Werewolf by Night (2022)

Werewolf by Night (2022)

A medium-length film classified under: Action / Fantasy / Scary / Horror
It runs for 54 minutes.

On a dark night, a secret cabal of monster hunters emerge from the shadows and gather in a sinister temple after the death of their leader. In a strange and macabre memorial, the participants are thrust into a mysterious and deadly competition for a powerful relic – a hunt that will ultimately bring them face to face with a dangerous monster.

It’s a great, fun romp!
A little gory, but it’s also a Marvel horror.
After Blade the Vampire, now we have our Marvel werewolf!
A quick look back in time:

In the 70s, there was: A Monster at Full Moon – Always a Hero!
This collection contains Marvel Spotlight (1971), Marvel Team-Up (1972), Tomb of Dracula (1972), Giant-Size Creatures, Gigant-Size Werewolf, Marvel Premiere (you name it) and extracts from Monsters Unleashed.

In the 1970s, Marvel published some of the most fantastic and popular horror comics of all time, bringing to life many archetypes from horror literature and film. Alongside Dracula’s Inferno, of course, was WEREWOLF BY NIGHT, one of the outstanding series of its time that broke all genre boundaries. PANINI was proud to present this classic in French for the first time in a tear-jerking edition, with all the evocative and surprising stories in chronological order, directed by comics legends such as Gerry Conway, Marv Wolfman, Doug Moench, Len Wein, Mike Ploog, Don Perlin, Gil Kane and Ross Andru. Jack Russell carries the curse of the werewolf. Although he often transforms into a hairy beast at night, Jack does a lot of good in this monstrous form. For between America, France and Transylvania, there are many monsters lurking in wait for the innocent, and sometimes only another monster, with fangs and claws, stands between man and a nightmarish fate.

Beast & Protector
But even as Jack grapples with his wild nature and makes the most of his heritage and burden, there are many who would chain the wolf, cage him, exterminate him or use him for even darker purposes, from wizards and gunslingers to cultists and the murderous Hangman!

In addition, the werewolf encounters superheroes Spider-Man and Iron Man as well as the brutal mercenary Moon Knight. And while Jack battles Dracula in his family’s ancient homeland, a duel with the bellringer of Notre-Dame takes place in Paris. In addition, Jack and Tigra confront Hydra, and even Frère Vaudou dances with the wolves. Frankenstein’s monster and the living vampire Morbius (one of Spider-Man’s enemies) also cross his path. Later, the Beasts, Morbius, Ghost Rider and Man-Thing reunite for the first time under the name Legion of Monsters.

That’s all the information you need about this werewolf character. I know, it’s a lot of information and I haven’t read everything I’ve mentioned. But I’m off to the film!

I think there was a black & white version the year before, but I haven’t seen it. If I’ve understood correctly, this is a colour mastering or something. It’s not bad at all, no big surprises and maybe not too interesting, but I enjoyed myself. I can understand why so many people didn’t like anything about these 52 minutes (not counting the credits), which are not at all well-known.

As for the actors, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of them in other films, but they’re pretty convincing. Laura Donnelly is fabulous in this role (reminiscent of Jessica Jones played by the fabulous Krysten Ritter). She was in the very nasty Terror (2009) and in a number of series such as The Nevers or The Fall, with the brilliant Gillian Anderson in the lead role, as well as the Outlander series and the Beowulf series.

Of course, this little film wasn’t a hit. People are probably fed up with superheroes and werewolves and think that this format is justified by the paucity of its script, which is just as haphazard. This story of monsters and monster killers (with their studied diversity) who kill each other may seem totally grotesque and pointless. I can absolutely understand that! What’s more, it’s clear from the outset who’s going to come out on top – you don’t need to be a great detective.

It’s the story of a group of monster hunters who get together to honour the memory of one of the hunters who has died, and also to find out who will inherit the bloodstone, a necklace used for… who knows what!

To do this, they have to hunt a monster with the necklace attached. Whoever kills the monster wins the necklace.

All right! A monster hunt that goes haywire, you’d think there’d be nothing less original than that. As for the special effects, they’re not bad, it’s Marvel Studios after all, so that’s to be expected! But there’s nothing visually impressive either, and it’s a bit the same for the sets, even if the cinema is beautiful.

Conclusion: relatively entertaining, though fairly predictable and not really original. What’s probably more original is that it comes from Marvel Studios, for those who aren’t familiar with all the comic books.