Dinowolf

Released by: Retromedia/Bayview Entertainment
Released on: October 18, 2011
Director: Fred Olen Ray
Cast: Maxwell Caulfield, Gil Gerard, Steven Lee Allen, Dawn Ann Billings
Year: 2009
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The Movie:

Fred Olen Ray's Dinowolf (which was originally intended to be released as Direwolf, which would have made more sense) begins when a team of scientists decide, in their infinite wisdom, to mix the DNA of a prehistoric Direwolf with that of a human to create a giant wolf-human hybrid creature all in the name of science. Of course, this creature soon decides to run amok, it's target a small California town where one Sheriff Parker (Maxwell Caulfield) keeps the peace. The appearance of the wolf monster poses some problems, of course, as it's prone to killing people, something that the sheriff isn't really all too keen on.

Enter U.S. Army Colonel Hendry (Gil Gerard), the man in charge of the operation who sends in a pair of secret agents to get the monster back alive. This basically sets in motion the rest of the story, where the Sheriff and his posse of locals and fellow law enforcement officers aim to stop the wolf no matter what it takes while the army dudes are running around trying to catch it, not caring so much if it kills the people that Parker and his team have sworn to serve and protect. It's a bit more complicated than that, however, as the monster has somehow formed a psychic link with Tina (Dawn Ann Billings), one of the scientists who helped birth the creature and as such, it can track her and this spells trouble for anyone around her.

Devoid of the harsh language and nudity that a lot of Fred Olen Ray's movies are known for, Dinowolf still contains some moderate violence though the fact that this release is touted as 'Fred Olen Ray's Uncensored Director's Cut' would lead us to believe that it's a lot gorier than it actually really is. There is some carnage here, but nothing to really push it into super explicit territory. The death of a hunter gets a bit gooey and there are some impressive splashes of gore splattered liberally throughout the movie (the kill scenes feature a lot of fast moving camerawork but are definitely gruesome), thankfully all done with practical effects and not bad CGI, but nothing that would push it past an R rating. The effects are cool though, and while certain shots show some hokey tricks to make the production look to be bigger and more lavish than it is (mainly anytime we see the outside of the laboratory), Ray generally does a good job of working within the confines of the low budget he's got here.

Performance wise, all involved are fine with top billed Caulfield and Gerard, likely the two most experienced performers involved with the film, standing out. The female cast members are all plenty easy on the eyes for the most part, but the real star of the show is the Direwolf creature. We don't see all that much of it early on as in the grand monster movie tradition, Ray saves the reveal for the big finale, but he turns out to be a pretty cool monster. Yes, he does look a bit like a giant Muppet and is obviously a guy in a suit - we can't really suspend our disbelief enough to get past that - but there's something sort of endearing about the big furry dope. The movie doesn't turn out to be a masterpiece of any sort and at times it feels both predictable and formulaic but

Video/Audio/Extras:

Dinowolf looks just fine in this 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Colors are nice and bright without looking artificially boosted and the picture is consistently clean and stable. As this was shot on digital video and transferred to DVD there are no print damage issues, obviously, and overall things look pretty solid here.

Also of decent quality is the English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track. It might have been fun to have a surround sound track for the attack scenes but that didn't happen. Regardless, what's here sounds good - dialogue is easy enough to understand and there are no problems with any hiss, distortion, or weird level fluctuations.

Extras kick off with a commentary track that comes courtesy of director Fred Olen Ray who is joined by editor Randy carter and assistant director/co-writer Dan Golden. Ray and company discuss the film's beginnings are Direwolf (at one point he notes that this movie will be rereleased in the future under that title as part of a multipack), how those prehistoric animals did exist and how there have been skeletons found in California and how as such this is NOT a werewolf movie in the true sense of the word. From there he talks about how since there have been remains found that have not been completely fossilized, bingo, there was the inspiration for the film - mixing the DNA from those remains with human DNA. From there they discuss scripting the film, editing the picture, shooting it and casting it and dealing with the effects on the picture as well the decision to use a man in a suit versus computer generated effects for the wolf creature seen in the movie. It's a very active, laid back track with some good information and no dead air anywhere to be found.

Also included on the disc is a fifteen minute behind the scenes segment that shows Fred giving some direction on set and which includes some footage of the Dinowolf himself as seen in the end of the movie. There's no context here, it's just fly-on-the-wall style footage, but it's here for those who want it. A trailer for the feature, menus and chapter selection round out the supplements.

The Final Word:

Dinowolf is a fun fifties style monster movie that, despite its obvious flaws, serves as good, goofy entertainment. It's not likely to make anybody's top ten lists but it delivers some amusing effects and a few cool set pieces and the commentary on the disc is a good one.