Here's a welcome sight - a low budget movie with big budget ideas! I had heard bits and pieces about independent filmmaker Kevin Lindenmuth so it was with great interest that I took my first dive into one of his films...'Rage of the Werewolf'!
The story goes that an asteroid has collided with the moon and edged it slightly closer to earth, the consequence being that large numbers of the population have become hybrid werewolves! This is a problem for the old school pure werewolves that have grown over generations. Two of those old originals, brothers good guy Jake and evil twin Lazlo are at odds over the situation. Lazlo has ideas of taking control of the new breed and overthrowing what's left of the human race, whilst Jake just wants to get on with life in that good guy kinda way!
'Rage of the Werewolf' is an entertaining mixed bag of genre viewing that manages to mix elements of Dawn of the Dead, the Howling and 50's sci-fi schlockers to good effect. Lots of great use of location filming and a highly impressive script make this a fun viewing experience. Lindenmuth and Marotta have done a sterling job with the script with some amusing wry dialogue throughout and some rollicking set pieces.
Sure, it ain't a perfect ride - some of the location shoots leave the audio less than desirable (a bit more time in post production would have helped) and the werewolf effects are very reminiscent of the old 50's B movie style and will have most folk chuckling out loud, which ain't a bad thing if (like me) your a fan of those old gems.
The bulk of he leads put on a good show also with kudos going in particular to hero-wolf Jake (Santo Marotta, who has lead written all over him), his naff-wolf sidekick Ralph (great fun performance by Tom Nondorf) and there's a cool cameo by the ever gorgeous Debbie Rochon also.
What impresses most about this production though is the boundaries of low budget filmmaking have been completely ignored and we're delivered a great fun (if perhaps schlocky) werewolf sci-fi romp! Check it out!
For more details on 'Rage of the Werewolf', check out the movies cool website by clicking here.
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