- Release Date: 07/10/2022
- Platform: Disney + Hotstar
- Cast: Gael García Bernal, Laura Donnelly, Harriet Sansom Harris
- Director: Michael Giacchino
‘Werewolf by Night‘ is a Marvel studio special that I learned about only a couple of days before its release on Disney + Hotstar. It was screened during a major film festival in the US where it garnered an overwhelmingly positive response. Even a critic like Chris Stuckmann, who lives and breathes horror was forced to admit that the worst aspect of the film was its meager 52 minutes runtime. He wanted it to be longer and wanted to stay in the world in the company of the characters as he enjoyed it so much. He was confident in his review that if the film continued to garner the same kind of positive word of mouth, it would merit a full-length feature film with the same character in the future.
The story unfolds in a fictional world where monsters exist and terrorize people. A group of men have taken it upon themselves to rid the world of these monsters. One family that leads this pursuit of the humans is the Bloodstone family which has in its possession a stone that is not only flaming and blood red but also gives it’s master otherworldly powers to detect, expose, and fight with different monsters. The patriarch of the Bloodstone family is dead and it is time for the family to choose the new master of the stone. The process is simple. Hunters from around the world gather in the mansion of the Bloodstones and take part in a ceremonial hunt. The hunter who kills the monster in question before the others win the right to possess the stone. Among these hunters is one who is there with his own agenda that may not be restricted to just possessing the stone.
I had a great time with this film and I agree with Stuckmann that this could easily have been a full-length feature as there was still so much to explore with the characters and the world. The film is shot in black and white and it tips its hat to the monster films of the bygone era. The look and feel are so reminiscent of old black-and-white Hollywood monster films that it brings with them a distinct charm that is associated with the memories of all those films that hold a special place in our hearts and mind. The technique is not used for the sake of creating nostalgia but is used effectively to aid the storytelling, characters, drama, visual presentation, and most importantly the copious amounts of violence and bloodshed that is on display and is a far cry from what we expect from a Marvel film. I would love Marvel to go this way and probably create a monster verse based on its characters that are similar to what we experienced here.
This film is rendered so effective also by its effective performances. The protagonist Jack Russell played by Gael García Bernal is very likable and is the kind of man that you want to win in a film of this nature. You know that the man has a different agenda and things that are said about him during his introduction never feel real but the turn that the character takes, in the end, came as a surprise to me as I had no priors with the character from the comics. I believe that will be the case with most of the Indian audiences who have very little knowledge and priors with the comic series on which the film is based. I loved the simplicity that Garcia Bernal brought to the character as it not only elevated the character and made it that much more likable and shocking but also helped drive home an important message involving men and monsters — Not all men are good just as all monsters are not bad.
Laura Donnelly as Elsa Bloodstone was equally good. She has a completely different reason to be a part of the hunt. She has been missing from the family for a long time and for that reason she is forced to fight for the bloodstone when it should have been hers by inheritance. She is abused by her mother and there is a constant surge of desperation in her to prove that she is worthy of the stone that drives her actions throughout the film. This makes her an interesting adversary to Jack and the host of other characters who are in it for the stone just as much as they are in it for the carnage.
The action and violence of the film are well done and captured with vitality and gusto. As mentioned before, the carnage and the bloodshed are unprecedented for a Marvel film. I believe that they were able to show so much bloodshed for the simple reason that the film is in black and white and it neutralizes the repulsive feeling that the red color of blood brings to a scenery. The hand-to-hand combat sequences were done very well and are shot in long takes where you can see the action unfold in its entirety as the perfect shot angles and distance from the subject are chosen and incorporated.
As mentioned before, the black-and-white color palate is not just used for the sake of evoking nostalgia. If one looks closely, the sets and the production design are also created to complement the color scheme and remind us of the famous monster films of the yester years. Since this film unfolds in a period that must have been at least close to the 1920s and 1930s, the aesthetic choice of using the said color scheme and production design choices proves to be in the best interest of the film.
Halloween month is the best period to release this film and I am glad that marvel is finally beginning to try something different to breathe some life into its dying portfolio of films and series that look like turkeys, feel like turkeys and end up being turkeys. Werewolf by Night will be an interesting, entertaining, and absorbing watch for the fans of the genre.
Rating: 3.5/5 (3.5 out of 5 Stars)
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