Film Review: WEREWOLVES WITHIN (2021): An Entertaining but Predictable Horror Comedy

Werewolves Within Review

Werewolves Within (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by Josh Ruben, and starring Sam Richardson, Milana Vayntrub, George Basil, Sarah Burns, Michael Chernus, Catherine Curtin, Wayne Duvall, Harvey Guillen, Rebecca Henderson, Cheyenne Jackson, Michaela Watkins, Glenn Fleshler, Patrick M. Walsh, Annie Krueger and Ritz.

Werewolves Within, directed by Josh Ruben, is a horror-comedy film set in a small town called Beaverton. This film has a good cast with solid turns by both leads Sam Richardson and Milana Vayntrub. Female lead Vayntrub will be a familiar face to most as she plays the character of Lily on the hilarious AT&T commercials. She gets her movie career going with her quirky performance in this new movie while Sam Richardson makes for a likable leading man. However, after about fifteen minutes, you may be able to guess exactly where the movie is headed.

Enter Ranger Finn (Richardson) who arrives in Beaverton in order to supervise the pipeline construction that is taking place in the small town. Businessman Sam Parker (Wayne Duvall) is behind the idea to build the pipeline. Finn meets a female mail carrier named Cecily (Vayntrub) who proceeds to let Finn in on all the town’s people’s secret lives. Finn is in an odd kind of long distance relationship with a woman but finds himself strangely attracted to the offbeat Cecily as she shows him around town. When a song is played on the jukebox, it stirs up some feelings between the two characters until Finn’s phone goes off which ruins the moment. Cecily gets mad and storms off.

The catalyst for the plot is a snowstorm which brings the key characters of Beaverton together but not before some people have turned up dead. The culprit seems to be a werewolf at large as Dr. Ellis (Rebecca Henderson) is setting out to verify. When the characters end up trapped in the local inn, all hell breaks loose as the characters try to get to the bottom of what is going on in the town and why people are winding up dead. It would also help if the identity of the werewolf could be discovered as well. The key suspect is a big guy/loner called Emerson Flint (Glenn Fleshler) who seems to be everything a werewolf is supposed to be but if it were that simple, there’d be no movie.

It’s no surprise this movie is based on a virtual reality video game. It reminded me of the board game Clue as well in that there are characters who come together and one of them is most likely a killer. I made a guess about 15 minutes into the movie about what I thought would happen in Werewolves Within. I kind of made the assumption as a joke while I waited for director Ruben to unveil his plot. This film is rolled out in the way I had expected but with so many twists and turns that it becomes easy for the viewer to anxiously await the identity of the werewolf. When I got to the film’s ending, I was disappointed that the identity of the werewolf turned out to be exactly who I predicted it would be. All the hints are there at the film’s start and I think any viewer would kick themselves for not figuring it out. The music on the jukebox early on in the film is even a hint.

With that being said, there are good things to be said about Werewolves Within. Sam Richardson is quite likable as Ranger Finn, the nice guy who seems like he always finishes last in love. Vayntrub is terrifically charming in her mail carrier outfit and has some funny one-liners. Richardson and Vayntrub’s onscreen charisma is like a well oiled machine as all the other characters carry on about who they think the werewolf really is. The supporting cast in this film does what it’s supposed to do. The small town characters are able to keep the pace moving and two yoga studio owners played by Harvey Guillen and Cheyenne Jackson are the highlights of the supporting players.

A movie like this is, ultimately, only as strong as how much it can surprise us with the identity of the werewolf. On that regard, the picture disappoints. If you are looking for sheer entertainment value, you will find there is much of that to be found here. Werewolves Within is a noble effort by director Ruben who, if nothing else, has brought Milana Vayntrub on to the silver screen. She’s a movie star, for sure. Thank you, Josh Ruben.

Rating: 6/10

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