HINDSIGHT IS 2020: WEREWOLF ISLAND (2020) ***

Ben (Dennis Marin) and Lilly (Kara Joy Reed) sneak onto a supposedly haunted island for a secluded romantic getaway.  After doing the deed, they are attacked by a beastly woman and barely escape with their lives.  Ben’s Uncle Mike (Michael Alexander, who also wrote and directed) is a detective, and he steps in unravel the mystery of their attacker, the seemingly supernatural “Dog Lady”.  He consults a historian (Dan Zarembski), a local authority on the island, who is all too eager to tell him about its sordid past.

Werewolf Island is the sort of the movie Charles B. Pierce used to make as it mixes fact with fiction.  The film’s original title, The Legend of Dog Lady Island, even has that old timey Pierce feel to it.  (The poster art is even reminiscent of ‘70s regional drive-in fare.)  Like Pierce’s work, it is filled with flashback vignettes and recreations of crimes that happened decades ago.  The first flashback takes place during the French and Indian War, the second finds a gangster attacking a family in their home in the ‘20s, and the final one is about a gang of bikers assaulting a family in the ‘70s. 

For the kind of budget they were working with, the flashbacks are surprisingly strong.  The French and Indian War sequence (which features T.J. Storm as a Native chieftain) is ambitious and works a lot better than you might expect.  The acting is a tad on the amateurish side during the present-day scenes, but the actors in the period sequences manage to effectively portray their characters in a genuine fashion.  Because of that, it never feels like we’re watching a bunch of actors playing “dress up”, as is often the case in this sort of thing. 

I usually grade low budget, regional horror movies on a curve, and even then, they usually don’t get high marks.  What is genuinely surprising about Werewolf Island is that it manages to take its mythology very seriously, while still having moments of occasional levity.  While there are a few choice gory scenes, Alexander favors suspense over cheap shocks.  He also takes the time to create atmosphere and gives us characters we care actually about, rather than handing us a bunch of annoying characters that are little more than potential victims.  He even manages to inject a bit of tragedy into the proceedings, which I wasn’t expecting.   

I have a feeling there will be a great many who will write Werewolf Island off just on the grounds that the werewolf is not your traditional cinematic lycanthrope, but rather a woman who is possessed by a Native American spirit.  I for one appreciated the twist on the usual legend.  Seeing Native American folklore being used instead of the usual Hollywood version made for a nice change of pace.

I can honestly say Werewolf Island is one of the best surprises of 2020.  It’s the rare low budget horror flick that actually delivers the goods.  Even if it doesn’t have a legitimate werewolf, I can overlook that because the rest of the movie is so well done.  Alexander shows he is a talent to watch.  Not only did he create a few genuinely atmospheric sequences, he also wrote some pretty choice dialogue; my favorite line being:  “It was a gnarly, unreal entity!”

 AKA:  The Legend of Dog Lady Island.