Dark Moon Rising (2009)

Dark Moon Rising: Directed by Dana Mennie. With Max Ryan, Maria Conchita Alonso, Chris Mulkey, Chris Divecchio. Small-town girl meets mysterious drifter boy, they fall in love. Only in this case, the boy brings with him a family curse and unimaginable horror that rains hell upon the small town.

“Dark Moon Rising / Wolf Moon is a love story… no, itu0026#39;s a story of a reluctant werewolf… no, itu0026#39;s a story of two families coming together… Well, itu0026#39;s a lot of things and not all of them pleasant. First and foremost itu0026#39;s the story of a girl with a single father who happens to fall for the bad boy werewolf drifter and couldu0026#39;ve ended happily at just that if not for the fatheru0026#39;s dislike/distrust for the new boyfriend and the fact that the boyu0026#39;s psychopath werewolf father is trying to track him down for a family reunion.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFor what it is, the film is decently acted and the story is moderately compelling. The big bad daddy wolf is a genuine monster and regales us with moderate gore, besides being a somewhat likable villain. The boy and girl are passable actors allowing their scenes to outshine their limited talent. The girlu0026#39;s father and the sheriff feel like something ripped out of a low budget Syfy Original (is there any other kind?) but theyu0026#39;re not bad beyond possibly being somewhat derivative. The real flaw, through and through, are the horrendous special effects. The transformations are hokey, corny, and completely devoid of any real passion; the costumes are, well, just so obviously costumes that it ruins any thrill. Compared even to the presumably smaller budgeted Werewolf: The Devilu0026#39;s Hound, the special effects in DMR are flat out lousy and inexcusable especially considering the rest of the movie which is pleasant if not good. Itu0026#39;s a shame that they decided to completely shunt the werewolf angle in a werewolf movie but, after all, this film is probably more of a teeny romance than anything else.”