WER (2013)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *drama*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *cosmological, sociological*

I'm not all that enamored of "found footage" films, but WER is a different sort of animal. There are some werewolf films in which the diagnosis of the monster's nature can take the better part of the film. But this movie, directed by William Brent Bell and co-written by Bell and writing partner Matthew Peterman, keeps the audience guessing as to how far it will go in the depiction of the monster, who's almost constantly under the scrutiny of videocameras for the majority of the story.

Living in France as an expatriate American, defense attorney Katherine (AJ Cook) takes the case of Talan Gwynek (Brian Scott O'Connor), an exceptionally hairy fellow accused of having savagely attacked three tourists. Katherine, along with her aide Eric (who may have some romantic interest in her), commissions the aid of animal expert Flemyng because there's some doubt as to whether the tourists were killed by a human or by an animal. Katherine and Flemyng had a romantic encounter years ago but they broke up, so that some tension remains.

French police captain Pistor liases with Katherine's team, and reluctantly gives them permission to interview Talan under extreme security. The almost unspeaking man responds to Katherine's empathy, but gets a little too grabby and is restrained by police-- though Talan inadvertently scratches Flemyng with one of his "talons." Eric researches possible medical irregularities about the client and brings up the possibility that he suffers from porphyry, which induces excessive hairiness. In addition, Katherine suspects that Pistor is anxious to convict Talan for the murders because the cop has some link to a land-scheme involving the Gwynek family.

Most werewolf films don't allow anyone but the viewing audience to witness the creatures' transformations, but Talan not only transforms in front of numerous witnesses, he slaughters several police with displays of super-strength and escapes. Later, when the fugitive is cornered in a hotel, he again repels a dozen or more French cops, seeming almost immune to gunfire. But the manhunt for Talan is complicated by a new wolf in town, for now Flemyng begins to suffer from the werewolf disease-- and he ends up fighting the other animal-man at the climax.

The script's broad implication is that the werewolf condition is some rare disease triggered by moonlight, though no rationale for all the superhuman abilities is presented. But the action and gore scenes are well-realized, and I didn't really mind that there wasn't a lot of character development. WER is a good basic werewolf movie with talented performances by the principals and a fresh angle. As in many "found footage" movies, there's some suspicion about the process of making any definitive conclusions based on the nature of filmed evidence, and this translates to a general uncertainty about the validity of governmental power.