Werewolves Within is a hilarious take on the whodunnit genre
By Mads Lennon
Werewolves Within should appease anyone who is a fan of Knives Out or other similar whodunnit films. While billed as a horror-comedy, the Josh Ruben-directed film based on the Ubisoft VR game of the same name is more of a comedy than it is horror. Werewolves Within puts its own spin on the classic cabin-in-the-woods story mixed with a murder mystery straight from a classic game of Clue.
Set in the fictional town of Beaverfield, a friendly (sometimes to a fault) newcomer named Finn (Sam Richardson) arrives to start his new job as a park ranger in the snow-covered town and immediately meets a vibrant, colorful cast of zany characters.
Among the cast is the adorable mail delivery person Cecily (Milana Vayntrub); a gay couple played by American Horror Story star Cheyenne Jackson and What We Do In The Shadow‘s Harvey Guillén; a redneck couple; the grief-stricken innkeeper; a woman whose beloved dog becomes one of the murderer’s early victims; an environmentalist; and a hermit/mountain man who hates all of them and prefers keeping to himself.
The colorful cast of Werewolves Within makes it worth watching
Unbeknownst to Finn, he’s just arrived on the heels of a murder, something that won’t be discovered until a little further into the story. The beginning is all about setting up the main cast of characters, who are easily the biggest draw to the story. The jokes don’t always hit, but it’s incredibly fun to watch such a varied assortment of people get trapped together at the local inn after a storm knocks the power out and blocks anyone from leaving town.
To make matters even worse, Finn discovers deep, claw-like marks on the generators in town, signaling that there might be a monstrous creature stalking them all.
Once it’s established that people are dying, as their numbers start to dwindle one-by-one, the plot starts moving along, culminating in a pretty bonkers and twisted ending. Overall, Werewolves Within is a fun romp even if it’s not exactly scary. That said, it’s gorier than you might expect with a few moments that might genuinely shock you.
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Werewolves Within will open in theaters on Friday, June 25, 2021, and then arrives on digital rental and video-on-demand on Friday, July 2.