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Movies / On DVD / Skinwalkers
Skinwalkers

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Skinwalkers (2007)

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Reviews Counted:35

Fresh:5

Rotten:30

Average Rating:3.5/10

Consensus: Skinwalkers is an atrociously-acted project whose unoriginal and ineptly-staged action sequences remind viewers of far better werewolf and action movies.

Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Synopsis: Though a statement at the opening of the film explains that the creatures of the title are, in Native American lore, people who have the ability to transform into various animals, SKINWALKERS... Though a statement at the opening of the film explains that the creatures of the title are, in Native American lore, people who have the ability to transform into various animals, SKINWALKERS focuses on two warring factions of werewolves. One is a family concentrated on protecting Timothy (Matthew Knight), a boy about to turn 13 who is the offspring of mortal Rachel (Rhona Mitra) and a Skinwalker. Timothy's family, led by kindly Uncle Jonas (Elias Koteas), chooses to avoid slaughtering innocents during full moons by restraining themselves in straps in the back of a beaten traveling camper. Their rival clan, captained by Varek (Jason Behr), lives with a leather-clad biker gang, riding from town to town and reveling in their bloodlust. When the clock strikes midnight on Timothy's birthday, he will be able to (in terms not explicitly spelled out) end the bloody reign of the Skinwalkers--but not if Varek and his gang can catch and kill Timothy before he officially becomes a teenager. SKINWALKERS focuses more on its action sequences than on the horror elements, but those seeking a good chase sequence will find plenty to enjoy in the film's second half. Director James Isaac (JASON X) gives the film a graphic novel-like visual style, with plenty of red tints and scenes of rising moons. Elias Koteas (CRASH, EXOTICA) seems to be having fun as a werewolf patriarch, but veteran Canadian supporting actress Barbara Gordon seems to be enjoying herself even more as a pistol-packing grandma. Stan Winston's creature designs resemble the man-beast creations from 1977's ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU more than they do Rick Baker or Rob Bottin's revisionist werewolves from AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and THE HOWLING, but they are effective nonetheless. [More]

Starring: Scott Anderson, Jason Behr, Lyriq Bent, Sarah Carter

Starring: Scott Anderson, Jason Behr, Lyriq Bent, Sarah Carter, Kim Coates, Barbara Gordon, Tom Jackson, Elias Koteas, Rhona Mitra, Matthew Knight

Director: James Isaac

Director: James Isaac
Screenwriter: James Roday, James DeMonaco, Todd Harthan
Producer: Don Carmody, Dennis Berardi
Composer: Andrew Lockington
Studio: Lions Gate Films

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Reviews for Skinwalkers

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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in the absence of tension, laughs, thrills, scares or anything like complexity, there is nothing here for viewers to sink their fangs into. The only real note of menace...is a hint at the end that there may be a sequel.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/22/08
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A hastily-edited-to-a-PG-13 werewolf movie, with acting so dreadful it makes Troll 2 look like a Mercury Theater production.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment 3 Comments
08/10/07
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
eFilmCritic.com

Skinwalkers is never able to escape its fundamental preposterousness. You've seen worse, but, trust me, you've seen better.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment 1 Comment
08/13/07
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
10/18/08
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

What differentiates Skinwalkers from other bad werewolf movies is just how colossally bad it is: it makes Blood and Chocolate look like Ashes and Diamonds.

Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | comment Comment
08/10/07
Adam Nayman
Adam Nayman
eye WEEKLY

stinks like a mangy animal's fetid coat

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
11/27/07
Bill Gibron
Bill Gibron
Filmcritic.com

If lots and lots of shooting and wrassling and growling turns your crank, then you might have a good time with Skinwalkers; otherwise, it's a total snore.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
08/20/07
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

The only thing more boring than a vampire with moral issues about biting people in the neck is a werewolf who’d rather become fully human than howl at the moon once a month.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
08/10/07
Chuck Wilson
Chuck Wilson
L.A. Weekly

A werewolf movie without much bite.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
08/10/07
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

In Skinwalkers, there are two kinds of skinwalkers. Some see their bloodlust as a curse, and others, more colorfully, "embrace the power of the beast."

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
08/16/07
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

Why make a serious, no-holds-barred horror film about werewolves when you can make a PG-13 kiddie show free of all the elements an audience goes to see this kind of movie for?

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
08/10/07
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

You'll laugh and roll your eyes, but at least you won't be annoyed.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
08/10/07
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

This Canadian-made action drama sparks an old-fashioned B-movie charge -- it's welcome to the grindhouse all over again.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
08/09/07
Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece
Film Journal International

A thoroughly undistinguished addition to a genre that probably reached its peak a quarter-century ago with An American Werewolf in London.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
08/10/07
Frank Scheck
Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A werewolf movie so bad it merits a silver bullet.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
08/11/07
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
01/15/08
Garth Franklin
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons

Skinwalkers announces its irony-impaired comic-shop geek credentials from the beginning.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
08/10/07
Geoff Pevere
Geoff Pevere
Toronto Star

The problem with most werewolf movies isn't that they're derivative, but that they're badly written, badly acted, or just plain silly. Skinwalkers hits the trifecta: all three apply.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
08/11/07
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

Viewers who make it through the dire early scenes may be surprised by the quality of the later ones.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
08/10/07
Jason Anderson
Jason Anderson
Globe and Mail

Yawningly directed by Jim Isaac, Skinwalkers is a slavering mess that buries its clunky addiction metaphor beneath a welter of genre clichés, all delivered in extra-slow motion.

comment Comment
08/11/07
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
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