a “board game movie” that works as a “movie movie”, much like Werewolves Within outperforms its video game pedigree. To be clear, I’m not putting Werewolves Within in the same rarified company as 1985’s Clue, one of the most beloved comedies of all time, but I do think that they work for the same reasons. Primarily, they cast a bunch of talented comedic actors and then bounce a ton of secret backstory and potential motives off of all of them until a reasonable person could suspect anybody as the culprit. Milana Vayntrub flashes the same genial charisma that has made her oodles of money as the face of AT&T Wireless, while clearly relishing the opportunity to go a bit darker and more vulgar as called for by the material. Harvey Guillen (who I will always think of as *cue dramatic Greek accent* “Gizmo!”) and Michaela Watkins turn in great supporting performances as concerned citizens/suspects/cannon fodder. Then you have Sam Richardson, who is my spirit animal. Sam plays the newly assigned forest ranger and ostensible main character in much the same way as his characters on Veep and The Detroiters – overly earnest, naïve, immune to irony. It is a performance I never tire of, so I can’t knock the guy for going back to the same well over and over again. Also, I’d be shocked if the part was not written with him in mind, because it plays to his strengths so specifically. With a strong cast and a central mystery to get us invested, Werewolves Within just needs to execute the game plan to be a success, which it has no problem doing.
I would say give this movie a try. If you are tuned into the comic sensibilities at its core, and you can stomach a little bit of canine-induced massive body trauma, you will enjoy it. That said, comedy is a fickle genre, and I could see this falling flat for some. I think that Richardson is probably your best cypher in this instance – if you are familiar with him, and like his work, then you are probably safe to take a bite out of this one.
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