Werewolf by Night

While most of its appeal is merely surface-level novelty — the black and white tragically feels more like an Adobe Premiere filter than a genuine artistic experiment — there is still a transformative experience in meeting Werewolf by Night on its terms.

The sets harken back to the vintage ‘30s, and the dark streak of humor and make this one irresistible viewing for the Halloween season.

Told with wry humor while tapping into unexplored quadrants of comics lore, it’s a bit too gory and scary for younger kids but a gift to fans that raises enticingly monster-ous possibilities.

Werewolf By Night is a charming tribute not only to the pulpy horror comics on which it’s based but to the scary and silly classic cinema that a generation of film lovers grew up watching late at night on local television.

For the most part, Werewolf by Night is a modestly entertaining diversion, but one can’t shake how it doesn’t add up to as much as it could have been with a more ambitious team behind it.

Not quite as toothsome as one might hope, but no howler either, this is a thin, fun Marvel outing that hints at bigger monster business to come.

Werewolf by Night serves as a light, simple, unique-to-the-franchise introduction to Marvel's untapped world of horror.

While it may not be as scary, or dark, or brutal, or action heavy, or character-building as it could have been — it still provides a bit of Marvel Halloween fun and an interesting look at a new side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Sadly, while this is somewhat diverting it and blessedly short (given how overextended some of the other Marvel projects feels), it also feels rushed and under-written. The black and white lensing is fun though, as are a few of the visual effects.

The true success of WEREWOLF BY NIGHT is that is it precisely what I did not expect from a Marvel film and from Michael Giacchino, who is best known as a fantastic composer.