Animals (2008)

   

Directed by: Douglas Aarniokoski

Written by: Craig Spector
John Skipp (Novel)

Starring:

Marc Blucas .... Jarrett
Naveen Andrews .... Vic
Nicky Aycox .... Nora
Eva Amurri .... Jane
Andy Comeau .... Jules


Release Date:
American Film Market: November 5, 2008

 

Rating:

 

A good looking outcast named Syd Jarrett (Marc Blucas) seems to get into all sorts of trouble when he hangs out at a bar but runs into a beautiful blonde named Nora (Nicky Aycox) who asks him to bring her to his place as they both get it on. She suddenly bites his neck and the next day he seems to lose concentration on stuff as well as getting fired by his bullying construction boss Vaughn (Bart Johnson) in which he thinks that his life is turned upside down.
While he's heavily involved with Nora he realises that he is more powerful than ever after the bite on his neck and feels he is becoming monstrous as well as meeting an enemy named Vic (Naveen Andrews) whom demands to have Nora to himself and acting very dominating too.
Syd feels that he must fight to get Nora back but at the same time seems to be linked to another woman named Jane (Eva Amurri) who has also grown into an animal herself as he falls in love with her which upsets Nora and will try to kill her in order to get Syd back in her life.
A group of teens go on a deserted mansion set on an island for their spring break vacation.

 

Alot of the performances and plotlines was fast action paced with the fighting choreography and alot of computerised effects too showing on the screen.
There's a good moment with both characters Nora and Jarrett in his house with her getting lustful towards him and good camera takes on all of this as well as her biting the side of his neck.
There's another good lustful moment with the two of them having breakfast the next day and then a good close up shot on him unbuttoning her shirt as well as her getting him to try and bite her too.
There's a good scene with a construction employer getting aggressive towards Jarrett on him losing focus and acting in pain along with a nice camera angle on this construction worker insulting and yelling at him in a black and white moment as well as telling him he's been fired in which the scene taken on this looks like a realistic look at a bullying employer to their employee.
There's a good shot with Jarrett drinking at a bar and acting like a basket case with Nora acting a bit cocky towards him about losing his job.
There's a nice argumentive dialogue between the two of them near an alleyway and him acting physical towards her which looked quite tense and then the two of them stripping some of their clothes off and getting lustful again with a good shot on her wrapping her legs around him.
There's a good scene with Vic trying to get demanding towards an employee at a store while she's talking on the phone and her getting stuck up and telling him off which looked slightly cheesy but still fun to watch. There's a nice shot on him with his evil firey eyed looks on him changing into a werewolf and her screaming and trying to run away which also looked cheesy as well as corny but again quite enjoyable at the same time too.
There's a good moment with Jarrett trying to throw a punch towards Vic and he grabs his hand and twists his wrist while there's a good shot on a Sheriff pointing a shotgun at his head.
There's many nice shots on Jarrett getting rough towards Nora on a bed by spreading her legs or controlling her in any way as well as dragging her down in a cellar type door and locking her which all looked good and menacing.
A good peaceful discussion towards the two of them at a cabin caressing one another with good shots on this.
A great powerful moment with Nora disguising herself and then making out that she's seducing someone at a bar, then suddenly opening her mouth and munching on her. Then there's a great moment when she plunges into Vic and pushes him through a window.
There's a werewolf battling sequence involved here but most of the fighting is computerised showing two female werewolfs attacking one another.
There's a good moment with Jarrett carrying a wounded female werewolf to a hospital and trying to get help as well as scene's with Vic attacking bit part actors as employees at the hospital.
There's also some good battling moments between Jarrett and Vic even if most of it is computerised effects of two werewolf's like mentioned before with another battling sequence. However there's a great close up shot on Jarrett gritting his sharp teeth acting vicious.
Bottom line is that there's plenty of cheesy computerised effects used in this film but still it can be fun to watch. However the story is a bit long and tiresome in many spots and doesn't get to the point when it should. There's plenty of sex and topless moments which was one of the film's main drawingcards but at the same time it didn't look boring and made the story seem somewhat very sexy.
At first you don't know what to expect in the story wondering what kind of a film it is until halfway throug when you discover that it's a werewolf flick. The plot is almost like cat and mouse in which there's good and bad chasing after one another. But lots of fast paced fighting sequences with werewolf against werewolf or bizarre moments at a bar.
The bottom line is the story almost looks like it was a wee bit inspired by other werewolf flicks like Ginger Snaps but yet alot of the storyline sometimes stands on it's own too. It can sometimes be fun to watch but you have to be in a real good mood to watch it since it's just an average horror film. It also has some original moments on people turning into animals and being territorial on who their man or woman is not allowing anyone else to be around them which is true animal behavior.
The story is also a little confusing but the pieces slowly do come together.You need to pay close attention to it though or you'll be missing some leaky information.
Otherwise you may want to skip this one and watch something like Ginger Snaps or yet An American Werewolf in London since these one's showed a bit more class than this one. Oh well, it was an independent film and these filmmakers tried the best they could.

The acting is not too bad as Marc Blucas (Jarrett) has the sharp looks for his role as an outcast in the film and really knew how to act lusftful and powerful with what he does as well as acting aggressive when he is about to do a battle or get physical in some way throughout his scene's alltogether. Plus he's good at acting like a basket case too. He sure picked up the pace with his performance.
Naveen Andrews
(Vic) played a great bad ass dominating werewolf in the film and really knew how to act cold and vicious. He has the right mean guy looks too as well as really knowing his stuff by acting abusive when he needed to. He was a right choice for the part in the film. He was good with her demanding attitude too.
Nicky Aycox
(Nora) sure knew how to act slutty and flirtatious in her part as well as showing nice vicious werewolf expressions when she is hungry for blood in which she was totally energised in what she had to do for the part in the film. She made a great drawing card to the story. In the beginning of her performance she does well
strutting towards a guy in a bar and coming on strong towards him by wrapping her arms around him which looked quite impressive. She also does a nice job acting cocky in certain situations. Plus she does a nice job with her battling moments. She was very powerful when she warns someone before a battling scene.
Eva Amurri
(Jane) really knew how to come across as a calm and caring type in the film and speaking her lines very nicely. She was another great character to the story of the film and knew her craft showing some great inspiration on her behalf. She also had the perfect girl next door looks too.

Marc Blucas reveals his butt and hips when he is fornicating and getting it on.
Nicky Aycox
has her top unbuttoned with her breasts being revealed as well as performing topless in many other scene's during her lustful moments.

A slaughtered animal is revealed
Lots of torn up neck bites
Mangled faces
Slashed faces
Bloody trail lines

We hear the odd violin synthesizer type of music and some drum beats along with some breathing sound effects. Of course there's the odd booming sound too all done by Alan Brewer. There's nothing overly spectacular other than what I mentioned.