The inclusion of the words “Reshoot Crew” during the end credits of a movie will always ring some pretty loud alarm bells. By the time the unfortunate viewer has endured the cinematic Mogadon that is SKINWALKERS, however, the credit wont come as a surprise. The kind of ennui-inducing slip that manages to somehow be boring and busy at the same time, this Lions’ Gate (who should know better) release crept out in US cinemas earlier this year to be greeted with the kind of reaction normally reserved for the discovery of a fresh cat turd on your starter plate in a family restaurant. At its European premiere at Fright fest in London the majority of the audience jumped ship in the first half, leaving behind a bored set of faithful viewers either too drunk to move or too sober to get any unintended mirth from the film’s lameness.
Remember when werewolf movies used to be fun and – here’s a novelty for you! – actually feature werewolves doing werewolf-type things like killing people under the light of the full moon and waking up naked covered in blood the next morning? SKINWALKERS is enough to sound the death knell for the werewolf sub-genre for good and the only thing that can be said in its favor is that, by default, (or, more specifically, the existence of BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE), it doesn’t quite earn the un-coveted title of Shittiest Werewolf Film of 2007.
Styled more as a western than a horror movie, this film from JASON X director James Isaac attempts to create a new lycanthropic mythology but, in the absence of any new ideas of its own, steals wholesale from the estimable NEAR DARK and the already-derivative UNDERWORLD franchise. It wastes decent character actors like Elias Koteas and Kim Coates and manages to be so dull that not even the ever-hot presence of Rhona Mitra can be considered sufficient motivation to tune in.
Young Matthew Knight is fast approaching his thirteenth birthday, an occasion that marks a significant time for two warring werewolf clans. The half-breed child is a key figure for both those who need him to end their curse of being a “skin walker” forever so that they can be human again, and those who want their kind to be “beasts” for eternity. The appearance of a red moon heralds the imminent fulfillment of either prophecy, but only Knight holds the key to deciding which comes true.
There are plenty of explosions and slo-mo shootouts throughout SKINWALKERS, though any faith in the movie’s status as an action-horror flick is dumped on from a great height during the sequence in which an old woman engages in John Woo-style two-handed gunplay. Given the fact that this movie also showcases werewolves on motorcycles, it’s alarmingly self-serious.
Stan Winston Studios have contributed some off-kilter werewolf designs that aren’t without interest, but there’s nothing of note for said werewolves – um, skin walkers – to actually do. Some mild gore shots and music video style lycanthropic sex fail to spice up yet another PG-13 rated “horror” movie that wouldn’t scare a very tepid fly. One significant contribution to genre history is, however, made by this movie : it features the daftest, most feeble false scare ever to (dis) grace a silver screen.
– Steven West
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
