‘Wildling’ is the next debut of filmmaker Fritz Böhm, and the telling of an age-old tale in a brand new way, because, who doesn’t love a good werewolf story?
Wildling starts off strong, with plenty of build and solid base for the backstory of Anna, who was taken at birth and raised by “Daddy”, who keeps her locked up (with electric door handles to boot) and heavily medicated to prevent her from being eaten by the Wildling.
Daddy, who also happens to be the sheriff, tells Anna that the Widling has eaten all the children and she is the last one left, an effort to justify his actions to her.
As time goes on, Anna eventually ventures into becoming a woman and upon her first period, Daddy starts injecting her with something to help slow down the process.
This starts to unravel the secure environment that Daddy has built for Anna and it eventually comes crashing down, leaving both Daddy and Anna in the hospital.
With Daddy recovering in the hospital, Anna ends up in the care of another sheriff, played by Liv Tyler whose horrendous “acting” derails mostly every scene she is involved in.
I cannot stress how BAD Tyler was in this. Monotone. Unemotional. Expressionless. It was a terrible performance all the way around.
Anna is now in the home with the new sheriff and her high-school brother who she befriends and, eventually, develops a romantic relationship with.
But, Anna starts to change, becoming more like an animal.
Anna and her housemate attend a party where a class bully attempts to rape her, but Anna kills him, so now, the whole town is after her.
This is where the movie takes a nosedive.
Suddenly, Daddy is back, and despite the fact he was illegally harboring and imprisoning a child, he apparently stills holds his position and wields authority.
Despite evidence of rape, the bully is now the victim of a heinous murder, something that just doesn’t sit right with you in terms of the story playing out.
Also, if you’re a sheriff in this town, not only can you avoid jailtime for imprisoning a child and injecting her with crude medicines that constitute abuse, but you can also direct a forest fire that nearly burns down the entire forest, all so you can kill that little girl.
The movie garners a laugh when Anna and her “boyfriend” make a jump off the cliff. While the film was beautifully shot, this part was so terribly CGI’d that it’s laughable.
Fright Nerd Score
40
frights
Summary
If you're looking for a movie that start strong and then completely falls into an abyss of ridiculousness OR you want to see Liv Tyler's uncomfortable "performance", this is for you.
Fright Nerd Score40
