Studio: Well Go USA
Director: Alexander J. Farrell
Writer: Greer Taylor Ellison, Alexander J. Farrell
Producer: Merlin Merton, Martin Owen, Ryan Hamilton, Karl Hall, Sebastian Street, Alex Chang, Jack Christian, Evan Ross, Jordan Wagner, Ying Ye
Stars: Kit Harington, Ashleigh Cummings, James Cosmo, Caoilinn Springall
Review Score:
Summary:
Despite her family's efforts to protect her, a young girl living a sheltered life on a remote farm uncovers a dark secret about her father.
Review:
By virtue of its contents, "The Beast Within" technically qualifies as a werewolf film. But if you're expecting typical full moon, fur, and fang-filled frights in the spirit of "The Wolf Man" or "The Howling," you'll be setting yourself up for a likely letdown. Dipped deep in a moody metaphor for an abusive spouse, "The Beast Within" aligns itself much closer to a thematic drama focused on troubled family ties than a midnight movie bursting with beasts and bloodshed.
10-year-old Willow lives a sheltered life on her family's remote English farm, easily one of the Top Ten most common locations for any UK-based genre indie, if not #1. Were Willow and her mother Imogen wearing clothes like her father Noah's animal-hide cloak, one might initially mistake this setting for another century. Broken windows and high stone walls compose their castle-like compound. Chickens and pigs run loose outside. Their family portrait takes the form of a classic painting while they favor oil lanterns over electricity. "The Beast Within" creates a first impression of possibly being a period piece until a countryside drive in an almost anachronistic Land Rover confirms it couldn't be any earlier than 1978.
Confined to her home in part because she suffers from a respiratory illness requiring occasional use of an oxygen tank, and because her family remains mysteriously intent on staying isolated, Willow passes time by building a miniature replica of the property or staring contemplatively out her window. Among the odd things she spies are secretive trips her parents regularly take, which usually end in Noah returning disheveled while Imogen scrubs blood from his clothes.
One night, Willow's growing suspicions compel her to follow her parents into the forest. That's where she seemingly sees her mother chaining up her father before he undergoes a startling mutation. So startling, in fact, Willow faints.
Willow's grandfather Waylon feels it's finally time to rescue Willow from the danger Noah poses. Noah and Imogen won't stand for having their tight trio torn apart, however. By hook or by crook, or by tooth or by claw, this family is fiercely intent on remaining together no matter what might be threatening them from inside their own abode.
"The Beast Within" is light on dialogue, yet heavy on long-lasting shots of quiet landscapes and gazing faces. It's also light on actors, yet heavy on producers. If you don't count the torch-bearing woman who shouts "William!" several times in the prologue, there are only four speaking roles. Meanwhile, at 10 producers, three co-producers, four associate producers, and a staggering 33 executive producers, two of which are cited as entire production companies, "The Beast Within" boasts a whopping total of 50 entities with "producer" in their title. We often hear "it takes a village" to make a movie, and "The Beast Within" could certainly populate one with only its above-the-line credits.
Because the dearth of action makes the movie so thin, and because an already brief 90-minute runtime lingers in uneventful spaces, it's difficult to form connections with the characters like "The Beast Within" both wants and needs for emotional impact. Perhaps we're supposed to have sympathy for Willow due to her forced solitude and medical condition. Presumably, we're also meant to grimace when we see the bruises hidden beneath Imogen's blouse, indicating there may be more to her husband's terrifying transformations than mere lycanthropy. But with so little time spent on meaningful moments, the family feels flat, and only cursorily characterized in their pedestrian personalities.
Even though Kit Harington earns top billing as Noah, "Game of Thrones" fans anxious for a hefty helping of Harington will find his screen time is surprisingly slim, too. The same goes for James Cosmo as Imogen's father Waylon, so don't get hopes up too high for a Night's Watch reunion since the two men share the same space for approximately two minutes, and one of those minutes involves a werewolf stuntman standing in for Harington.
It's disappointing to dismiss a movie that means well with its message about domestic violence. Double that disappointment when you realize werewolves make a terrific surrogate for problematic partners, yet "The Beast Within" puts so little substance behind its story that the meaning glances right off uninvested eyes. Sadly, "The Beast Within" makes only a minor impression as an allegory, and even less of one as horror entertainment.
Review Score: 40
At a time when so many indie horror hucksters are still shoving "Amityville" into their titles, it's inspiring to see Curry Barker putting in real work with an original effort.