Red Werewolf Hunter

Wow, something just above average on a SyFy saturday night.  They must have pulled out all the stops for this one.  I've been pretty hard on the SyFy folk in this formum and let me just say... they deserve it.  But because I've been so hard they should take any faint praise I give them as something hard won.  So I'll say again, this was above their normal bill of fare.

So first the bad news.  There's really nothing here linking this to the Red Riding Hood story except Felicity's tresses and a bit of background flashback.  Also, there is again CGI failure when the wolves are in full wolf out.

But, this story actually is interesting.  Red comes home bringing a potential husband.  She wants to gradually let him in on their secret that her and her family are Werewolf hunters.  Her plans are dashed by the evil Gabriel who is a werewolf who unlike all the others can change at will.  Gabriel immediately begins a series of attacks and he's obviously fixing to kill Red's family and increase his own tribe at the same time.  The story is supported by good writing and decent acting.  There's definitely a family feel between Felicity and her brothers even as they feud and fuss over killing werewolves and her choice in men.  I liked Felicity's mother who is definitely loving, but also has to distance herself emotionally to be the stable hub of what is more than a family but a para military order.

Remember what I said about the bad CGI?  Let me add to that.  Yes the full werewolves have the same trouble of most CGI in that they unnaturally pop off the screen in relation to the rest of the picture, but I have to say they handled some of the mid transformation sequences very nicely.  It's no "American Werewolf in London," but the mid transformations are suitably spooky and work in the story. 

So, to wrap up.  For once SyFy has given a movie more treat than trick.