Wildling - Not Gingersnaps (unfortunately)

Wildling was never destined to be a 'classic.' Which film about werewolves are ('American Werewolf in London' not included)?  However, just because it's never going to win Oscars, doesn't mean that it can't be fun.  Canadian werewolf movie 'Gingersnaps' proved that you can make a movie about monsters with teenagers and heart (something that the 'Twilight' franchise never achieved in its entire saga!).  It's pretty impossible to mention 'Wildling' without talking about the - far superior - 'Gingersnaps' as they do hit quite a few of the same beats.  I'll do my best not to dwell on the similarities further, apart from saying that 'Gingersnaps' is infinitely better (the original 'Gingersnaps' that is - nuff said about the sequels!).

The film begins with a little girl who 'lives' with her 'Daddy' (Brad Dourif).  I use the quotation marks because her 'Daddy' keeps her locked up 'for her own protection' and tells her that she can never leave because the wildlings will get her and only Daddy is strong enough to survive out there.  This section lasts for about the first quarter of an hour and is actually probably the best part of the movie (mainly because it's the part where Dourif has the most screen time).  It's truly chilling because we don't really know what's going on in the world and the air of confusion adds to the truly chilling atmosphere.

However, it's kind of downhill from then on.  It descends into a - sort of - teen drama with a few kills and monsters, plus the obligatory romance.  You also have Liv Tyler in there (who I haven't seen on screen for quite some time).  I've always thought she was a pretty competent actress, but she really does seem to be phoning it in for this one as she attempts to shield/shepherd the - now teenage - girl.

If you really like horror films, or werewolves in general and you stumble on this film on some sort of free streaming online platform, then why not have it on in the background.  There's not much gore and not much point to it either.

4/10 You can watch this film while you're doing the ironing (you'll still get the general gist of it)