We need filmmakers like Josh Ruben. Not only because they actually make fine movies (we got tons of those), but because he bets on the distinct sides of an industry that heavily relies on formula. With only two feature films, he’s managed to convey an intelligent sense into genre filmmaking.
With Scare Me he riskily set out to make a comedy film with horror touches. But in Werewolves Within the odds were definitely higher. Here is a film based on a video game, a horror comedy, and with a subgenre setting that’s far from popular or mainstream.
The result is one of 2021’s best films. To filmmakers out there, pay attention.
The film tells the story of Finn Wheeler (Sam Richardson) a forest ranger who is set to patrol a small, snowy town. In Beaverfield, the population is divided due to a controversial decision to install a pipeline. Also their personalities don’t match.
The arrival of Wheeler matches a horrible set of events. Some kind of animal is wreaking havoc in Beaverfield. When the power goes out due to a heavy blizzard, the habitants gather together to come up with a solution to defend themselves from the creature.
Wheeler becomes a sort of a leader while internal accusations galore. It seems the inner side of the party could be hiding some secrets.
Werewolves Within is a festival of laughs and funny stereotypes set in a creepy snowy setting. And not much happens in the film. It’s a celebration of eccentric characters (the cast is fantastic. Especially Michaela Watkins and Harvey Guillén) who gather to fight a horrible threat they can understand. They’re by the clumsy improbable hero that arises out of nowhere.
Ruben shoots a script by Mishna Wolff that’s based on character arcs that work. The physical comedy, the emotional ups and downs, and the importance of the main character make the film enjoyable. I didn’t want the movie to finish and I don’t say that often.
The director is absolutely confident of what he set out to do from the beginning, and he stays inside that valid framework of irreverence until the end. For Ruben, the amusing tone is a mix of humor and gore that is greatly entwined with the unexpectedness of the script and a great production (the film’s score by Anna Drubich is exactly what it needs to be: sharp and with a subtle humor tone).
We know he does a good job with these movies. That’s a fact. Whether he stays forever inside those boundaries is something to be respected, as the two films Ruben made are clearly remarkable in their own subgenre. It still makes me curious to see what he can do outside of a funny blood soaked environment, or with the Darkman remake he’s so vocal about wanting to make.
G-S-T RULING:
Werewolves Within is a great step in the director’s game. The film’s casting is Ruben’s best resource and he shows it. He doesn’t attempt much in an origin story regarding werewolves, or rules. This is not that kind of film. Instead, we get Ruben’s version of an internal squabble between stereotypes while the town is ravaged by a werewolf. And his objective is clear: keep the focus where it matters and today, it has to do with laughs.
Let’s put this one and The Wolf of Snow Hollow in the list for the best werewolf films of all time. Yes, it’s that good.
