Who - The Beast in You - Blu-ray

Film: An idyllic camping trip in a small French community turns into a real horror trip for the Porter family when they are brutally attacked. Only the mother narrowly survives the massacre, while her husband and son are literally mauled. The suspected perpetrator is quickly caught: the giant Talan Gwynek (Brian Scott O`Connor). Attorney Kate Moore (A.J. Cook) is sent to the scene of the crime to defend the seemingly mentally retarded man. Together with her colleague Erik (Vik Sahay) and her ex-boyfriend, animal expert Gavin (Simon Quarterman), Kate sets out to prove that Talan, who suffers from a mysterious illness, cannot be the perpetrator at all, but that the Porters were victims of an animal attack. But when the accused is to undergo important medical tests that could prove his innocence, the giant gets completely out of control and leaves behind a real battlefield, which, however, is only the beginning of a bloody chase...

With Who - The Beast in You, director William Brent Bell (The Devil Inside) tries his hand at the not exactly easy task of wringing a few new sides out of the werewolf genre. The result is a story told in a tolerable amount of found footage style, which throws around a lot of clichés, but also features some very good new ideas. Without giving too much away, it can be said that the attempt to bring the werewolf myth into reality by providing some sort of medical explanation may sound rather silly on paper, but works surprisingly well here. Admittedly, at times the story takes itself a little too seriously. But after the soft-spoken Twilight Wolves and the less than convincing Wolfman, the approach Bell takes here is extremely refreshing and delightfully effective.

The effects of the film, shot in Romania, are also worthy of note. Again, while not perfect, it fully serves its purpose. And also in terms of pace, the production leaves a really good overall impression despite some small lengths. Among the actors especially Brian Scott O`Connor is convincing, who can leave a lasting impression not only because of his physical presence in the role of Talan. And even if her role is drawn very conventionally and a bit one-dimensional, A.J. Cook (Criminal Minds) also does really well in the role of the dedicated defense attorney.

Who - The Beast in You offers more than solid horror entertainment, which walks stylistically rather on well-trodden paths, but at least dramaturgically tries to bring some fresh wind into the werewolf myth - which is already expressed by the fact that the word werewolf is hardly used in the film. An exciting and atmospheric home cinema premiere, which has earned a satisfied worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The film is held in places in the currently so popular found footage style, with different camera types (digital camera, surveillance camera, cell phone camera) alternating. So the image quality also varies between clear and somewhat blurry, between clean and riddled with slight glitches. But since everything is part of the deliberately used style of the film, this can't be judged negatively. The scenes, which have more of a classic feature film look, impress with good image sharpness, neatly matched contrasts and atmospheric colouring. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio is pleasantly lively, but has some really good surround moments to offer, especially in the final third. Otherwise, the rather centrally mixed dialogue clearly takes centre stage. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, the Blu-ray has a short making of featurette (approx. 11:01 min.), as well as a stunt clip (approx. 2:26 min.) on offer. In addition, there are interviews with the film's producers (approx. 2:06 min.); lead actress A.J. Cook (approx. 3:09 min.), and director William Bret Bell (approx. 7:55 min.). The trailer and other program tips from the provider round out the additional offerings.

Conclusion: Who - The Beast in You is a successful werewolf thriller that manages to wring a few interesting new sides out of the myth. The mixture of classic feature film and found-footage look does not always work, but over long stretches the horror flick offers very atmospheric and exciting entertainment. No masterpiece, but an entertaining genre pleasure with a very well chosen werewolf actor. On the Blu-ray, the film presents itself in coherent picture and sound quality, the bonus material is manageable, but worth watching! For this there is a clear bottom line: recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp