Weredeer (2022)

Weredeer (2022). Weredeer: Directed by Andrew Dyson. With Anna Broadway, Tierney Leigh Cody, Blair Hoyle, Katie King. Max and his girlfriend, Hannah, travel to the backwoods to spend Christmas with Max's eclectic family. When Hannah gets bitten by a deer, strange things begin to occur when the winter moon is full.

“For good or for ill, the one thing that can be said with certainty about the film industry in the age of the Internet is that itu0026#39;s more possible than ever for anyone to make a movie, and to have their movies seen by anyone. Very indie, very low-budget fare such as this is allowed to flourish like it never could simply on home video. Though these traits obviously do not inherently equate with poor quality, nonetheless there often is a correlation, and one sees some such issues here. The cast seem inexperienced if not altogether non-professional; the direction is stilted, with weak pacing even from moment to moment. The production values are glaringly bare-faced, including some modest u0026quot;effectsu0026quot; and u0026quot;special makeup,u0026quot; and no small amount of the humor is decidedly low-brow, going overboard to invoke a sense of u0026quot;white trash.u0026quot; In fairness, none of these matters are so severe in and of themselves to completely dampen the viewing experience, and even with these in mind thereu0026#39;s some cleverness on hand, and earnest and lighthearted intent. With a little more polish one could easily imagine how this might look if it were produced by, say, CollegeHumor. u0026#39;Weredeeru0026#39; isnu0026#39;t without its flaws, but in an era dominated by low-grade schlock, and low-grade schlock masquerading as major blockbusters, Iu0026#39;m pleasantly surprise at how enjoyable this is.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhile some specific inclusions are a bit much, by and large I actually rather appreciate the screenplay whipped up between director Andrew Dyson, co-star Blair Hoyle, and co-writer T. C. De Witt. Curt and simple as the narrative is in the abbreviated runtime of just over one hour, I think itu0026#39;s actually perfectly solid for a horror-comedy. To the same point, the scene writing is unexpectedly strong, and some of the dialogue is delightfully witty. Though Dysonu0026#39;s guidance of the cast in particular is wanting, the arrangement of scenes is quite mindful and well thought-out. Thereu0026#39;s not especial depth to the characters, but they come off as suitably real and varied as written. And though their level of skill varies from one to the next, even at their worst I donu0026#39;t think the cast is bad; one way or another they try, and some, like Anna Broadway and Jordyn Tracy, actually do quite well despite the limitations of the production. And, hey, while moments of violence lack the benefit of the resources that would help them to have ideal impact, I admire the sincere effort, and the fake blood and gore doesnu0026#39;t look half bad.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd thatu0026#39;s rather the key: this is an indie, low-budget, silly romp, but itu0026#39;s clear to me that all involved were putting in the honest work to make the best feature they could with the possibilities that were available to them. Particularly given the nature of the production, Iu0026#39;m decidedly pleased at just how meaningfully entertaining u0026#39;Weredeeru0026#39; actually is. Sure, itu0026#39;s very direct, and unapologetic in its brusqueness, but thereu0026#39;s care and intelligence behind this far exceeding what one would assume with such fare. Why, I donu0026#39;t think itu0026#39;s entirely wrong to say that among titles one would recognize as kin to this one, Doyleu0026#39;s picture might actually be a bit of an exemplar. Iu0026#39;m definitely not saying anyone needs to go out of their way for this, but if youu0026#39;re looking for something light and uncomplicated, u0026#39;Weredeeru0026#39; is actually a good bit of fun!”