‘Werewolves’ Review — A rip-roaring, ridiculous good time

A review of the new action/horror film, in theaters December 6th, 2024

Stephen C. Miller’s new film Werewolves opens with a few bits of on-screen text. “One year ago a supermoon triggered a global event,” the film tells us. The next screen says, “Over a billion people were affected and violently transformed into werewolves for an entire night.” And then: “Tonight the supermoon returns.” …And we’re off.

This is basically “The Purge, but with werewolves,” and you’re either already sold by that concept or you’re not. Personally, I was immediately sold, especially when seconds after those title cards, The Purge vet Frank Grillo shows up on screen. He’s dressed in a muscle-hugging, sweat-drenched grey tanktop, and he’s playing Wesley, a character whose job title is “Global Rapid Response Team Leader and Lead Molecular Biologist.” It’s a bit like hiring Denise Richards to play a nuclear physicist named Dr. Christmas Jones — utterly preposterous, which is why it’s so great.

Before he heads off to work, Wesley werewolf-proofs his sister-in-law’s house. Wesley’s brave first-responder brother died last year during the first supermoon event, and he’s taken the protection of his brother’s wife Lucy (Ilfenesh Hadera) and daughter Emma (Kamdynn Gary) into his own…