‘WEREWOLVES WITHIN’ Blu-Ray Review

IFCFilms has released Werewolves Within on Blu-ray as of December 7, 2021 and we take a look at it to give you our Blu-Ray review!

Movie

Werewolves Within is the horror-comedy/whodunnit mystery with lycanthropy that serves as the follow-up film from Josh Ruben’s Scare Me (which is currently streaming on Shudder). The film stars Sam Richardson (Veep) and Milana Vayntrub (you probably know her as Lily, the AT&T girl). Richardson plays a forest park ranger, Finn Wheeler, as he comes into a new town named Beaverfield to assume a new post. The town is full of quirky characters that vary from right-wing “America First!” nutjobs, a man who is trying to get the town to sign off on a gas pipeline to go through town, a gay couple that includes Harvey Guillén (Guillermo from FX’s What We Do in the Shadows), and even a couple of rednecks to pepper in some variety. Vayntrub’s Cecily is a postwoman who guides Wheeler through the town and the townsfolk. After a member of the town (I won’t mention who) comes up missing, most of the town descends on the local bed & breakfast to group together to try and find the town member. Upon investigation, they realize that they’re dealing with a wild animal or (gasp!) a werewolf.

The less said about the plot, the better. Hell, I would even suggest you not watch the trailer above (if you did, no biggie). While this is Josh Ruben’s second feature film, his television directorial work seems to have helped put him in a position to direct ensemble casts very well. Werewolves Within is a much bigger movie than Ruben’s previous effort, probably thanks to this being an adaptation of a Ubisoft game, but Ruben confidently directs this film like a veteran. Mishna Wolff’s witty screenplay fuels Ruben’s kinetic direction that may remind you of Edgar Wright’s earlier efforts, like Shaun of the Dead. It doesn’t hurt that the film has been edited and aided by sound design transitions that will remind you of this as well. However, it feels like Ruben’s voice and not an imitation of what Wright has given us in the past.

Sam Richardson and Milana Vayntrub are also huge takeaways from the film. The chemistry between them is just heartwarming. It feels familiar yet endearing. Richardson is definitely a star and while I may not be well versed in his oeuvre, I definitely will be checking more of his stuff out because his comedy on display here is on point.

The only negative to some genre fans is there is little horror to be found here. I only say this because the film got the cover of the July issue of Fangoria. While I think the film is pretty well balanced between the genres, don’t go in expecting An American Werewolf in London, the comedy is more prevalent than the horror, not to say that there isn’t blood or some gore. The comedy is excellent, the cast is great and it is a fun little mystery that is stylishly presented.

Presentation

VIDEO

The film looks accurate to its source – which looks to be digital with filmic coloring and not shot & developed photochemically. Matt Wise’s cinematography shines in the film and the video presentation doesn’t detract from that.

Werewolves Within is presented via a 25GB Blu-Ray disc (19.95GB occupied) via a Mpeg4 AVC High@L4.1 codec with 1080p video in the original aspect ratio of 2.39:1. Average bitrate usually lands around 25 to 26Mbps. The film picks up where left off if you hit “stop” on your player or if you power off your player and go back to play the disc. The film is divided into 8 chapters.

Audio

The film has a pretty active audio track with low and sub rumbles as well as surround tracks that flesh out the snowy atmosphere. The sound mix on here can be aggressive at times but feels accurate given modern mix techniques. Overall, the audio is very well rounded and fleshed out in addition to being a bit more advanced than other low-budget independent films of the genre.

Audio is presented via DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz).

Subtitles

The available subtitles are English SDH, Spanish, and French.

Packaging

The disc comes in a standard blue Non-ECO Blu-Ray case and is issued with a standard O-Card slip cover with no specialty printing. Overall, a decent package of the film with the minor complaint of the “Certified Fresh” logo from Rotten Tomatoes printed on the slip instead of a sticker.

Special features

Pre-Roll Trailers

Trailers for The Rental, Relic, and The Death of Stalin do begin before the main Blu-Ray menu. While there is no option that allows you to skip all the trailers, each trailer is a chapter that can be skipped to jump to the menu in a few clicks.

Special Features

Other than that, there are no special features on this disc. For this reviewer, it feels like a missed opportunity as Scream Factory sometimes handles IFC Films titles and I feel that some special features could have been produced and placed on the disc. There could have easily been some EPK pieces explaining how this is a videogame adaptation, the ensemble cast, or a making-of that would have elevated the overall score of the Blu-Ray presentation. If you don’t care about extra features, then you have nothing to worry about. However, I assume that this film will be on some Best of 2021 lists and it’s a shame that the film’s fans cannot explore more into the production given this physical media release.

Blu-Ray Menu

The menu allows two options – “Play Movie” and “Set-Up”. It is a still image for the background with no video, movement or music. Selecting “Play Movie” will obviously play the movie while selecting “Set Up” will give you the option to chose any of the available subtitle options. There is also no option to view chapters or start on a certain chapter.

Purchase WEREWOLVES WITHIN on Blu-Ray

Werewolves Within is available now on Blu-Ray.

The Review

8
Movie
9
Presentation
1
Special Features

Summary

WEREWOLVES WITHIN is a fun movie that, honestly, deserves a more feature-packed release. Worth picking up on the cheap for fans of the film.

Andy Triefenbach is the Editor-in-Chief and owner of DestroytheBrain.com. In addition to his role on the site, he also programs St. Louis' monthly horror & exploitation theatrical midnight program, Late Nite Grindhouse. Coming from a household of a sci-fi father and a horror/supernatural loving mother, Andy's path to loving genre film was clear. He misses VHS and his personal Saturday night 6 tape movie marathons from his youth.

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