Wednesday, December 18, 2024

SHE WOLF RISING (2016) ½ *

Tiffany Shepis stars as Gina Sklar, a washed-up Scream Queen. Jake (Timothy Mandala) is an obsessive fan boy who thinks he hits the big time when he meets her in a convenience store.  She then ropes him into a scheme to retrieve a copy of her latest film.  Little does he know she’s actually a monster. 

She Wolf Rising is a mess.  Scratch that, it’s a big mess.  Actually, you know what?  It’s a big fucking mess.  There’s just no other terminology to describe it. 

From the awkward flashback structure to the random scenes from Gina’s movies to the pointless dream sequences to the slapdash plot, it is simply all over the map.  Shepis tries to keep things together by being her usually sexy self.  However, it’s a losing battle when the film borders on incoherence at nearly every turn. 

Consider the fact that Jake sometimes wears glasses and acts nerdy and other times he doesn’t.  Why?  I have no clue.  I honestly don’t think the filmmakers did either.

The music video montage of footage we just saw moments earlier adds to the cobbled-together feel.  To make matters worse, it takes forever for Shepis to turn into a monster, and when she finally becomes the She Wolf, she looks more like a hairless pig woman than a lycanthrope.  (It takes even longer for her to remove her top.)

Even worse, when the movie should be over, it isn’t.  It then descends into more film-within-a-film nonsense and continues twenty minutes past its expiration date.  There are also cameos by other Scream Queen favorites like Tina Krause and Debbie Rochon.  Sadly, they are completely wasted, which is infuriating to say the least. 

Overall, this just feels like a giant missed opportunity.  Shepis is a fine Scream Queen.  She would make a terrific She Wolf if given the proper material.  Too bad She Wolf Rising never rises to the challenge. 

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