Review: Wolves at the Door



(imdb.com)

Cult mania has seen a bit of resurgence in recent years, the indie hit Last Shift, which drew attention when it started streaming on Netflix, Emma Cline's The Girls, and the James Wan-produced Annabelle all featured satanic cults with insidious intentions. Attempting to build on this retro, 60s-inspired subgenre is Wolves at the Door. Recounting the true story of the murders a group of friends murdered by the Manson Family during the 1969 "Summer of Love," Wolves at the Door plays relatively close to a reenactment without much of the backstory, reasoning or tact to make it anything more than exploitative.

Wolves at the Door features former Harpers Island stars Katie Cassidy as pregnant Sharon Tate and Adam Campbell as Wojciech, Elizabeth Henstridge (Agents of Shield) as Sharon's friend Abigail and Miles Fisher (Mad Men) as Jay. Each are actually pretty solid in their roles, despite the film's shortcomings and the tasteless resulting product.  Cassidy is especially effective at conveying love and loss, and as Sharon, she brings some justice to an otherwise low-brow screen.

This movie does feature some scares, even if it is suspense-free. Swept straight out of movies like The Strangers, Wolves at the Door has plenty of dark figures bouncing around the house just out of sight of the characters. There are creepy scenes with our home invaders tapping on glass and writing on walls, but these feel really misplaced and tossed in. In terms of plot, the movie feels as though it is a brutal super cut of murder rather than a holistic film. It never really comes full circle or offers anything past the death scenes and this works to the disadvantage of the horror. There's no art or camp, and definitely no substance to whatever this movie is or could have been and when compared to superior, although critically panned film like The Strangers, the scares of Wolves at the Door feel miniscule and exploitative.

There are things that could have been done to improve Wolves at the Door. A constantly tricky subject, the recounting of real life murders in film can be a steep slope that most filmmakers would avoid. But, where other films may shoot for something more in line of a documentary or a completely changed story that only draws inspiration from its source, Wolves at the Door shamelessly shoots out and showcases the real characters' deaths.

While it'll surely appeal to some, the blatant and contrived nature of Wolves at the Door feels less like a horror movie and more of an unrelenting, dramatized sequence of real life murders. Sure it may feature some of the home invasion aspects kin to movies like You're Next and The Strangers, but it doesn't offer any of the cleverness, storied background or plot. The bottom line is that Wolves at the Door feels like a cheap façade, profiting off of others' loss without regard for the real lives impacted by the losses. There's no storyline, no higher meaning or resolve, just brutality and selfishly profited death. 2 out 10.