Werewolf Rising DVD Release Review

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have our first recipient of the dreaded Turkey award.

Werewolf Rising is written and directed by B.C. Furtney (Do Not Disturb, New Terminal Hotel), who is known for his work in independent films and now also for his bravery in putting his name to this particular production.

This magnificently rubbish effort tells us the story of Emma (Melissa Carnell – Boggy Creek, Humans Versus Zombies), a city girl who returns to her childhood home in the Arkansas mountains after her new life goes sour.

As a recovering alcoholic and suffering from a recurring nightmare about being chased through woods by a strange man, she decides that the best course of action is to move away from the city, to a place where there are both woods and strange men. More on Emma’s decision making processes later.

The very opening sequence of this film gives a good indication of what we may expect later, it all looks as if it could have been filmed in the 1970’s as we first see our werewolf in action, attacking a car jacker and rapist (Bill Oberst Jr. – The Black Water Vampire) in the woods.

Upon arrival at her old childhood home, she is greeted by Johnny Lee (Matt Copko – Harvest Moon, Devil’s Prey), the obligatory escaped convict, and his creepy Uncle Wayne (Brian Berry – Peter Rottentail, Splatter Beach), who just happens to be a friend of the family who has known Emma all her life. He also happens to be by far the worst actor I have ever seen (and there have been plenty of contenders for that dubious honour).

Once settled in, our heroine proceeds to befriend the aforementioned convict, before finding him mutilated and deciding to take him home with her. She also flirts with the lecherous Uncle Wayne and generally spends most of her time falling over. A wise one this. I can’t imagine why she didn’t get on well in the city.

And so to the Werewolf (Taylor Horneman), who is essentially just a bloke in a furry onesie and bat ears. You don’t even really need to run away, if you just laughed at the poor thing it would probably die of shame.

I laughed out loud all the way through Werewolf Rising and usually that would be a good thing, but in this case probably not, given that this is supposed to be a horror film, not a comedy.

And no, just in case you’re wondering, I wouldn’t recommend this film!