Werewolf by Night review: Here is where the MCU’s monsters are hiding

Ever see the music video for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs song “Heads Will Roll?” It’s great. There’s a dinner party and a concert and then a werewolf shows up and murders everyone with sweet dance moves. Werewolf by Night, “a Marvel Studios special presentation” — basically the streaming era version of a TV movie — is kind of like that. There’s a big, foreboding party, which goes about how you’d expect, until a werewolf shows up. Then it gets better.

The film is directed by Michael Giacchino, a renowned composer. It features a script written by Heather Quinn (and Peter Cameron). The Night Werewolf pulls double duty as both a loving genre pastiche and an introduction of several of Marvel Comics’ storied horror characters to the MCU proper. Like the ’70s comic it’s based on, The Night Werewolf follows Jack Russell (Gael García Bernal), the eponymous man-monster on a spooky adventure. Ulysses Bloodstone is no longer with us. The Bloodstone that he named after him, a legendary monster hunter and legend, is available for purchase. Monster hunters from all over the world are welcome to visit his home to see it and compete in a monster hunt.

The monster being hunted is kept secret from the assembled hunters, but it’s not Russell — to everyone there, he’s The Man With No Name, someone with an impressive monster-killing resume and a backstory that’s effectively a blank slate. (As someone who turns into a werewolf, it’s ideal that Russell keep his ability under wraps.) And he’s not the only one bringing baggage to the night’s proceedings: Elsa Bloodstone (Laura Donnelly of Nevers), Ulysses’ estranged daughter, has come for what she sees as her birthright, despite seemingly having little interest in the family profession.

Image: Marvel Studios

Unfolding over a fast 53-minute duration The Night WerewolfIt is here to deliver the original Marvel Cinematic Universe experience, with stylish throwback thrills that are more fun than frightening. That it’s also presented differently from most other MCU ventures thus far goes a long way. Its nearest sibling is WandaVisionIt was, however, without the larger stakes that this show took on as well as its tribute. The fun is in relishing the love for old Universal monster movies that everyone involved clearly has, and not in the special’s MCU connections. Sharp-eyed viewers and Marvel scholars will find several allusions to comics lore, but nothing here is really meant to change the MCU status quo — just to let you know that Hey, we have monsters!.

As Jack Russell, Gael García Bernal is a great audience surrogate, someone who enjoys being mysterious but is also happy to drop the charade and become a personable (maybe even relatable) guy once he achieves his goals. Laura Donnelly’s performance as Elsa Bloodstone is more guarded, as her character invites the most questions — but also the most opportunity to show up again in further MCU projects, should Marvel’s horror stable see more action in the future. But perhaps the biggest treat is Harriet Sansom Harris as Verusa, Ulysses’ widow and the night’s master of ceremonies, delivering an over-the-top performance that gives the whole affair huge theater-kid energy.

The Night WerewolfThis is both a palate cleanser that will help you get past the MCU bricklaying, and also a fun way to transition into the scary season by setting a high tone. Unlike a lot of Marvel affairs, it’s not entirely self-referential, interested only in its own lore. For once, it’s a project that points outward: to Hollywood’s horror history, to Universal’s monster canon and Hammer’s violent cheese. It’s worth watching and re-examining those influencers, or even trying them out for your first time. Perhaps you can spin a Yeah Yeah Yeahs song while you are making your choice.