In 1985, a fun little flick called Fright Night was released. It was part of a wave of horror / humor hybrid films involving vampires that were popular during my childhood. My personal favorite in that cycle - Lost Boys - would come out soon after Fright Night, but I suspect that many filmgoers who came of age in the 1980s like me have fond memories of Fright Night as well.

In Fright Night, a teenager obsessed with horror movies named Charley becomes convinced his new neighbor is a vampire, and indeed he is. Girlfriend and obnoxious best friend in tow, he gets the reluctant assistance of a has-been movie host (played by the late Roddy McDowall) to vanquish the menace wreaking havoc in his community. It's an amusing film that proved popular enough to warrant a sequel with the uncreative title Fright Night Part II a few years later.

Now, why am I focusing on Fright Night in my review of Never Cry Werewolf?

Well, basically, Never Cry Werewolf is just a blatant redux of Fright Night with some minor rejiggering. Never Cry Werewolf's protagonist is now a female teenager named Loren (played by Nina Dobrev). Her new neighbor is a werewolf instead of a vampire. And, she gets help from genre vet Kevin Sorbo (from the Hercules and Andromeda television series) who, appropriately, plays a has-been television actor. Otherwise, you've got the same mix of annoying teenagers and not-very-frightening horror movie mayhem that Fright Night provided, except its humor is lame.

Never Cry Werewolf is released unrated, but horror hounds shouldn't be misled - despite some rapidly edited bloody sequences, this film has a decidedly made-for-television feel to it. The special effects are pretty lousy and get worse as the movie unfolds. Jared the werewolf, for instance, has a demonic dog companion that transforms into a laughably bad CGI creature that looks like a reject from the first Resident Evil film. [And why does the werewolf have a crummy name like Jared? I kept thinking of the spokesperson in all those Subway commercials - talk about a bad name.] Loren, our plucky heroine, has a punk boy who's in love with her, and he gets transformed into a half-werewolf in the second half of the movie - his "mask" looks like it could have been purchased at Wal-Mart.

Never Cry Werewolf's saving grace is Kevin Sorbo, who provides some much needed comic energy as Redd Tucker, the washed-up actor who ends up helping to save the day. Unfortunately, his role isn't as large as his placement in the cast list would suggest, and it takes a long, long time for his character to finally arrive.

Ultimately, Never Cry Werewolf never really rises above the sanitized horror hijinks one might expect from a television production. It's not completely awful per se, but only completists would really want to seek it out. If you haven't seen the original Fright Night, that would make a much better pick.

The DVD

Video:

Never Cry Werewolf is given an anamorphic widescreen presentation. A slow pan of the small town location after the opening credits best reveal the limitations of the image, as it's fuzzy and full of artifacts. Details throughout the film could be better, the color seems a tad muted, and some minor video noise is present.

Sound:

The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track, on the other hand, is much better. Dialogue and music are well-presented, even if the mix itself isn't very dynamic. There don't seem to be any subtitle options.

Extras:

When the disc is played, trailers automatically precede the main menu for Anamorph, How to Rob a Bank, Something Beneath, and The Hive. There is no link to these trailers in the menu system, although there is a link to the trailer for Never Cry Werewolf.

And that is it for extras.

Final Thoughts:

Never Cry Werewolf reworks elements of Fright Night to make an uninspired horror comedy. Kevin Sorbo adds some life to the proceedings in the second half, but ultimately this film would only be of interest to horror film fans who want to see everything released in the genre. If you've never seen Fright Night, watch it instead of this imitation.

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