Creature of the Night Has an Interesting Take on the Werewolf Legend
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Creature of the Night has a rock music video and many plot twists and turns. All that is missing is an editing hack job.
Written by The Horror Czar (BHM Editor Don Sumner)
November 5, 2007
Release: 2007
Directed by: Diana Curry
Starring:
Doug Grady
Shannon Greer
Mark Schell
Chri Christian
Straight from the “Center of the South” Atlanta Georgia comes the Independent horror creation by Diana Curry, Creature of the Night. This micro-budget offering, distributed by Brain Damage Films, has some good and bad points, some a result of the budget constraints and others not.
The story is a great take on the classic werewolf legend. The inflicted is a rock star, known and loved by everyone. When a strange woman witnesses his transformation he is “forced” to kidnap her while he decides what to do. Meanwhile subplot after subplot unfolds – could this lead to love or murder? Both it seems.
Confusing-sounding, I know…but it all happens in Creature of the Night.
This one has some good qualities. The concept of a famous rock star who locks himself up at night to avoid ripping unsuspecting citizens to shreds is original (if you don’t count the rockstar-vampire Lestat from Queen of the Damned, that is) and opens up many possibilities for storyline and dilemma. Okay, that’s just one good quality…but I think there are others.
The areas where Creature of the Night needs some work are pretty basic; editing for one. This film feels like a rough draft. There is a TON going on here, and many scenes are included in the final product that should have ended up on the cutting room floor. Sure, each scene and snippet of dialogue furthers the story and fleshed-out the characters, but it seems as if Diana Curry loved her creation so much that she didn’t want even the minutest detail to be left out lest her artistic vision be compromised. The result is a movie that feels very long and takes forever to get to the point.
In contrast to the needed editing job, some of the characters needed
a bit of background prior to their becoming important. It’s like “Hi,
I’m a new character, and the entire story 
now centers on
me…here’s a brief dialogue as to why…” I’m all for surprise twists
and turns, but a beautiful plot twist is one that you should have
seen coming, but didn’t…not one that is just thrown in out of the blue.
Regarding budget I learned a valuable lesson that I promise to practice should I ever create a horror movie: If budget constraints do not permit the creation of a passable rock music video, then don’t include one in your film. Diana Curry has not learned this lesson, and the rock music video included in Creature of the Night is so very terrible that I couldn’t even laugh…and OMG, it goes on forever! Yikes.
When I finished
watching Creature of the Night I had the feeling that I kind
of liked it. Hard to tell after reading about all of the things I
didn’t like, I know. Maybe it was the main characters – they were
likeable as hell. In any case, this one will be fun to watch for those
who like micro-budget horror for its own sake that don’t need it to be
very good. The rest of us might just need to pass. Questions or
comments about Creature of the Night? Contact us!
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