Gemma Creagh gives her scary pick with 2018's Werewolf (Wilkolak).
This Polish film is an interesting meld of genres; a gruelling post-war historical drama fused with the tension of a gruelling, visceral horror, with a dash of intense psychological character study served on the side. Imagine an understated version of The Pianist meets The Talented Mr. Ripley meets Jaws and you'd be halfway there.
Werewolf (Wilkolak) begins in 1945 with the messy tail-end of World War II. As a number of survivors escape the Gross-Rosen concentration camp, a young oddball, Wladek (Kamil Polnisiak) watches Nazis murder the prisoners from his window. Just as he's about to suffer the same fate himself, his strange behaviour elicits just enough curiosity for the SS soldier to spare the lives of him and a crew of children. En route to supposed safety in the untrustworthy hands of Russian soldiers, this band of escapees pick up stragglers in the form of an antsy 20-year-old woman, Hanka (Sonia Mietielica), and the defensive teenage boy, Hanys (Nicolas Przygoda).
This traumatised group of youngsters find shelter in an abandoned country mansion in the middle of a forest. With little food and even fewer resources, they struggle to survive under the watchful eye of Jadwiga (Danuta Stenka), a reluctant, kind caretaker hardened by the war. After a vicious attack by a mysterious malevolent creature outside, the pack of kids find themselves alone and trapped. Thirsty and starving, the cracks between them deepen.
Aside from some cartoonish violence in the brief sequences at the camp, and a few one-note villains, writer-director Adrian Panek skilfully sketches out a wealth of characters, rich with backstories and truthful interactions, in an impressively short space of time. Jealous, quiet and reactionary, Wladek’s arc is the most interesting, as his own journey somewhat mimics that of the threatening force outside. Panek does his best to question whether Wladek’s outlook is a result of his experience or something at the core of his being.
The low-key but thorough production design, dappled with moments of action and extreme gore throughout, make this film a glorious and gross visual experience. Those small moments of threat or slow suffering – for example, the children sucking condensation from the building’s wall – create sudden and frantic shifts in the film’s pace. The leap from quiet tension to vicious violence is jarring and effective. But perhaps what is most surprising and unexpected in this film, which is an onslaught of torture for the young protagonists, are the small and infrequent upswings in fate.
Werewolf is a well-made, clever, thoughtful film which goes in unexpected directions. However, because of the challenging subject matter and unrelenting tension, it is also one which is unlikely to be watched by many more than once.
Werewolf /Wilkolak is available to stream online now.
