Review: ‘Skinwalkers’ on DVD

Director Jim Isaac (The Horror Show, Jason X) has delivered his third movie in almost twenty years. It must mean he makes very good, monumental films … right? Not exactly. OK, I’m trying to maintain my goal of keeping my reviews as positive as I can … so, here it goes. Um, the poster is kinda cool … I suppose. Here’s just a bit of background info … Isaac’s first film, The Horror Show (1989), aka House III, the original director was fired and Isaac was the replacement. Oh yeah, and the writer had their name removed and the official credit for the screenplay was given to Alan Smithee. [If you’re a movie geek, you know what that means.]

Skinwalkers (2006) is a pretty run-of-the-mill werewolf movie. It has werewolves, action and an occasional attack on humans. The special effects are, well … not very good, actually. This is disappointing when you consider Isaac is also a special effects guy, having worked on Return of the Jedi, Gremlins and three different David Cronenberg films, including The Fly, Naked Lunch and eXistenZ. He actually claims Cronenberg as his mentor and idol. I think this is cool, but I’m afraid very little of Cronenberg rubbed off on his work.

The plot: a band of renegade werewolves are looking for a special boy who is about to turn 13. The boy, who has nightmares and asthma, is unaware of his connection but is secretly protected by a small rural town of werewolves who refuse to give in to their beastly urges. Apparently, there is [in this movie] a Native American legend about skinwalkers and a prophecy about a young half-breed boy who will end the “curse” if he lives to his 13th birthday. From here, the movie basically takes on the typical chase-action-chase-climactic fight scene formula. I’m not going to give away the end. You aren’t missing much, but still … I’m not that evil.

So, all of this and you’ve got to be excited to run out to your local RedBox to rent Skinwalkers, right? Yeah. If you like minimal story, mediocre action and poorly executed special effects, along with excessive gun-cocking [you’ll understand if you see the movie] and sci-fi channel quality cinematography, then go spend your buck and rent Skinwalkers. As for me, I’m pleased that I rented this one for free.

[rating:2.5/5]

DVD Features:

• Making Skinwalkers featurette
• Huguenot Shoot-out Pre-visualization sequence
• Digital FX Comparisons
• Deleted Scenes
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• other Lionsgate trailers