Weredeer

For good or for ill, the one thing that can be said with certainty about the film industry in the age of the Internet is that it's more possible than ever for anyone to make a movie, and to have their movies seen by anyone. Very indie, very low-budget fare such as this is allowed to flourish like it never could simply on home video. Though these traits obviously do not inherently equate with poor quality, nonetheless there often is a correlation, and one sees some such issues here. The cast seem inexperienced if not altogether non-professional; the direction is stilted, with weak pacing even from moment to moment. The production values are glaringly bare-faced, including some modest "effects" and "special makeup," and no small amount of the humor is decidedly low-brow, going overboard to invoke a sense of "white trash." In fairness, none of these matters are so severe in and of themselves to completely dampen the viewing experience, and even with these in mind there's some cleverness on hand, and earnest and lighthearted intent. With a little more polish one could easily imagine how this might look if it were produced by, say, CollegeHumor. 'Weredeer' isn't without its flaws, but in an era dominated by low-grade schlock, and low-grade schlock masquerading as major blockbusters, I'm pleasantly surprise at how enjoyable this is.

While some specific inclusions are a bit much, by and large I actually rather appreciate the screenplay whipped up between director Andrew Dyson, co-star Blair Hoyle, and co-writer T. C. De Witt. Curt and simple as the narrative is in the abbreviated runtime of just over one hour, I think it's actually perfectly solid for a horror-comedy. To the same point, the scene writing is unexpectedly strong, and some of the dialogue is delightfully witty. Though Dyson's guidance of the cast in particular is wanting, the arrangement of scenes is quite mindful and well thought-out. There's not especial depth to the characters, but they come off as suitably real and varied as written. And though their level of skill varies from one to the next, even at their worst I don't think the cast is bad; one way or another they try, and some, like Anna Broadway and Jordyn Tracy, actually do quite well despite the limitations of the production. And, hey, while moments of violence lack the benefit of the resources that would help them to have ideal impact, I admire the sincere effort, and the fake blood and gore doesn't look half bad.

And that's rather the key: this is an indie, low-budget, silly romp, but it's clear to me that all involved were putting in the honest work to make the best feature they could with the possibilities that were available to them. Particularly given the nature of the production, I'm decidedly pleased at just how meaningfully entertaining 'Weredeer' actually is. Sure, it's very direct, and unapologetic in its brusqueness, but there's care and intelligence behind this far exceeding what one would assume with such fare. Why, I don't think it's entirely wrong to say that among titles one would recognize as kin to this one, Doyle's picture might actually be a bit of an exemplar. I'm definitely not saying anyone needs to go out of their way for this, but if you're looking for something light and uncomplicated, 'Weredeer' is actually a good bit of fun!

I had never even heard of this movie before coming across it on tubi but my god am i glad i did. I was having a really terrible xmas season but this honestly got me in the mood for the season. You can tell they didn't have a hollywood budget or anything on this but it was just super charming and fun. I wouldn't say it's too scary or anything like that but i did jump once or twice and it actually traumatized my nephew lol. Give it a watch if you enjoy horror comedies or holiday movies in general. I'm going to drink an eggnog beer in honor of bobby this year, def adding to my annual xmas watchlist.

Visiting his family for the holidays, a man and his girlfriend try to ingratiate themselves despite his reluctance to reconnect with family, but when she begins acting strangely they eventually find she's been bitten and turned into a weredeer forcing them to find a way to reverse the condition to stop her rampage.

This was a rather fun cheesy indie effort. One of the better features here is the enjoyable setup that provides this with a fun and cheesy enough starting point. The initial meetings with the family that continuously piles on the cliches of the embarrassing backwoods family that he's extremely reluctant to get back home to, their games, and their general relationship with each other all point to an equally effective picture of a well-meaning family that can upset a more city-preference lifestyle to get this going. With this in place, the film's descent into creature feature territory is rather enjoyable. From the opening ambush of the hunters that captures the whole thing from the creatures' point-of-view to the fateful encounter with the deer in the woods that turns her into one of the creatures over time, this all provides a generally fun and cheesy setup to be had here. This is just as much to do with the serious tone of this section compared to the more comedic aspects found in the earlier segments. That leads into the general fun of the second half where this one goes more into the comedic side again with the attacks featured here. Opting for a series of cheesy encounters within the woods where the unsuspecting family is forced to confront the transformed creature in the woods which provides a slew of goofy, gory setpieces, these scenes playing out in a siege-like narrative while doing so is a generally fun time here. These elements all provide a highly enjoyable and goofy indie-style creature feature even though there are some minor issues here that aren't too big. Those, though, are generally centered around the film's obvious low-budget origins and limitations as the unmistakably indie vibe from the presentation to the atmosphere and the one-location setup obviously feature prominently and keep this one front and center about those factors from the offset. As well, there's little here about how the curse works and the mechanics of the transformation are all speculation and inferred without saying anything which is what holds this back.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

Weredeer is a backwoods home made Christmas horror, in which a man returns to his southern family home, with his big city girlfriend, for Christmas.

Being somewhat ashamed of his redneck family and roots, the couple get acclimated to their situation, as we are introduced to the supporting cast of characters - who provide the type humour you'd expect from such stereotypes.

The plot concerns the transformation of the girlfriend, into a "weredeer", after she is bitten by a wild deer she meets while roaming around in the woods.

The transition itself, is not very good...but it's not nearly as bad as the action that ensues.

Which entails some of the worst gore and attacks I've ever seen.

Fortunately, the writing is humourous enough to make it watchable.

With it's short runtime not hurting it's cause either.

I don't think I could have sat through it all, if it was much longer, though.

The whole thing is really quite bad, but at least the characters are interesting enough to keep you engaged.

It's pretty much the bottom of the barrel, even as far as home made horrors go.

But it fits right in alongside the other trashy Christmas horrors you find on TubiTV (and isn't as bad as Curse Of Jack Frost).

2 out of 10.

Weredeer (2022) is a movie that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a couple heading into the woods to spend time with the boyfriend's strange family. It doesn't take long being there to realize the family is off. Meanwhile, something in the woods is causing a ruckus causing the boyfriend to fear for his girlfriend's safety. As the family works together to figure out what it is going on they realize they are about to become the hunted...

This movie is directed by Andrew Dyson (The Beckoning) and stars Anna Broadway, Matt Kiser, Ian F. Scott and Jordyn Tracy...all in their major motion picture debuts.

Well, this is a bad movie, with limited storyline, terrible acting and even worse writing. The CGI is very bad and the blood splatter sounds are louder than the screams (so yes, the sound effects are poorly executed). However, the weredeer mask and makeup is well done and fun. The end is poorly executed, predictable and lacked imagination. The best part of this movie is it doesn't take itself seriously.

Overall, this is a bad movie that knows it's bad. I would score this a 2-2.5/10 and recommend skipping it.