Wolf Moon Rising

Writer-director Todd Sheets is a filmmaker unbound by the notion that you need a truckload of cash to pull off an epic on a low budget. With Wolf Moon Rising, he smashes together all the B-movie mastery of the likes of Roger Corman, Jim Wynorski, and Fred Olen-Ray to deliver practical effects, laughs, monstrous mayhem, and gore galore on the dark side of the stars.

Creating a kind of glorious fusion of Galaxy of Terror, Forbidden World, and Humanoids from the Deep, the filmmaker takes us aboard the doomed ship Charon 13 that a horde of rampaging werewolves has ravaged. When the ship’s distress signal is intercepted by Captain John Apollo (Bobby Westrick) and his crew of the good ship Amberstar, a rescue mission is set into action. But, when the crew of the Amberstar finds nothing but the carnage of the werewolves aboard the lost vessel, they are ready to high-tail it out of there. But they stumble upon a pair of survivors in cryostasis. Having to transport the cryo-tubes over to the Amberstar as the docking collar fails and a black hole threatens to rip the ship to pieces, the crew narrowly escapes. But the horror of what they have brought on board has only just begun.

The Amberstar approaches the doomed Charon 13 in Wolf Moon Rising.

“…the crew of the Amberstar finds nothing but the carnage of the werewolves aboard the lost vessel…”

Werewolves in space; what’s not to love, I ask you. It’s all part of a genre lover’s complete breakfast, even with a budget that scrapes the bottom of the barrel. Sheets and his cast and crew attack Wolf Moon Rising with the ferocity of the furry menaces that battle our heroes, as well as each other. The cast delivers with vim and vigor, with great comedic flourishes by Douglas Epps as Hawk and the man with all the best lines, Jack McCord as Dr. Frank savage.

The size of the budget matters not, as the film is wall-to-wall action. It is also filled with classy special effects, with particular care taken in the werewolf department. Sheets knows from his years of underground artistry where to scrimp and save. But here he gives us a smorgasbord of blood-soaked, howling, and horrifying creatures that seem to rip apart anything that steps in their path. This fitting tribute to the old school wouldn’t be complete without a cameo from the man behind The Howling himself, Joe Dante.

Wolf Moon Rising is a rollicking throwback to the films and a filmmaking style that have sadly fallen by the wayside in the slick and speedy climate of the streaming age of content delivery. But if you’re born in a time like this reviewer, when B-movies went to all the places the majors were afraid to tread, no lack of money could stop us from seeking out the blood and fun of wild, horrific titles. Here, Sheets shows us that we need to just be cool, no matter what the budget is when those resources are put to good and scary use. You don’t need a fat wallet to dream big, and by keeping it indie, you can disappear into the farthest reaches of space and battle werewolves all you please.