The name is over the top but fun, and the premise sounds promising. Unfortunately, from the moment one presses "play" it's evident we're in for a rough ride that won't be any fun. I can and will go into detail, but I can also just save you some trouble by saying 'Werewolf massacre at Hell's Gate' is awful and you shouldn't waste your time with it.
Depending on where you watch it the first few minutes aren't even connected to the movie as the filmmakers provide an ill-considered, poorly made advertisement for another of their works. Once the movie begins in earnest after about four and one-half minutes we get a gauche, melodramatic introduction a la Elvira; opening credits that feature graphics outdated by about twenty years and images that were seemingly copied and pasted from an image search on Google or DuckDuckGo; and a considerable amount of text (coming and going too quickly to really read) that provides background info and backstory for the plot to follow. Finally, after the video has already been playing for nine minutes, the first scene rehashes the text we were just provided, and as if that unnecessary intro weren't indication enough, the fundamental appearance of the image is so glaringly barefaced as to be painful on the eyes. More text to follow. Rock-bottom amateur acting, direction, "effects," "costume design," editing, cinematography, sound, and more. I'm not sure that I've ever seen more hackneyed, unconvincing, sloppy writing, not even in titles churned out by The Asylum, Uncork'd Entertainment, or Screenager Productions.
There couldn't possibly be any arguing that this represents anything except the most base, undeveloped, unprofessional, and untrained of amateur film-making. The phrase "amateur film-making" shouldn't necessarily be a warning sign; I've seen other examples that were outstanding. There's 1991's 'Slaughter Day,' obviously made by friends just having a good time but pouring themselves into it, and to a lesser extent 1999 Hungarian flick 'Hasfalmetszök.' 2019 found footage flick 'XIII' is the best example I've seen to date of amateur horror - one of the best horror flicks at large that I've watched recently, honestly - and frankly I think it is a shot in the arm that the niche genre needed, a return to its roots. Yet there are staggering, absolute, unmistakable differences between these and 'Werewolf massacre at Hell's Gate,' and what it boils down to is that what the participants in the former instances lacked in utmost skill, they made up for with boundless heart and enthusiasm, and earnest, careful effort. This 2015 abomination, however, does not seem to demonstrate any meaningful effort, or sincerity, or the slightest of care. James Baack sure did make a thing, but I don't know why he bothered, because I see no indication that he poured any energy at all into trying to make a cohesive, enjoyable, substantive picture. For all the value that amateur film-making can and often does bear, this has none.
Whatever element of film-making or storytelling one might wish to assess, each and every one is astoundingly, wholly bereft of the slightest modicum of a rudimentary attempt, and this becomes unwatchable quite immediately. The best and only thing that can really be said is that there were serviceable ideas in the story, yet they were warped into a patchy, messy, nearly incoherent form that doesn't hold any water whatsoever. I feel bad for the folks that Baack somehow roped into lending a hand - I'm truly embarrassed for them. Maybe some day Baack and the others involved will make something else, and will demonstrate that they learned from their experiences here and put in some work into cultivating some skills. In the very least, maybe they will demonstrate at some point in the future that they had developed a capacity for concern, active interest, and exertion in their endeavors. As it stands, 'Werewolf massacre at Hell's Gate' is so rotten that if I were an employer in any field, and I knew that a potential employee had been involved with this, then it would be a major mark against their prospects, for the film shows a complete lack of thought, commitment, or labor, or any core trait that is desirable for workers in any occupation.
Rarely have I more thoroughly, fully regretted choosing to watch a movie. This is without question one of the worst things I've ever watched, and all that would have been required for it to not be that would have been for anyone involved to illustrate that they cared, or were making an effort, to the tiniest degree. That's just not what we get, however, so 'Werewolf massacre at Hell's Gate' should expurgated from human history.
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