- Directed by Seth Breedlove
- Written by Seth Breedlove
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 20 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NiidJMOXpE&t=1s
Spoiler-Free Synopsis
American Werewolves debuts on major streaming platforms on July 5th, from 1091 Pictures, including iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu and FandangoNOW. This horrifying new entry into the Small Town Monsters canon is directed by Seth Breedlove and produced by Heather Moser.
It’s very well put together. Long on very convincing eyewitness accounts and secondhand stories, but short on physical evidence or actual photos. Skeptic or believer, it’s up to the viewer to decide.
Synopsis
We are told that “While many theorize that the dog man is some sort of unspecified species of animal, many believe that what they were confronted by was something else. Something more.”
A man describes a man-shaped thing, 7 or 8 feet tall with a doglike face. A woman describes hearing bipedal shuffling on the gravel. Others describe encountering an intelligent, dog-like man. Credits roll.
When we finish credits, we get the definition and history of the word “lycanthrope.”
Bucyris is a small town in Ohio. They have a legend about the “Bo Bo,” and another “Rawhead and Bloody Bones.” A woman named Diane is also from Ohio, and she tells the story about seeing what she thought was an animal up in the trees; it wasn’t in the trees, it was just really tall. Shane recalls a similar story about a creature in a cornfield.
Then we move to Kentucky, with more interviews and stories, this time with some actual fatalities. Was there a police coverup, or is al this just an urban legend?
Overall, there are about a dozen interviews, all with interesting stories of werewolves or some kind of dog-man.
Commentary
The majority of the film is interviews with eyewitnesses and experts with a lot of talking heads, interspersed with reconstruction scenes. The werewolf footage is well done for this kind of film- it wouldn’t hold up in a horror film, but it’s pretty creepy for a documentary.
I’m not really a big believer in cryptids, but I would be seriously creeped out by this as a kid. If you have kids that are preparing for a camping trip, I strongly recommend you show them this film first!