WEREWOLF BY NIGHT {2022}

 DISNEY/MARVEL GIVES US A HALLOWEEN TREAT. 

Billed as a "Halloween Special", the one hour WEREWOLF BY NIGHT brings us back to the era when we kiddies could look forward to Halloween TV specials being aired a la IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN or A GARFIELD HALLOWEEN SPECIAL.  So why exactly isn't the new WEREWOLF BY NIGHT sponsored by Dolly Madison?!?!?!?!  Missed opportunity there!  I went into this blind and it's not quite what I was expecting.  It's not really a werewolf movie at all; it's really a Marvel superhero movie.  With some monsters running around.  This is not a slam but I just thought I'd prepare you if you were expecting a monster movie.  The plot revolves around a group of monster hunters meeting at Castle Bloodstone (I expected to find Radu there!!!  Where's Radu?!?!?  Oh, different company) because their leader has kicked the casket.  All the monster hunters then enter into a competition to find a magical doo-dad which I guess will bestow upon them the leadership.  Or something like that.   

The dead leader's estranged daughter Elsa (Laura Donnelly) is competing as she is also a monster hunter.  And, of course, because of the name of this movie, our old Marvel Comics friend Jack Russell (woof woof) is there as well.  Jack Russell, in case any of you poozers never read the comic books, is the alter ego of the titular "Werewolf By Night".  I guess which one of the hunters is Jack is supposed to be something of a spoiler since he isn't revealed by name until halfway through the movie so I won't mention who plays him.  But it's a pretty open secret.  And also, some odd casting for us old 1970's comic book readers.  Also, it's not much of a spoiler (since you can see him up there on the movie poster) that a certain muck-encrusted monstrosity shows up too.  That was super cool.  Another nice touch is the opening title card looks like this is an old 1940's Universal flick (yes, th entire movie is in black & white). The actual movie itself is OK but nothing spectacular.  I had a little trouble paying attention to all these monster hunter characters which go unnamed all through the movie and don't correspond to any Marvel comics characters that I know of.  The fact is, the middle section lags quite a bit and things don't pick up until Jack transforms into his furry self.  But all in all, an OK watch and a nice surprise to get for this Halloween season.