20140316: Horror Review--Darkwolf

Darkwolf

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American live action feature length film, 2003, rated R, 93 minutes, horror.
2. IMDB: 2.8/10.0 from 1,305 audience ratings.  Approximate budget: 2.5 million USD.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 'No score yet,' and 20% liked it from 1,619 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 2.8/5.0 from 27,868 audience ratings.
5. Directed by: Richard Friedman.
6. Starring: Samaire Armstrong as Josie, Ryan Alosio as Steve Turley, Andrea Bogart as Stacey, Sasha Craig as Anna, Aaron van Wagner as Tom, Jamie Bergman as McGowan, Alexis Cruz as Miguel, Beau Clark as Wayne, Rick McCallum as DarkWolf, Steven Williams as Hartigan, Tippi Hedren as Mary.


2. Setup and Plot
1. Hartigan and a plainclothesman apprehend a suspect and load him into a paddy wagon to get him to jail.  That does not work well.  Both policemen are killed.  Hartigan's partner Steve gets a new partner, McGowan, who gets ravaged soon after by the same suspect.


2. While investigating near the pub where the murders occurred, Steve meets the old lady Mary, and the waitress Josie.  Mary tells Steve about the DarkWolf and about the DarkWolf's designated mate.  So, Josie is the mate that DarkWolf is looking for, and she will be going through some changes that very night.


3. Soon after DarkWolf wounds McGowan, he wounds Mary mortally.  Before she dies, she tells Steve that he needs to read this giant book that she has with her.  When the ambulance arrives, Steve forgets the book and attends to McGowan.  One of the  dancers, Stacey, snags the book and takes it to a photo shoot.  Josie was to be at the shoot.  While waiting for her, Stacey shows the book to the makeup guy Miguel and photographer, Tom.  There are lots of illustrations.  They paint Stacey and Anna (full body) in the style of the book, and start taking photos of the two models as they dance.


4. The book, of course, should have been in Steve's hands to study, so that he could help Josie through the troubles she was about to experience.  Instead we get a lot footage of gratuitous painted naked ladies.


5. The DarkWolf is also attracted to the book, so the people at the photo shoot are in danger as well.


6. Will Josie make it through the transformations?  Will the DarkWolf attain his goal? 


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: Poor cinematography and sound complement bad acting and screenplay.
2. One star of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 2/10 Some very bad SFX.  Odd camera angles, sudden switches to closeups of very bad werewolf masks, some shaky camera.  The SFX of the DarkWolf in four-footed mode are particularly poor.


2. Sound: 4/10 The actors are often poorly miked; the voices are often hollow or overdriven. In some segments, the music is looped with an overlay of moans, gasps, and groans.  One might as well be watching an adult film.


3. Acting: 2/10 The two leads, Samaire Armstrong and Ryan Alosio, are particularly poor at delivering lines.  When Samaire Armstrong tries to sound authoritative and commanding, she sounds screechy and ineffective instead.  It was nice to see Tippi Hedren again, but her role was rather abbreviated.


4. Screenplay: 2/10 Awkward dialog.  Strange story told in an odd, unconvincing way.  Lots of gratuitous skin that has little to do with the main plot lines.  Way too many poor werewolf jokes.