Saturday, April 4, 2020

Skinwalkers





Skinwalkers
2007

Director- James Isaac
Cast- Rhona Mitra, Jason Behr, Elias Koteas, Natassia Malthe, Kim Coates, Sarah Carter, Tom Jackson, Matthew Knight
            
     This werewolf movie takes its name from the Native American term for lycanthropes.  In this film, lycanthropy is not cause by being bitten by a werewolf but rather is something passed down by blood. As long as the afflicted never feeds on human flesh they are able to control themselves, except during the full moon when they must be locked down. However, if an afflicted person ever does feed, they are changed forever.  The beast inside of them takes over and they develop a lust for violence.
           

     An ancient prophecy tells of a half breed boy who, on his 13th birthday, on a blood moon, will be able to “cure” the curse. The skinwalkers are divided into two camps; those that want to be free of their curse and those that revel in it.
            
     Rhona Mitra plays the mother of Timothy, the young boy in question. She is a mortal and the nature of her son (and his missing father) has been hidden from her by the in-laws. Now, on the cusp of his 13th birthday, a pack of evil ,leather clad, gun toting, biker, werewolves have finally tracked the boy down. He is protected by his uncle (played by Elias Koteas) and the town locals. It turns out that the entire town is filled with pistol packing werewolves and a shootout ensues. The truth about the boy is revealed to his mother and the survivors must go on the run from the evil werewolves, hoping to hold out and protect the boy until the prophecy is fulfilled.
            

     

     The movie is not perfect and has some flaws, but there is a lot to recommend it, especially for werewolf fans. The creature effects were by Stan Winston so you know they’re good. The werewolves were done with good old fashioned make-up and appliances (though there are some places where it looks like the eyes were CGI). The director James Issac knew a lot about working on special effects movies, having worked on the effects for films like Enemy Mine, Gremlins, Deepstar Six, The Fly and Return of the Jedi. He also directed the futuristic Friday the 13th, Jason X. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much chance to hone his craft as a director. He died from cancer in 2012.
            
     There is also a good cast full of recognizable genre favorites. Rhona Mitra starred in Beowulf, Doomsday and fought werewolves again the third Underworld movie. Elias Koteas was in the Sataninc detective story, Fallen and played Casey Jones in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies. Jason Behr, who leads the evil werewolves, starred in The Grudge and the TV show Roswell. Kim Coates, who plays one of the evil werewolves, has been in about million things but horror fans may recognize him from the brilliant horror-comedy Innocent Blood. Of special note is Natassia Malthe as the female member of the evil pack. In human form she’s bad ass sexy and her werewolf form has a very striking make-up. Genre fans make recognize her from any number of lower budget movies including the 2nd and 3rd installments of the Bloodrayne franchise.
            
     The script has some holes and the finale has a few silly looking Matrix jumps, but the movie delivers entertainment and does so quickly. I can really only fault the film in one area. For taking the name Skinwalkers, there aren’t many Native American looking cast members. Was Wes Studi booked or something? If you want a well thought out, subtle story, best move on to something else. If on the other hand, you want something different, or you used to play Werewolf: The Apocalypse, you’ll probably enjoy this film.


Fun fact- Though this is a werewolf movie, three of the actors have played vampires in other films; Rhona Mitra, Natassia Malthe, and Kim Coates.
 




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