Unnatural – review

Director: Whit Whitman

Release date: 2024

Contains spoilers

I was given access to Unnatural as a screener and my first thought was one of trepidation. The film is clearly on a budget and, though vampire themed, does contain a werewolf (Matt Headley) and werewolves and low budget can struggle to mix. In fact, the werewolf is at the head of the film and seems to have been done well. This turns out to be a solid budget western/horror and whilst it isn’t the greatest film (or even the greatest budget film) it is certainly a decent watch and a cut above many other budget films.

the werewolf

It starts with a POV camera heading towards a homestead. In there are Pa (Keith Migra) and Ma (Megan Reneau) and their kids Jessie (Charlee Carmicle) and Junior (Samuel Wilson). It is bible reading time but there is howling outside. Despite Jessie’s warning that something is wrong as ghosts are gathering (something her Ma does not accept and seen, for us, in the form of subtle motes or orbs), Pa goes outside and is immediately got by the werewolf. Ma goes out and is got as well.

the kids

The kids hide and we have seen a rider, Dan (Al Snow), heading towards the homestead. The werewolf is about to get them when Dan saves them. He is, it transpires, their estranged grandfather. His wife had been possessed and he had to exorcise her but, despite ridding her of the demon, her weakened state caused her to die. This meant his son ran away, becoming estranged from Dan. The disaster is Dan’s fault – the werewolf is a survivor of a pack he wiped out and had followed the scent of his bloodline.

vamping out

Dan does not want the responsibility of his grandkids but one of the ghosts (his wife) speaks to him and reprimands him for the attitude. He can hear ghosts but not see them, and Jessie can see them but not hear them. (Junior can fix just about anything.) Dan ends up taking the kids with him as God sends him to the town of Possum Trot. Before he gets there we see a trio of vampire hunters. They ignore the town rule of handing in their weapons, and do not get suspicious when they hear that the Sheriff, Hawken (John Wells), 'works his farm' during the day and comes to town at night (and has done so since the previous Sheriff was killed by a foreign visitor and he survived). They end up being quickly slaughtered as night falls. When Dan gets there he ignores the gun rule and also the rule of no children (though it does say that they should not be there at nightfall).

burning cross

So, vampires must be burnt or staked and are held back by garlic. Drinking holy water will make that person's blood undrinkable. They are fast and strong and there is a cool bit of surrounding a building with a burning cross of oil to trap a vampire. The night shots can be a tad too dark – most notably whilst we are trying to see the werewolf. The dialogue can be very on the nose with regards exposition. Al Snow as Dan is wonderfully surly and his delivery is natural – of course Snow is an old wrestling pro, but the character does not fall back on wrestling in the film. All in all this was a solid 5 out of 10 and it is better than many a low budget horror flick.

The imdb page is here.

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