A Double-Feature Review: Scare Me/Werewolves Within.

I have made no secret of how big of a Josh Ruben fan I am. The man is a talented comedian, having been a part of CollegeHumor/Dropout for so long a time. Most Dropout fans will know him as one-third of the Noise Boys, the Mama to Precious Plum, and a director/writer of other Dropout/CollegeHumor content.

However, in the vein of comedians making splashes in the horror genre, Josh Ruben has been making horror movies/performing in horror content for a few years now. He’s been in the director’s chair for Scare Me (which he also wrote,) Werewolves Within, and the upcoming Valentine’s Day themed Slasher/Romantic Comedy Heart Eyes. And he’s been in front of the camera in Scare Me, Blood Relatives, A Wounded Fawn, and was most recently in an episode of The Creep Tapes on Shudder.

I have talked before about Werewolves Within and Scare Me and how much I enjoyed them before. (I haven’t had a chance to see A Wounded Fawn and Blood Relatives yet) And since there is only a matter of time before I go see Heart Eyes in theaters, I thought I would revisit the two other horror directorial efforts of Josh Ruben and share a bit of what made me enjoy them so much.

Scare Me

I have been watching CollegeHumor/Dropout since Trapp killed Pat, so Josh Ruben was one of the main things that drew me to this movie in the first place. The concept of the movie was a really fun one.

“Two writers get snowed in during a power outage and decide to tell each other scary stories.” It’s about writers who make up scary stories on the spot, and then act them out for each other! Like, usually in this type of movie they’d have some sort of cutaway. But the actors doing all of the narration, voices, sound effects, and movements themselves jusgt adds an amazing bit of flair to this movie.

Josh Ruben and Aya Cash are the stars of this movie, both acting up a storm as we explore the dynamic between the two. Josh does a really good job of showing the slow descent into jealousy that his character Fred experiences, while Aya shows a good mix of possible ill-will and slow building unease with her character Fanny. And honestly, it’s to be expected of them to knock roles like this out of the park. Both are successful comedians and actors!

One of my favorite parts of this movie was the appearance of Chris Redd. Chris Redd is a comedian I mostly know from his time as a cast member on Saturday Night Live where he’s played Kanye West and a lot of other funny roles. But I also know him from Vampires vs The Bronx where I was also really surprised to see him (which is a really good movie!)

These three characters and the stories they come up with are a good balance of comedy and horror, with the overarching story of Fred’s jealousy due to Fanny’s excellence as an author always looming over every scene.

You can really tell that this movie is written by an experienced author, not because of the quality of the writing of the film. But because of the emotions that you see from each writer in the movie. Fanny and Fred both have their own issues as authors, and that is just so real. Like it’s so easy to want to be envious of someone wildly successful in a craft that you just seem to exist in, and I feel like Josh nailed that part of Fred’s character.

I really enjoyed seeing this film. I highly recommend it as both a writer and a horror fan. It’s currently streaming on Shudder to my knowledge and is sitting at a solid four out of five skulls. So if you’re intrigued, I’d say check it out. I tried to keep this as spoiler-free as I could.

Werewolves Within

This movie was one I watched for the first time a few months back. It was a delightful whodunnit, horror comedy for pretty much all of its runtime. It stars Sam Richardson and Milana Vayntrub (who is Lily from all those AT&T commericals, just to give out a fun fact) and takes place in a small town that is threatened by a propsed pipeline and (eventually) and a snowstorm that brings about an attack by a mysterious creature.

The movie does a really good job of giving us a bunch of characters to suspect/root for. There aren’t too many characters, but there are enough to play a real, fun game of Ultimate Werewolf with. And there are plenty of suspects to the point, where it is exciting to look for clues in the movie to see if you can figure out who the werewolf(ves) is(are) by the end. Besides the two leads, I really loved Harvey Guillen and Catherine Curtin in their roles. Both really made me excited any time they came on screen.

Do I think the reveal was a bit too obvious? Yes and no. My sister clocked whodunnit almost immediately. I do wish that they did more with a certain aspect of the movie, which I will not spoil, because it’s not my place. I do however, love all of the plot set-ups that took place. The clues that set up the identity(ies) of the werewolf(ves) were clear and consistent, so it didn’t feel farfetched, and the foreshadowing to the endgame scene was pretty good (As someone who has done axe-throwing before, I love it so much.) There is a part where one character — not only correctly susses out a werewolf — but accurately backs up the information with “receipts.”

It’s a delightful watch, especially with friends. This movie is currently streaming on Shudder with a five out of five skull rating. And honestly, that is a correct rating for this movie. It’s campy, twisty, a little scary, and a whole lot of fun to watch. Check it out if you can.

Heart Eyes

To say I am excited to see Heart Eyes is an understatement. I love horror comedy and romance, just as much as I love a good slasher. Throwing all of that together with Josh Ruben at the helm, and several noteable horror names like Olivia Holt, Mason Gooding, Devon Sawa, Jordana Brewster; AND a writing credit from Christopher Landon?

Yeah, you could say I am pretty damn stoked to see this movie. The trailer looked really cool, and the killer’s design looks pretty terrifying. I’d hate to come home to find him in my closet. Wow.

I’ll update my blog with a short, spoiler-free review when I return from Indiana. This post is going up the day that I leave. So by the time you read this, I’ll be in the air or in Indiana.