Animals

Animals is a werewolf movie for adults – combining sex and gore in equal measure. The film is based on the successful 1992 novel by John Skip and Craig Spector - the latter is partially also responsible for the script.

With a strong cast that includes Marc Blucas (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Naveen Andrews (Lost), Nicki Aycox (Supernatural), Eva Amurri (Californication) and a director who is responsible for Highlander: Endgame; a great deal of quality is guaranteed and also delivered.
Where things are less successful, however, is in the “This story is a reinvention” department, since combining shape-shifting with bold eroticism (be it werewolf or vampire) has been portrayed in film before – several times in fact. In addition, the shape-shift special effects towards the end are so poor it’s almost laughable. Utterly digital, the fully transformed creatures seem – stylistically - completely out of place with the rest of the film. The werewolves in The Howling or An American Werewolf In London (both from 1981) are more convincing and scarier, and they was created long before the digital CGI-revolution!

Ever since his goal of becoming a successful footballer were shattered by an injury sustained in college, Jarrett (M. Blucas) has wasted his years in dead-end jobs in his rapidly dying hometown – spending the evenings in the local bar feeling sorry for himself. However, things are about to take a turn for the steamy and bizarre, namely when a beautiful and mysterious stranger called Nora (N. Aycox) passes through and decides that henceforth, Jarrett shall be the object of her desire. Shortly after his night of passion with Nora, Jarrett is overcome by primal impulses he can’t seem to control.

This sudden change in Jarrett’s personality concerns his best friends, especially bar owner Jules and barmaid Jane (E. Amurri), who has a secret crush on him. Soon, the very word ‘concern’ takes on a completely different meaning when Nora’s former lover Vic (N. Andrews) arrives seemingly out of nowhere. Jarrett is about to find out that Nora and the volatile and predatory Vic share a terrifying bond that will change his life forever…

All of the cast are excellent, but particularly Naveen Andrews as the bad guy and Marc Blucas as the good guy keep the tension high. I just wish that scriptwriters would finally steer away from the usual horror film clichés, like frying or devouring a slice of raw meat when some film extra got dismembered in the previous scene. Been done in The Howling, been done in Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula, been done here. Yawn.
Speaking of Extras, the DVD contains the trailer