The Movie:

In the most recent episode of the NBC comedy Community, Abed assembles several of the members in his study group to participate in a riffing of an old science-fiction movie. While not the most iconic activity of college life, ridiculing bad movies that deserve to be ridiculed has got to at least be up there with drinking games involving movies in the college dorm experience. It's fun and involves swift thinking - and, of course, the crack staff of Mystery Science Theater 3000 developed it into an artform that they still practice to this day with Rifftrax and Cinematic Titanic.

Who knows? In a few years' time, a cinematic train wreck like Neowolf might develop a cult following among folks who enjoy these riff-a-thons. This latest direct-to-video disaster, brought to home video courtesy of Lionsgate, is jaw-droppingly awful - and yet, like the rubberneckers clotting up traffic to catch a glimpse of a horrendous car crash, Neowolf is something that one can't help but look at.

Neowolf follows the plight of Tony (Michael Frascino), a wannabe rock star, and his passive aggressive girlfriend Rosemary (Heidi Johanningmeier). Despite Tony's philandering, Rosemary kind-of sort-of sometimes loves him and wants to be with him. Unfortunately, Tony is seduced to the dark side by a rock band named Neowolf, who drive around the desert in a black bus. Oh, and they're werewolves too. Having been bitten by one of them in a night of passion, Tony goes through a The Lost Boys-style routine where he struggles with his conflicted emotions as he slowly becomes a werewolf himself. Meanwhile, Rosemary seeks help from a sensitive English professor and then a crazed gardener (Veronica Cartwright, very far removed from her 1970's heyday when she appeared in both Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Alien). Lots of lip-synched lounge acts and laughable lycanthropic makeup work ensue.

Folks, I am usually very generous when I review low budget fare. One of my friends once remarked that he knows a movie is really bad when I give it a Skip It recommendation in one of my reviews. I don't enjoy giving that rating. Trust me, however, as someone who has watched more than his fair share of bad horror, Neowolf is unrelentingly bad. It's that type of layered, comical bad, though, that has made films like Space Mutiny and much of Bela Lugosi's 1940's "Poverty Row" output minor cult classics. To put it another way, while I can't in good faith recommend the film, it does have a certain charm to it nonetheless.

According to the movie, Neowolf was directed by Alan Smythe; according to the DVD cover, the director's name is Alan Smith; and according to the Internet Movie Database, Alan Smithee was responsible for this. Alan Smithee, of course, is the oft-used pseudonym for a director who is unhappy with the final cut of the product and doesn't want to be associated with it. Well, whoever directed this mess, I'll give that person some credit for trying to keep things lively. The plot is perfunctory and derivative at best here, but the director utilizes every slow motion shot, camera angle, and editing trick at his or her disposal to hyper-stylize the proceedings. (I actually liked a shot of Rosemary and one of her friends researching Neowolf on the Internet, from a perspective "inside" the computer.) These visual embellishments often just add to the (un?)intended humor as they come across as gimmicky, but hey, it's there. The acting's pretty bad too, but at least it's earnest for the most part in a melodramatic sort of way. And while the actors have to sport some flimsy werewolf hair and makeup, they still jump around semi-nude in werewolf mode with some energy. Oh, and it's great that the valley girl heroine Rosemary dons a camouflage top at the end as she and the gardener go out hunting for werewolves.

People are trying here; lord knows there are plenty of bad horror movies with talent seemingly sleepwalking through the proceedings.

Well, in any case, a movie about a werewolf rock band and star-crossed lovers that's attempting to pass itself off to the Twilight crowd was bound to fail, I guess. This one's tough: in good conscience, I have to say "skip it." However, for those bad movie lovers out there, Neowolf strikes gold.

The DVD

Video:

Lionsgate gives Neowolf an anamorphic widescreen presentation with a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Details - and colors - are a bit soft, but there were no major issues with the video quality.

Sound:

Two audio options are available on this disc: Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0. Both are English language. I listened to the 5.1 track, which apparently is the default, and found it merely serviceable, with dialogue being inconsistent in presentation within the mix. Optional subtitles in Spanish are available.

Extras:

Trailers for Open Graves, Clive Barker's Book of Blood, and Summer's Moon as well as ads for Fearnet, epix, and Break.com precede the main menu. They're available collectively through an Also From Lionsgate link in the menu system. And that's it for extras.

Final Thoughts:

This tale of star-crossed lovers and a werewolf rock band is unrelentingly bad, but it's one of those comical bad films that would perfectly suit a Mystery Science Theater 3000-style riff-a-thon. I would not be surprised if Neowolf becomes a minor cult classic in the future for this very reason. I have to go with a Skip It recommendation, but if you're into this sort of thing, it's bad movie gold.

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