Big Bad Wolf (2006)

When was the last time you had fun watching a straight werewolf flick? The last time I had fun was Dog Soldiers. It was a little cheesy, but entertaining from start to finish. Well, I just finished Big Bad Wolf, and, while it is nowhere near the caliber of film that Dog Soldiers is, it sure as hell entertained me from start to finish with cheesy dialogue, a decent looking villain, generic story, and gore and boobs. What else could you possibly expect from yet another low-budget entry into the werewolf sub-genre? I can’t say I was hoping for much, and what I got was at least enough to make me not feel like I wasted an hour and a half of my life.

Rating:

A werewolf attacks and demolishes a group of hunters in the woods. One man, Charlie, survives only to see his brother get his leg ripped off and die of blood loss. Flash forward a few years and we’re now following Charlie’s nephew, Derek. He’s the geek that just wants to fit in, so what does he do? He tries to get into a frat by offering to use his stepfather’s cabin for a weekend of partying and sex. Things don’t go so well and everyone except for Derek and his friend Samantha ends up dead. They have a sneaking suspicion that Derek’s stepfather may be more then just an asshole and things go from bad to worse when the stepfather finds out that the teens know about his secret. Several more dead bodies later we’re given a balls-out low-budgetfest of action and suspense (if that’s what you want to call it).

Let me get this out there, right now. Big Bad Wolf is not a great movie. It’s not even very good. It’s got decent production values, but the acting, camerawork, music, and gore are mediocre at best. So, why did I dig it so much? Because, writer/director, Lance W. Dreesen, gave me an entertaining film that didn’t take itself seriously at all and made the most of what it had to work with. Huh?

Well, the werewolf itself actually looked pretty cool. They took away the elongated snout and made the beast look a little more human. On top of that, it talks. Yes, this werewolf actually speaks, and when he does it’s always some cheesy dialogue reminiscent of Jack Frost’s snowman (not the one with Michael Keaton). Not only does the werewolf actually kill and torment his victims, but he also rapes the women (there’s nothing quite like watching a jock bust into a room only to see his virginal girlfriend being screwed from behind by a big hairy werewolf). Yes, this werewolf is extremely versatile, and while he may not be anywhere near as terrifying as the wolves in Dog Soldiers, he is fucking hilarious and doesn’t shy away from tearing open his victim’s face.
That said, the gore is all there: decapitation, impalement, burning, hell they even threw in a little nightmare sequence a la Nightmare On Elm Street complete with cheesy jump awake ending. They don’t skimp on the red stuff either. Every time someone dies, the shit just flows. Arterial spray, pools of blood; whatever you want, Big Bad Wolf has it.

It’s not really even worth going into in a movie like this, but three of the main characters: Derek, Samantha, and Derek’s Mom are all pretty likeable and make it easy to root for them. The evil stepfather/wolf is easy to hate. The annoying kids from school that want to use the case of his dead frat buddies to further their own carriers are quite annoying. Hell, this movie thrives on stereotypes. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all, and you can tell who’s going to die and who’s going to live if you’ve seen at least one cheesy 80’s slasher film.

Overall, Big Bad Wolf is a great time killer. Grab a six pack, get some friends together and have a good time. An entertaining B-flick like this should not be viewed alone, because, well, why not share the wealth? If you like your horror with a bit of 80’s flair thrown in, Big Bad Wolf is you. Turn off your mind and laugh. That’s what I did.