The film itself is very up & down, while overall good. It takes a solid 30+ minutes before the basic premise even gets somewhat going; while it's not bad at all..a few things keep it from being really good... below are some areas of the film i grade out for you.
Werewolf/Monster - Let's be real, THIS is what made us all click PLAY. Thankfully, a ton of love, & work went into this beast, & it shows. The werewolf looks really good! It's not "Werewolf in London" or "Bad Moon" quality amazing ...but it's actually as good or even better than some decent werewolf films. It's better than those in "LATE PHASES" so it's somewhere between that film, & Bad Moon, monster quality wise. It's also thankfully PRACTICAL! It's not CGI, which 100% would've made this film a total waste. The expressions on its face even move & change, it's way more than a guy in a rubber mask, & you'll appreciate it!!
Kills - Solid. Nothing that'll gone down in history, but they are good enough!
Rap soundtrack - no clue why they used so much rap music in this, but it doesn't fit the theme, any characters, or anything to do with the film at all...my guess is the creators were promoting some artist(s) they knew...still, very WEIRD, bad choice...I'd have preferred no music at all to the rap.
Lighting - while it's mostly fine, some scenes have very bizarre, almost "art house" style lighting...such as scenes that have a massive amount of either blue, or red. There is no reason for these colors to be there either..just an odd choice...because 90% of the film is shot and lighted very top notch.
Acting - This is the most up & down area... some of the actors are just fine, to pretty good...but sadly, around half of the cast is just not very good. The main guy, (August) & the main woman (Cheyenne) are both very solid. The best friend, (Stan?) the Priest, (he's the only one most will recognize) & the boss (Brian) are all good enough to pass. But the other 5+ cast members are all below average, & one reason that hurts the film is that you know within the first 10 minutes who is going to be there at the end, & who are just there to be killed off...
Story itself - I suppose it's not horrible, but I could've thought of about 5 better situations to use a werewolf of this quality in...even being trapped in a building/warehouse would've been (while less original) probably a better setting. This is a very rare case of "original isn't always better". But I guess it does the job...it's just that the fact that it's built around a video game launch means pretty much zero to the film. One BIG issue I can't understand...(NOT a spoiler, because it's literally the first thing they show us...) is we know who survives, because he/she is telling the story of what happened, as well as a quick little pointless line that gives away who the werewolf is BEFORE THE TITLE IS EVEN SHOWN!!!!! (You find out both before the 3 minute mark)
Tone - Its fine I guess. Due to the lighting, & the low quality of some of the cast, there is not a feeling of dread/terror or anything gritty, or dark. Also, there are some areas that I THINK were supposed to be comical? But it's not really a horror comedy imo. Yet, the lighting, & script & music don't allow it to be a dark, brooding, gritty horror that'll scare you. It's very similar to the TONE of "American Werewolf in Paris" ...the cheap, not very good sequel to "American Werewolf in London"...but it is a better film than, Paris...they just have that same colorful, not very serious tone. Not at all like, "Late Phases" "Bad Moon", "The Howling", or even "Van Helsing"!!
Pacing - This is one area it lacks...while it doesn't ruin the film, it's pacing is not great, & early on it's all over the place... this film is NOT deep, so why it was such a slow burn for the first 30-35+ minutes, I can't say...but it would've been so much better had we gotten to the point around the 10-15 minute mark. All the characters are introduced explicitly by our narrator ("this is _____ & their job is______") in those freeze frame introductions youve all seen. Which is another reason we didn't need 35+ minutes of buildup. You could literally watch the first 5 minutes of character intros, then skip the next 30 some minutes, & miss almost nothing at all. This is a shame, because the film isn't even 90 minutes to begin with.... my guess is that they used all the filler build up to get to at least an 80+ min. Runtime.
Overall - I complained a lot, but was just trying to give a real review ... overall it's pretty good! For what it is. It's not really scary, it's more of an action horror. I guess I'll say this... IF you LOVE werewolf films, you'll likely really enjoy this a good amount!! IF you don't care for werewolves or even monsters, then you're actually NOT going to really enjoy this. This was clearly made by someone with a passion for werewolf films, & for those who also love them. It will make my list of top 50 werewolf films, likely somewhere between #25 - #20 ish.
