LYCAN (2017)
Directed by Bev Land
Written by Bev Land and Michael Mordler
Starring Dania Ramirez, Jake Lockett, Parker Croft, Rebekah Graf, and Kalia Prescott, with Vanessa Angel and Gail O'Grady
"When six college kids in a sleepy southern town are assigned a group project to rediscover a moment in history, one of them sets in motion a horrific fate when he proposes they head into the Georgia backwoods to tackle the legend of Emily Burt, the Talbot County werewolf. "Lycan" is a Hitchcockian tale of horror set in 1986 that delves into a hundred-year-old fable where our students are met with very real consequences that go beyond any classroom lessons."
Or so says the back cover of the DVD, at least.
I don't do too many 'blind buys' in this age of Netflix, but for the first time in a couple of weeks (thanks to the nutty work schedule I'm still dealing with) I went somewhere other than the grocery store and saw this. It tripped a couple of my interest triggers so I snagged it.
So how did that turn out for me?
I've mentioned I'm a werewolf fan, so the title LYCAN jumped right out at me. The Emily Burt story is true, or at least, it's true that it is a story, so that also drew me in. And way back when I was in kindergarten we actually lived in Georgia about an hour away from where the story happened, so there's even almost a personal connection. Obviously, I had to buy this.
I recognized Vanessa Angel and Gail O'Grady's names on the cover. Angel was Lisa in the TV series adaption of WEIRD SCIENCE and O'Grady has been in plenty of stuff. Personally, I remember her best from BOSTON LEGAL. A quick peek at IMDb reveals she was also one of the first onscreen victims of the werewolf in the pilot movie for the WEREWOLF TV series on Fox. So this was kind-of a 'coming home' for her, I guess.
Dania Ramirez I didn't know by name, but it turns out I have seen her around. Turns out she's married to this film's director, Bev Land. It also turns out that like a lot of low budget movies, this one was something of a friends and family affair.
Dania's character, Isabella, is the outcast in the group of college kids mentioned in the DVD synopsis. She's been living with O'Grady's character, Ms. Fields, after losing her parents as a child. As luck would have it, the sprawling land where they live is adjacent to the land that Emily Burt is supposed to be buried on, so the kids grab some horses and head off into the woods to investigate the legend of the Talbot County werewolf.
Complications, as they say, ensue.
Something in the woods is watching them, and on the first night, one of their number is taken. In short order, they lose the horses and all the supplies and since this is set in 1986, no one has a GPS app on their phone to help out. Along the way, Isabella has been acting strangely enough to make you wonder if she's in line to be the final girl, a victim, or if she's the victimizer herself.
It looks pretty good for a low-budget movie. The woods are lovely, dark and deep and certainly a much bigger threat on their own than the 'Amazon jungle' of the last werewolf movie I wrote about. Some nice aerial drone shots of the locations help give a sense of scale and the seclusion of the characters.
The acting isn't that bad if a bit spotty in places. Most of the cast has a few years worth of credits under their belts. A longer shooting schedule probably would have helped. I think they said in interviews included on the DVD that it was done in 13-15 days. I suppose the biggest surprise to me was Kalia Prescott. According to the IMDb, she was born in 1997 and got her first job, a fire stunt in SPIDER-MAN 2 no less, in 2004. I actually don't remember any seven-year-olds being set on fire in that but maybe I was distracted by the train fight between Spidey and Doc Ock.
It plays more like an 80-era slasher film than a monster movie and features some set design straight out of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE for some scenes. A fair amount of blood (but not much actual gore save for some what-I-sincerely-hope-were-fake dead animals) and a little bit of nudity liven things up. They don't really hit you over the head with the 1986 setting, save for a few pop culture references and the low tech on display.
Overall, it was okay. Could've been better but boy howdy have I seen worse. Probably you should Netflix it when you can.
I'll leave you with a link about the 'true story' this movie is based on:
And a spoiler for super hardcore werewolf fans who need details, hidden if this works correctly:
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