As a general rule, I’m pretty much guaranteed to watch anything provided it has a great title. And with a title like Dances with Werewolves, how can you lose? The most surprising thing about it is there’s a legitimately good movie hiding inside the cheesy title.
Cassie (Aqueela Zoll) runs out on her abusive boyfriend and heads to Los Angeles to make a fresh start. There, she winds up getting entangled with Darcy (Tatiana DeKhtyar), a madam who goes around the city turning hookers into werewolves. Meanwhile, Jay Nightraven (Omar Paz Trujillo), a Native American paranormal investigator and his sexy assistant/girlfriend (Lauren Parkinson) try to get to the bottom of a rash of murders committed by the streetwalking skinwalkers. He then tries to cure Cassie of her lycanthropy, but of course Darcy comes looking to retrieve the lost member of her pack.
Written, produced, and directed by the team of Donald F. (Dinosaur Valley Girls) Glut and Dan (Timegate: Tales of the Saddle Tramps) Golden, Dances with Werewolves is more straightforward and serious than the jokey (but admittedly great) title would suggest. It sort of plays like a low budget riff on Bordello of Blood, but with werewolves instead of vampires. It’s pretty amusing too, all things considered. While there could’ve been a little more T & A (there’s more A than T) and gore (we do get a decent gut ripping scene though), I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m especially glad they used practical effects for the werewolf women as spandex outfits covered with crepe hair will always be sexier than something that came out of a computer.
The cast is particularly strong, and the women characters are well written. DeKhytar is great as the sexy and assertive werewolf woman. Zoll gives more layers to her character than was probably necessary, and Parkinson proves there’s more to her than just a token girlfriend. Jacqui Holland and Madeleine Wae have their moments as well as the hookers who are under Darcy’s spell. Phantasm’s Angus Scrimm (in his next to last role), Skinamax siren Debbie Dutch, and Feast director John Gulager round out the fine supporting cast.
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