Feel pity for the low budget horror comedy. Not only does it have to be scary, but it
also has to make you laugh; it’s not easy to do either. Evil
Dead 2 nailed it where many others have failed. Shaun
of the Dead hits the funny bone, has a nice bit of gore but doesn’t try to
scare you. An American Werewolf in London balances mirth with mayhem like a
professional but in general, horror comedies tread a too thin line between
making us feel fear and making us chuckle; one is just bound to cancel the
other out.
Following successful efforts of the last few years such as Tucker & Dale vs Evil, Rubber and Cabin in the Woods, comes a Spanish entry into the comedy-horror
hybrid genre. Re-titled from the
original Lobos de Arga into Game of Werewolves (why?) and
then finally to Attack of the Werewolves (does what is says on the tin),
this film is almost as confused as the people tasked with giving it an English
title.
Beginning promisingly with an explicit graphic novel style
introduction featuring plenty of sex and death, the film then flashes forward
to commence with the story of Tomás (Gorka Otxoa). The animated opening sets up a small rural
village and a gypsy curse that befell it a hundred years ago due to some raunchy
hanky-panky and gratuitous murder. In
the present, Tomás is a writer from the village
of Arga who left when he was fifteen
to live in Madrid
and is now returning for a celebration in his honour. On arrival, Tomás learns that he has actually
been invited back to the village so the locals can spill his blood and finally
lift the curse.
The early scenes are slow and sadly humourless before the
pace picks up, the sinister locals show their true colours and the film
transforms into a jolly romp featuring more werewolves than you can shake a
stick at (or throw a stick for, as one character tries to do). The film fails spectacularly to approach
scary but the comedy does emerge as the quirky characters find themselves under
increasing threat.
The interplay between Tomás, his literary agent Mario and
his old best friend Calisto is occasionally very funny with the relationships
being strained even as the werewolves multiply. Their methods for dealing with the dangerous situation are comical at
best, and silly at worst, but do raise frequent smiles. Watch out for a great scene involving
alcohol, severed fingers and a dog.
The introduction of new characters comes a little late in
the game but one in particular, the Guardia Civil (Luis Zahera) manages to make
a memorable entrance and despite limited screen time, gets the big laughs. It’s a shame he wasn’t introduced earlier.
The make up and effects are refreshingly old-school with the
werewolves being quite impressive creations and the inventive gore being very
effective. The transformations are
skilfully shot and edited resulting in a package that often looks better than
its budget deserves.
It’s just a shame the film takes a while to get going and
the gag rate is so hit and miss. With a
title like Attack of the Werewolves you know what to expect and if you’re just
after a bunch of old-school hairy beasts that aren’t created through hideously
bad CGI or turning into bare-chested pretty boys like Taylor Lautner every five
minutes, then this might just be the film for your Saturday night with a
six-pack. Then again it’s Spanish and
subtitled so you might want to take it easy on that six-pack.
