The Beast
by Peter Dukes
Werewolf films I feel are quite a rarity nowadays. That's not to say werewolf films aren't being made, but they are uncommon next to all the ghost films that are out there. The most recent pure werewolf movie I've seen was 2005's Cursed. Thinking past that, then it's probably Dog Soldiers and Ginger Snaps. All of which I really liked. So, when I saw the opportunity to watch the short film The Beast, I jumped at the chance.
Jacob, a young boy who is afflicted with werewolf-ism, is tied to a tree in the woods every full moon by his father and uncle. At some point, the father improperly tied Jacob down and he escaped and killed a friend of both the father and uncle. This has put a strain on the brothers' relationship, the uncle believes they should kill the boy and the father of course just wants to protect his son. While tying up the boy, the brothers begin fighting and the father is knocked out. However, because of the fight, Jacob was never properly secured. Jacob kills his uncle and his father must choose whether to fight or let his son live.
What I liked about this film is how concise and to the point it is. It doesn't beat around the bush and lets you know that Jacob is a werewolf from the beginning. The entire movie is like a tug of war between the father and uncle with Jacob caught in the middle. The lack of other characters speeds up the process of progressing the story. The creators could have showed the whole Jacob escaping and killing that man, but they chose not to. That would have just bogged down the very streamlined story, this isn't a film about a werewolf. It's film about a family literally being torn apart by a member of their family who is a werewolf.
It's a very simple plot but free of extraneous details allowing the story to be told in twelve minutes. The less is more technique is applied even to the use of special effects. You barely see the werewolf, all you see is a close-up on the face and the entire body in silhouette. The director clearly was aware of the budget constraints and what they were capable of versus what they needed to deliver to satisfy an audience. Just by seeing the face the viewer can create a mental image of the rest of the werewolf. That allows them to focus the budget in more places rather than spreading it thin over an entire werewolf costume. The silhouette uses a similar effect with the furry head and ears being enough to let the viewer know they are being confronted with a werewolf. Upon close inspection it appears the werewolf is wearing clothes but since it's primarily in shadow it doesn't matter because details aren't visible. I'm sure the mask as a whole doesn't look very convincing but with a few well-placed light and camera tricks, it becomes phenomenal.
My biggest annoyance though, came with the ending. The man must choose between himself and his son. It's not an uncommon way to end a movie. However it all ends the same way, at the last possible minute they choose themselves. What's even stranger is that it's even more closely similar to the ending of Ginger Snaps. Bridgitte had been trying to do everything to save her werewolf sister Ginger the entire movie, but when it comes to the point where Bridgitte is staring certain death in the face, she chooses to fight and kills her sister. Similar thing in The Beast. The father is fighting for his son the whole movie and when it comes between dying at his son's fangs or life, he chooses life. I think I would be more forgiving if that ending wasn't already used in a werewolf movie.
Overall, I really liked this film. It knew how to mask its weak points with simple tricks. This extends to the make-up effects too. The acting was surprisingly good, I'm used to feature length horror films having terrible actors, so I expected a short film to have even worse. To my complete and total surprise, they were all good. Well, the kid was the worst but I guess experience comes with age. I had some minor problems with sound design, like the werewolf growl wasn't menacing enough, it sounded more like someone's pug growling. My biggest concern was the ending of the movie, it's not to say it was a bad ending, it's just been done before. I do like werewolf movies, I wish there were more feature length ones. However, this particular film works because it's a short film. Maybe there will be a good concise werewolf flick one of these days. I'll be waiting for that full moon in the meantime.
Billy Wayne Martin, HMS