Blood of the Werewolf

Ted V.Mikels and Bruce G. Hallenbeck steal the screen in this werewolf anthology.I already have to question myself as far as giving away plot details...aww, here goes nothing. The first segment is as if,Stephen King was a werewolf and could write from his memoirs.This tale is very much like the classic fairy tales of wolves in sheeps(insert- spinsters) clothing.Good makeup,but almost resembled a crazed ScoobyDoo(c),instead of werewolf. Okay,Now the second segment is kewl because it has the balls to show the WTC,and not edit it out, not pc.Sasha Graham as a wannabee werewolf turns in one of her weaker performances.This lesbian werewolf was once straight and killed the last man she loved.Makeup rating-umm Kewl Rat and great ending prop. The last segment stars Bruce G.Hallenbeck and written/directed by Joe Bagnardi.Unabashedly the best of this video(Kevin when will we see LindenmuthDVD ?).I think this plot would have helped the new POTA w/Wahlberg...Hmm the acting of Hallenbeck versus Wahlburg,Bruce my money is on you...B-Movie Heavyweight Champeen.

Every Full Moon I do like to watch a werewolf movie, I went into this one expecting it to be bad but I wasn't prepared for just how painfully awful a film could be. This is an anthology with three stories and a flimsy wrap around. First up we have a horror writer, quite a good looking chap, go back to his small childhood town because he is still in love with his childhood sweetheart, a very unattractive young woman it has to be said called Jane who has a dark (and obvious secret). This was the best of a very bad bunch. Next up is a stupid and probably the shortest story about a lesbian couple, one is a "shapeshifter", the other a human who wants to become one. The werewolf in this one looks like an incredibly bad giant rat! Lastly two hunters, who's faces we don't see until the end (thankfully) chase another man through a forest. Everything about this movie is dreadful - the "acting", the terrible camera work and sound, the "special" effects look like they have been done by primary school kids, the plots and dialogue, and what makes it practically unbearable is the constant electronic and heavy metal soundtrack. The end credits seem to go on forever and that is because they are plugging the various musical artists who supply the tunes, which are fittingly awful. The only half decent bit of acting was Christy Lee Hughes in a minor role as a street prostitute. I have watched thousands of movies and trust me when I say that this is right down there with the worst of the worst, its current 3.6/10 average IMDB score smells a bit fishy to me, don't let that fool you!

It's like this ... you put in the DVD and the most professional-looking thing you see over the next ninety minutes is the logo of the distribution company. And at this point, you know you've just been jerked around.

People are generally trusting enough to assume that if something has been put on DVD, it's going to be of a certain level -- at least financially if not creatively. But sadly this isn't the case. Distribution companies are perfectly happy to throw together DVDs of amateur movies and ship them right out into the stores to await the unsuspecting buyer who is drawn in by the well-designed DVD cover. The weight behind this particular project is most likely independent horror movie pioneer Kevin J Lindenmuth, whose name may be known amongst genre fans since he's responsible for various other low-budget werewolf movies -- "Rage of the Werewolf", "Werewolf Tales" and so on.

"Blood of the Werewolf" is made up of three short independent werewolf stories with no real connection other than the fact that they deal with hereditary shapeshifters. The first segment, "Blood Reunion", pretty much sets the tone for the whole thing ... a man returns to his home town to look up a girl who had a crush on, only to find that her domineering grandmother refuses to let her have relationships with men, and for reasons which are somehow related to a dark family secret. This instalment is poorly directed, poorly directed, and basically nothing superior to what you could throw together yourself with a few friends and a home video camera.

The second story, "Old Blood", is probably the strongest out of the three and is directed by Lindenmuth himself. It tells the story of a lesbian couple, one of whom is a shapeshifter and the other wishes to be given this power. Her wish is granted, but she doesn't become the creature that she envisioned. This short movie shows that Lindemuth has more talent and experience than the other filmmakers who worked on this project, but still not enough to raise it above the level of an amateur movie.

And finally we have "Manbeast", in which some army guy runs through the woods while being chased by two other fellas. They wish to kill him as he has been bitten by the beast and is believed to be dangerous, but all might not be as it seems. This one has an interesting concept, but it's stretched out to be far too long, and if you don't guess what the "twist" is in the first ten minutes then you probably ain't too bright. This pretty much sums up the problem with this whole DVD ... a few good ideas just aren't enough to justify spending money on something like this. After all, would you pay for a picture you could have painted yourself?

I purchased the dvd of 'Blood Of The Werewolf' because I recently got totally immersed in werewolf films due to the recent film, 'Underworld.' However, please note that 'Blood...' is something to view only if you are a complete fan of werewolf films and will see any and every one you can, heaven forbid attempt to own every one, especially this one.

Warning, this film is very poorly done. It is filmed in three 'short story' sections, each done with handheld old fashioned vhs camera recorders, which means the sound is ridiculous and the lighting is non-existent. They're not trying to be artistic in a 'Blair Witch' respect, they're just not professionals. Basically, avoid this and don't waste your time or money unless you are a total werewolf movie buff. There, I've said it again, and in my second paragraph.

Three short films: "Blood Reunion" about some dude (obviously gay) who returns to the hick town he grew up in to find the girl he once loved who is sheltered by a domineering grandmother because of a family 'curse.' "Old Blood," is about a lesbian couple who fight about the one being a werewolf and not wanting to be and the other who wants to be a werewolf but doesn't know what she's getting into. "Manbeast," is a bunch of guys in combat uniforms running around the woods chasing another guy in military fatigues for some reason which we get explained in a twist ending.

There are two main things that make this film crappy. Firstly, the special effects are sooooooo amateur. We're talking werewolf masks. That's it. Just masks. You know, the kind you can get at Halloween USA each year in October. It's not bad enough the stories are not executed in any form. It's like, "Oh! I have a really cool idea for a movie, guys! We'll deal with hereditary werewolf's, throw in some lesbians, get some awesome 80's hair rocker cover band to do some tunes, and get a dvd duplication company to ship it out to stores!" I guess that explains why it costs so little to purchase. It is worth it's price. Ok, secondly, the acting is really bad. I know we've all seen bad acting, but this is high school level bad acting. I can't imagine any of these people actually being in a feature film except as an extra perhaps and even then, they'd need an agent, right?

What IS good about this film? Well, maybe only the tiny bit of information about lycanthropy which is relayed. Granted, it's all just mush mush the writers have put together from other films. If you know absolutely nothing about werewolves this would give you some idea, but really now, there are many more real films that get it all done much more professionally. This movie tries to convey a complexity that isn't there and never makes us care for or understand any of the characters. We can't really because it's so bad it's not even pretentious, which could draw the viewer in on a camp level. And geesh, does everyone have to be so darn unattractive?

I watched this in pain because I felt it was my duty to do so and warn everyone curious about owning this film to not do so unless you hear voices in your head telling you to own every werewolf movie you can. You could rent it if it's even available, but I doubt it since it is rather low end on the pole, and see for yourself. You may be so inspired by the stupidity you witness you will go out with your digital camera and make your own movie, which would be certainly better than this boring trash.

From the blocky digitised footage to the acting that makes Keanu "I'm so wooden I could be a Plank me" Reeves look like an Oscar winner this film bites (pun not intended). The best thing about it is the box of eRATicate in the 2nd segment (which out of the three seemed to be the strongest piece in terms of storyline and 'twist'). Wish I'd spent the £3.99 it cost me on something else, like erm.... Natural Born Killers: Directors Cut. If you do buy this, you're really in for a disappointment, do yourself a favour and avoid it like the plague. If you're looking for something amateurish and with actors that are more wooden than a 2x4 then go ahead. However if you want some quality werewolf action look elsewhere, like Dog Soldiers, Wolfen, Romasanta:The werewolf Hunt.