Arriving in a small countryside village, a controversial detective and his assistant investigates the series of strange animal attacks plaguing the residents that have been claimed to be the work of a legendary creature living in the area and sets out to prove that other factors are the cause.
This was a solid and enjoyable genre effort. One of the better aspects of this one comes from the rather fun setup here about the introduction of the creature into the universe presented here. Showing the treatment he's being subjected to by the rest of the villagers for his unorthodox and outright blasphemous beliefs that conflict with their idea of a proper society allows for a fine setup to his character. That blends nicely into the search for the creature as the series of information we get on its ongoing rampage or the visions of someone warning him away which gives everything here a fun enough setup. That becomes quite fun with the investigation into the creatures' hunting patterns at the woods surrounding the village. Initially relying on those unorthodox tracking tactics and a few somewhat controversial suggestions to carry out the task at hand, the failure and building frustration that boils over becomes the skeptical nature of the villagers. The finale featuring a series of back-and-forth situations involving the actual creature featuring the guilty parties which signal the creatures' appearance for a rather cheesy conclusion that makes for a lot of positive features to hold it up over the negatives. There are some flaws to be had with this one. One of the biggest factors to be had with this one is the overall lack of creature feature action which can make this feel far duller than it's running time would suggest. The few glimpses of genre thrills present during the first part of this one comes from the spirit encountering him in a series of warnings which don't have a lot going on here while leaving so few actual elements it just plods on. The other factor here is a wholly unnecessary ending twist that turns around so much of everything for a cliched, predictable outcome that does this no favors, which overall lower this one on the whole.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.
