Film Review: WEREWOLVES WITHIN (2021): A Hilarious Werewolf Whodunnit by the Director of “Heart Eyes”

Werewolves Within Review

Werewolves Within (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by Josh Ruben, written by Mishna Wolff, and starring Sam Richardson, Milana Vayntraub, George Basil, Sarah Burns, Michael Chernus, and Wayne Duvall.

We’ve had a slew of bad-to-mediocre werewolf movies lately. This year saw Blumhouse’s The Wolf Man, the third movie to hold that title and reboot to the ancient Universal Monster’s property, with its attempt to explore paternal trauma and rural isolation through the eyes of a conflicted, imperfect father becoming a werewolf. Though boasting some interesting filmmaking and an earnest, if somewhat hackneyed script, The Wolf Man fell short in the ways many middling Blumhouse movies do, with its abrupt editing, low budget, and general lack of ambition letting it down. The end of last year gave us the Frank Grillo starring Werewolves, another low-budget werewolf flick that, while this reviewer enjoyed it, was a ridiculous schlock-fest that threw logic and what legacy there is in the werewolf subgenre out the proverbial window.

Which brings us to the subject of this review, a movie from four years ago, Josh Ruben’s Werewolves Within, based on the VR game of the same name. My purpose in highlighting this obscure movie is simply to point out that the past decade has been very good to the oft-neglected and unloved werewolf, whatever Taylor Lautner fangirls may have told you back when Twilight was a thing. Josh Ruben, hot off his first movie, 2020’s indie-hit, Scare Me, an excellent movie in its own right, took the basic premise of the video game, where the player is made to deduce who in a typical fantasy village who the werewolf is, altered the setting to a small, snow-covered town, filled it with bizarre, idiosyncratic characters straight out of Twin Peaks, and cast Sam Richardson (I Think You Should Leave and Detroiters), setting the stage for a rather unusual horror comedy, another subgenre that’s really been surging lately.

Sam Richardson’s Finn Wheeler is assigned to the sleepy town of Beaverfield as a forest ranger, quickly meeting and befriending Milana Vayntraub’s Cecily Moore, the local mail-woman, playing the part of pathfinder for our hapless, insecure ranger with adorable aplomb from beneath her large, warm hat. Comedy stereotypes are swiftly introduced: wacky blue-collar workers; a stern environmentalist lady, in town to assist in a protest against an oil pipeline being built that threatens to destroy the town; a rugged, animal fur-draped survivalist with signs posted all over his property, threatening to shoot any interlopers; and others, all of whom add their own wrinkles to the character of the town. While this might sound trite and even predictable at first glance, the script is witty and bursting with fun, and Josh Ruben’s direction keeps things moving along at a brisk pace.

When a local dog is killed by some mysterious animal, a mangled body is found, and a generator is destroyed, the movie really hits its stride, with Finn attempting to man up and figure out who or what is stalking the town; is it the stately environmentalist, trying to spook the evil industrialist out of his investment in the town? Is it the rich villains trying to stifle any pushback? Is it the frightening hunter, Emerson, having contracted an infection in the wilds? Could it be Finn himself, with director Josh Ruben trying to pull one over on the audience? No spoilers here, but if you’re a perceptive viewer, you’ll likely see the answer pretty early on.

Josh Ruben’s sophomore effort, despite not hitting it big at the box office, has the makings of a cult classic, filled with memorable characters and bizarre moments. Sam Richardson clinging to his dying, long-distance relationship as Milana Vayntraub makes puppy-dog eyes at him is a dynamic that more movies desperately need, and it’s hard to believe the two of them aren’t bigger stars. If you have Shudder, it’s parked there, just waiting for you to watch it.

Rating: 8/10

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