Comment

Dec 17, 2014Nursebob rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
To his credit director Joe Johnston does try very hard to elicit the gothic chills of the 1941 classic (or all those wonderfully bad Hammer Horror spinoffs); his 19th century English moors are appropriately misty, the decaying family estate suitably bedecked in cobwebs and the local gypsies straight out of a comic book. Rarely has a full moon been imbued with such bright shiny malevolence. But it quickly gets bogged down under the weight of its own sense of grandeur as Johnston overindulges in shadowy lighting and smoke machines. The awkward dialogue, clearly meant to establish a dark and brooding atmosphere, is delivered without passion by a cast who seem uncomfortable with their characters, especially the village full of stock yokels. The CGI effects are about what you'd expect although the gore is a bit tame for my tastes, and the monster itself is passable if not exactly horrifying (personally I've always found werewolves to be rather sexy...must be the hair). The film's ending, in which we're threatened with a sequel, will have you reaching for a silver bullet.