Director – Kurtis Spieler (No Remorse for Bloodshed)
Starring – Ria Burns-Wilder (Gut), Bryan Manley Davis (The Hunt with John Walsh), and Zach Gillette (The Angry World of Brian Webster)
Release Date – 2013
Rating – 4/5
Tagline – “Would you kill a man to kill a monster”
It’s not often that I feel lucky but this week I have felt pretty fucking lucky. Not because my wife finally put out or I won a scratch off ticket. I feel fucking lucky because I was able to review two werewolf flicks in one week. The first I was able to check out was the short End of the Road. The short was pretty fucking brutal but was way too short. The film would have been one that would be hard to beat if it was an actual full length film.
The next werewolf flick up for review is one of the new releases from Unearthed Films. The film was originally completed in 2013 but was not released on DVD until recently by Stephen Biro and his Unearthed label. The release was handled by my friends over at MVD and they were kind enough to hook me up with a review copy.
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows a business man who is given a letter from an intern. Once she leaves he opens it and it says “we know what you are!” He leaves and is grabbed by someone wearing a pig mask. He wakes up in an old warehouse tied to a chair. A group of people is staring at him and then their leader speaks. He tells him that his sister was recently murdered and he knows the business man was secretly seeing her.
The way in which she was dismembered makes the authorities believe it was an animal attack. They also found another victim in a town he just happened to be in for a business trip and both attacks took place during a full moon. The business man pleads with them to let him go and tries to convince them they are wrong but when the moon is full things get hairy for everyone involved.**Spoiler Alert**
Werewolf flicks are known for getting straight to the point with simple stories and usually tons of gore. Very few werewolf flicks are character driven mysteries that leaves the viewer guessing until the very end. Sheep Skin did just that and quickly became one of my favorite indie werewolf flicks of the last 10 years.
The acting in this one is decent. The film has a small cast and uses that to their advantage to keep the scenes tight. The cast works very well with each other and it shows. They have great chemistry with each other and the story hinges on their performances which they nail.
The story for this one is not your typical horror film. The film flows a lot like Reservoir Dogs meets Dog Soldiers. We get a great opening that establishes the characters and develops are lot of backstory for the viewer. The film does drag on a bit once we hit the halfway mark. We expect carnage and it never arrives. Then we hit the third act and the film goes the way we expect. We get the fucking blood. The film was written very well but the middle needed a little more substance…or meat.
Finally, the film has several on screen kills. Sadly, you have to sit through the entire film to get to them. The kills are bloody and very well done. The special effects are great and the werewolf looks amazing. Sadly, you only get to see the beast for just a few seconds. This was a bit of a let down. Overall, Sheep Skin is the werewolf film horror fans deserve. It was well written, has a solid cast, and delivers the blood. Check it out or skip it for a some theatrical bullshit. Either way I don’t care. I saw the film and it kicked ass. Will you?
