Nerdly » ‘Werewolf Game’ VOD Review

28th Jan2025

‘Werewolf Game’ VOD Review

by Janine Pipe

Stars: Tony Todd, Robert Picardo, Bai Ling, Lydia Hearst, Teala Dunn, Cara Claymore, Tim Realbuto, James Crittenden, Tabitha Jane | Written by Jackie Payne | Directed by Cara Claymore, Jackie Payne

Adapted from the adult party game of social deduction, created by Dimitry Davidoff in 1986, Werewolf Game is a death-game, horror mystery film. Twelve kidnapped strangers must play a game where they vote on who amongst them to murder. At night, the “werewolves” hidden among them come out to brutally kill one of the 12 “villagers” in return. The days repeat until one winning group remains.

Werewolf Game, directed by Cara Claymore and Jackie Payne, is an ambitious concept for a writing/directing duo who don’t have a ton of experience under their collective belts and whilst that does show, they deserve kudos for getting this feature greenlit and over the line, all with an absolute horror icon on board in what would be one of Tony Todd’s (Candyman, Final Destination) final performances.

The idea itself isn’t new but is fairly solid and when done well can be very effective. It’s a bit like an adult version of the kid’s game Murder Wink where you have to guess who the werewolf is, cast your vote and the person with the majority of hits against them each day dies until someone wins the game. And just so you know up front and don’t get confused or excited to watch this as a triple billing with Werewolves and Wolf Man – there are NO actual lycanthropes. This is a mystery film, a battle of wits, more The Hunger Games than creature feature.

So is this movie any good? Despite a decent concept, it isn’t five star but if you go into it with the expectations one should have when viewing an indie, low budget, made on a tight schedule, when the blood, sweat and tears of the cast and crew are poured into every scene at every stage of production just to get this film finished then you can appreciate it more and should judge it on those perimeters. And with that in mind, Claymore and Payne have done well.

There are a couple of faces you may recognise alongside Tony Todd like Robert Picardo (Star Trek: Voyager) and Lydia Hearst (Z Nation). The rest of the cast – several who have worked together with Claymore on the TV series Asher – are solid enough with the material they are working with. Because of the size of the cast, we don’t really spend sufficient time with any of them to care too much when one gets eliminated but there’s adequate banter and conspiracy theories batted around by the group as they grow suspicious of one another and form alliances to keep you interested enough to continue watching until the end.

Part of me wonders if they had planned for an 18/NC-17 rating and gone to town on the kills with a ton of gore and practical FX then it could have been better, Battle Royale style and level of violence rather than The Hunger Games but that might not have been what Claymore and Payne were after and of course, well-executed gags are neither cheap nor easy.

In summary, Werewolf Game is worth a watch if you’re a fan of elimination game stories, a horror spin on something like King of Killers if you will. So if you like that concept then definitely give this film a try.