Film Bites: Universal Prepares To Unleash WEREWOLF: THE BEAST AMONG US

The first trailer for WEREWOLF: THE BEAST AMONG US, Universal’s latest attempt to reboot THE WOLFMAN, has clawed its way online. You’ll find it and a new plot synopsis below but don’t get too excited. What’s below is one of the most painful examples of franchise exploitation I’ve seen in quite some time.

Let’s break this down quickly and painfully, shall we?

1 ) Universal is rebooting THE WOLFMAN …again. This comes less than two years after the Benicio Del Toro reboot bombed big time at the box office. How badly did it bomb? Flick made 139mil worldwide off a budget of 150mil. Oh and did I mention it was nearly a decade in development and the official listed budget is probably well under what Universal actually spent on it? Yeah, remaking THE WOLFMAN is a bad idea and yet Universal did it again…

2 ) …under a different title. Can somebody explain to me how changing the iconic title THE WOLFMAN to WEREWOLF: THE BEAST AMONG US and replacing A-listers like Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, and Emily Blunt with D-listers Stephen Rea, Steven Bauer, and Nia Peeples is a good idea? Doesn’t changing the title, the only thing indicating this is a legit reboot, defeat the purpose of this flick? Doesn’t it just make this into yet another cheap DTV werewolf pic? I’m confused. I thought that if you are going to reboot a property, you have to stick with the title that indicates it is a reboot. That seems like the logical choice, but…

3 ) …none of that matters when you’ve hired Louis Morneau to helm your movie. This guy is the king of the shitty direct-to-video sequels. Have you seen THE HITCHER II: I’VE BEEN WAITING? How about JOY RIDE 2: DEAD END? What about CARNOSAUR 2? Okay, maybe CARNOSAUR connect doesn’t matter much because the first film was a stinker, but the other two are prime examples how NOT to sequelize/reboot an established property.

Long story short, hiring Morneau and the title to WEREWOLF (why didn’t they just call this THE RETURN OF THE WOLFMAN or WOLFMAN: THE BEAST AMONG US?) guarantees this is nothing more than a blatant cash grab designed to line Universal’s coffers this Halloween.

PLOT SYNOPSIS: A monstrous creature terrorizes a 19th Century European village by moonlight and a young man struggles to protect his loved ones from an unspeakable scourge in WEREWOLF: THE BEAST AMONG US, Universal Studios’ all-new addition to its time-honored legacy of classic monsters. During his studies with the local doctor (Stephen Rea), Daniel (Guy Wilson) witnesses the horrific consequences of werewolf attacks. Watching as the beast’s fearsome reputation draws bounty hunters, thrill seekers and charlatans to the tiny town, Daniel dreams of destroying the ruthless predator. So when a mysterious stranger (Ed Quinn) and his team of skilled werewolf hunters (Stephen Bauer, Adam Croasdell) arrive to pursue the monster, he offers to join them, despite his mother’s (Nia Peeples) protests. But it soon becomes clear that this creature is stronger, smarter and more dangerous than anything they have faced before. As casualties mount and villagers see their neighbors transformed into ravening monsters, the townsfolk take up arms against each other to find the true identity of the werewolf. Amid the hysteria, Daniel begins to suspect he’s closer to his target than he ever dreamed.