Never Cry Werewolf starts as the hunky Jared Martin (Peter Stebbings) moves into the house next door to teenager Loren Hansett (Nina Dobrey), at first he seems OK but while watching him through a telescope in her room Loren sees Jared kill a prostitute who is reported missing the following day. Slowly Loren comes to believe that Jared is a Werewolf, he has hairy palms & has a big black killer Dog for instance but no-one will believe her. Not her family, not her friend Angie (Melanie Leishman) & neither do the cops. Loren has to go it alone when it becomes clear that Jared thinks she is his dead lover Melissa as the two happen to look exactly the same. Jared kidnaps Loren's brother Kyle (Spencer Van Wyck) in a plan to get Loren to come to him so he can turn her into a Werewolf but Loren arms herself with a crossbow & decides to fight back in order to save herself, her brother, her friends & her town...
This Canadian production was apparently called School Girl vs Wolfman in Japan & had the working title The House Next Door during production this was executive produced & directed by Brenton Spencer who clearly had little ambition other than to make a Fright Night (1985) rip-off, sure the twist here in Never Cry Werewolf is that it changes the menace from a Vampire to a Werewolf but other than that the two are strikingly similar with a little bit of Disturbia (2008) thrown into the mix. There's the teenager who comes to believe they are living next to some monster, here a Werewolf rather than Vampire but the premise exactly the same. No-one will believe said teenager, from friends & family to the authorities. Teenager turns to washed up late night cable TV host has-been, a horror show host in Fight Night while here it's a failed big game hunter but it basically the same in both films. Teenager decides to go it alone in both films & arms themselves with various homemade weapons to kill monster on it's own turf as monster threatens their friends &/or family, look Never Cry Werewolf is basically Fright Night. Period. The script doesn't take itself too seriously & to be fair to Never Cry Werewolf it's watchable & moves along at a decent pace, the character's are likable enough & while it's short on gore & effects I suspect that was down to the budget.
Despite being a nearly invincible Werewolf this film suggest Jared has a fierce Devil Dog thing protect him, it seems a Werewolf a can change whenever they want if they have a charm made out of the skin from the neck of a convicted criminal for no apparent reason & Jared is afraid of a cigarette lighter. The special effects are cheap, the Werewolf effects are of the man in a hairy suit variety & the editing is poor as it's obvious the suit wasn't very good or didn't work properly. The CGI effects are alright, the mutant Dog is OK but nothing amazing & it does still look just like a computer effect. The gore is restrained, there's some blood splatter, an exploding Dog & the Wrewolf puts it claw through someones body but otherwise it's pretty dry. There's attempts at humour, tension & scare which are mildly effective I suppose.
Filmed in Ontario in Canada this premiered on SyFy & then went to DVD, Never Cry Werewolf is better than the usual direct to video fare but could hardly be called great. The acting is alright, Nin Dobrey is cute for sure & she tries, Kevin Sorbo is fun while Peter Stebbings feels a little young for the role of the main villain.
Never Cry Werewolf is an OK film actually, it's watchable enough & even quite fun on it's own merits at times but it is a straight rip-off of Fright Night with a little bit of Disturbia thrown in. Passable but not much more.
This Canadian production was apparently called School Girl vs Wolfman in Japan & had the working title The House Next Door during production this was executive produced & directed by Brenton Spencer who clearly had little ambition other than to make a Fright Night (1985) rip-off, sure the twist here in Never Cry Werewolf is that it changes the menace from a Vampire to a Werewolf but other than that the two are strikingly similar with a little bit of Disturbia (2008) thrown into the mix. There's the teenager who comes to believe they are living next to some monster, here a Werewolf rather than Vampire but the premise exactly the same. No-one will believe said teenager, from friends & family to the authorities. Teenager turns to washed up late night cable TV host has-been, a horror show host in Fight Night while here it's a failed big game hunter but it basically the same in both films. Teenager decides to go it alone in both films & arms themselves with various homemade weapons to kill monster on it's own turf as monster threatens their friends &/or family, look Never Cry Werewolf is basically Fright Night. Period. The script doesn't take itself too seriously & to be fair to Never Cry Werewolf it's watchable & moves along at a decent pace, the character's are likable enough & while it's short on gore & effects I suspect that was down to the budget.
Despite being a nearly invincible Werewolf this film suggest Jared has a fierce Devil Dog thing protect him, it seems a Werewolf a can change whenever they want if they have a charm made out of the skin from the neck of a convicted criminal for no apparent reason & Jared is afraid of a cigarette lighter. The special effects are cheap, the Werewolf effects are of the man in a hairy suit variety & the editing is poor as it's obvious the suit wasn't very good or didn't work properly. The CGI effects are alright, the mutant Dog is OK but nothing amazing & it does still look just like a computer effect. The gore is restrained, there's some blood splatter, an exploding Dog & the Wrewolf puts it claw through someones body but otherwise it's pretty dry. There's attempts at humour, tension & scare which are mildly effective I suppose.
Filmed in Ontario in Canada this premiered on SyFy & then went to DVD, Never Cry Werewolf is better than the usual direct to video fare but could hardly be called great. The acting is alright, Nin Dobrey is cute for sure & she tries, Kevin Sorbo is fun while Peter Stebbings feels a little young for the role of the main villain.
Never Cry Werewolf is an OK film actually, it's watchable enough & even quite fun on it's own merits at times but it is a straight rip-off of Fright Night with a little bit of Disturbia thrown in. Passable but not much more.