'Viking Wolf' - A Netflix Movie Review

The beginning of Viking Wolf transports us back to 1050, when a group of Vikings ransack an abbey in Normandy and find a wolf hidden in a secret chamber. They take the animal with them to Norway, but on their journey, they discover that their new pet is much more than it appears to be. What could it be?

Sadly, the movie does not pit Vikings against werewolves, though it would have been a more intriguing film if it had. The movie quickly moves away from the period setting and takes us to present-day Norway, where we meet Thale (Elli Rhiannon), a teenager who has recently moved to the small town of Nybo with her family.

The shift to a different time and location is disappointing, as instead of getting a fantastical monster movie with some historical accuracy, we are given a teenage horror flick that brings to mind movies such as Ginger Snaps and Silver Bullet, but fails to bring anything new to the werewolf genre.

Even the most undemanding of horror fans will be dissatisfied with this movie. There is little gore, no real scares, and the story is uninteresting. Even the special effects that bring the movie's werewolves to life aren't that impressive.

Forty years ago, make-up artist Rick Baker terrified us with the stunning werewolf effects he created for An American Werewolf in London's transformation sequences. One would expect a modern-day movie to rival or surpass these effects, but instead, we get CGI effects that are adequate but not spectacular, and far from the caliber of Baker's work.

The story is your typical high school tale of a new student struggling to fit in with her peers. Although it is also a werewolf movie, we have seen movies of this kind before, including the recent Teen Wolf: The Movie and the aforementioned titles.

The movie focuses on 17-year-old Thale, who has an unfortunate encounter with a creature that takes one of her classmates into the woods. Thale is injured by the beast, and when she begins having strange visions later, it becomes apparent that she is going through more than just growing pains. There is a suggestion that she has become infected by the creature that attacked her (no prizes for guessing what that creature is), and when a series of killings occur around town, it is assumed that she has something to do with them.

The local police, led by Thale's mother Liv, investigate the townsfolk's deaths. They believe that a wolf is responsible, but when they enlist the help of a supposed wolf expert (who looks more like a high school graduate than a seasoned researcher), they are informed that a much larger creature is behind the killings.

Later in the movie, Liv meets a one-armed werewolf hunter who advises her to use silver bullets in her gun, but she dismisses his claim that a mythological monster is responsible for the attacks. She eventually calls on his services, realizing that he is not the nutty crackpot that she initially thought he was.

Regrettably, the movie moves from one scene to the next with little horror or excitement, so you should not expect many thrills or chills from this tepid effort. Although some scenes begin promisingly, such as a sequence that begins with a werewolf transformation on a crowded bus, they seldom end in a satisfying manner. This is primarily due to the fact that the action is largely kept off-screen, as is the case with the bus scene, where we never get to see the subsequent werewolf attack on the passengers.

They take the animal with them to Norway, but as they sail with their new pet, they realize that it is not an ordinary wolf. However, the movie quickly deviates from the historical setting after the intriguing prologue and takes us to present-day Norway. In Nybo, we meet Thale, a teenage girl who has just moved to the town with her family. Unfortunately, the change in location and time period is disappointing as we get a typical teenage horror flick that lacks fresh ideas in the werewolf genre. The story is uninteresting, and the special effects are not that great compared to the CGI effects used in An American Werewolf in London. The film follows the story of Thale, a new-in-town teenage girl, who struggles to fit in with her peers while dealing with strange visions and an infection caused by the creature that attacked her. When a series of killings start to take place in town, the local police investigate and assume a wolf is responsible for the carnage. However, when they bring in a wolf expert, they discover that something much bigger is behind the attacks. Although the acting and locations are decent, the movie's story lacks creativity, and the horror and excitement are minimal. The movie's ending is ambiguous, which is presumably intended to set up a sequel, but it's more frustrating than intriguing. Overall, Viking Wolf is a tepid effort that fails to add anything new to the werewolf genre.