Werewolf By Night (2022) Dir: Michael Giacchino
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Over the last two years, my interest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has dwindled at an ever-increasing rate. The constant stream of releases and lack of unique filmmaking make it harder and harder to enjoy, or care about, their various phases and films.
So when I heard about this, I initially had no urge to watch it. However, upon learning it was supposedly going to be different, this 'Special Presentation', as it is called, garnered at least a moderate level of intrigue in me.
Directed by Michael Giacchino, the film set itself apart from the immense cluster of Marvel creations with immediacy, thanks to its use of an almost exclusively black and white and Grainy filter, which suited the film's premise wonderfully.
At just 54 minutes, this also succeeded in attracting me to it because it would not be another grandiose and seemingly never-ending spectacle.
I've seen many call this a 'love letter to classic horror' - I would not venture that far, however, there are definite feelings of homage towards that very genre.
It's an enjoyable, if not overly special, creation. The story is rather self-contained and has no major connections to the established MCU - which I appreciated, to be honest.
Gael García Bernal is one of two key characters here. At times, he felt very endearing, although, at others, there seemed to be some distance between he and the audience.
Laura Donnelly, being the other protagonist, plays a character who is more symptomatic of the typical Marvel character. Unfortunately, this made her a little less to my personal taste. That said, her performance itself was still quite good.
Other actors worthy of mentioning are Harriet Sansom Harris and Kirk Thatcher, who both stand out from the rest of the supporting cast quite effectively with a pair of memorable performances, particularly Thatcher.
Overall, this was a reasonably interesting hour long piece with distinct classic horror vibes, but, in my mind, fails to be more than a rather insignificant, if still enjoyable, short film that left little more than a vaguely positive impression upon me.
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