19 reviews
UK title: Night of the Wolf. It's snowing outside, it's Xmas & a power cut somehow releases all of the dangerous inmates from their cells, meaning a fight for survival ensues. The inmates are the best thing about this film. Included amongst them are a cannibal, well played by Sand Ross, a huge hulk like man who hates red light (!), "God", child killer & a naked man with an extreme foot fetish. This is an Andrew Cymek movie - he wrote, directed, edited, etc - but sadly he also played one of the lead roles & this is a guy who can't act if his life depended upon it. And he's not alone here. Fortunately Brigitte Kingsley, who plays his wife, not only looks great but is one of the few decent performances.
It gets worse. Not only do we get bad acting but also some woeful dialogue. Really couldn't decide if this film was attempting to be funny at times but if so it failed miserably. At 106 minutes it is painfully too long, I just wanted the end credits to roll but amazingly resisted the temptation to hit the FFWD button. The Anchor Bay DVD comes with an alternative ending but it makes no difference, this is a pile of predictable crap either way!
- Stevieboy666
- Jan 17, 2018
- Permalink
The plot: When a system error releases all the prisoners in a high security psychiatric hospital, visitors and staff are hunted down by the most dangerous patients, including a newly arrived serial killer.
By any standard, this is a terrible movie. However, I reject the inevitable calls of "worst movie ever made". The acting and writing suck, but it's just not boring enough to qualify.
There are many scenes in this movie that defy common sense, but if you're watching low budget, independent, direct-to-video horror movies, I imagine that you're not all that concerned with such matters. If, however, you're expecting this ridiculous movie to make any kind of sense or exist in the real world, then I see why you'd be very disappointed. From the beginning, it seemed like this was a pretty big ripoff of Arkham Asylum, a fixture of Batman comic books. It even has a cheap Bane knockoff, a menacing head psychiatrist, and a tormented crime-fighter. I mean, really, how much more derivative can you get?
Still, despite the lack of originality, bad writing, bad acting, and iffy directing, I was able to sit through the entire movie. I think that should count for something. I've decided to be somewhat generous and award this movie a 4/10. It's bad, but it's nowhere near bad enough for some of the hyperbolic criticism that it has attracted.
By any standard, this is a terrible movie. However, I reject the inevitable calls of "worst movie ever made". The acting and writing suck, but it's just not boring enough to qualify.
There are many scenes in this movie that defy common sense, but if you're watching low budget, independent, direct-to-video horror movies, I imagine that you're not all that concerned with such matters. If, however, you're expecting this ridiculous movie to make any kind of sense or exist in the real world, then I see why you'd be very disappointed. From the beginning, it seemed like this was a pretty big ripoff of Arkham Asylum, a fixture of Batman comic books. It even has a cheap Bane knockoff, a menacing head psychiatrist, and a tormented crime-fighter. I mean, really, how much more derivative can you get?
Still, despite the lack of originality, bad writing, bad acting, and iffy directing, I was able to sit through the entire movie. I think that should count for something. I've decided to be somewhat generous and award this movie a 4/10. It's bad, but it's nowhere near bad enough for some of the hyperbolic criticism that it has attracted.
This was a bad movie. Lots of decent actors in small cameo roles but all of them are completely wasted. The leads and most supporting actors are not good on a performance level but that could be the result of just having such a bad script to work with. Not much to recommend here other than seeing some good actors in very small, wasted roles.
- mrryanscott-15530
- Jul 27, 2018
- Permalink
- Luke_Watts
- Jan 16, 2012
- Permalink
I've seen bad acting and I've seen terrible acting and I've seen the W.O.R.S.T. acting now that I've seen Andrew Cymek in a movie. To call his acting wooden would be an insult to wood which is far more interesting. He has a grand total of one facial expression. How did he get cast in this? I wondered too until I checked out the credits, not sure how I made it that far in the movie I must have been real tired, but he was also director, writer, producer, pretty much everything. So he obviously thinks he has acting chops but honey he doesn't. Let's be honest, nobody in this movie was a good actor at all. The wrestler who plays a maniac who snaps every time he sees the colour red, yes you read that right, was awful. The character of Mabel was OK and got a couple laughs in her gory comic relief role but I'm sure at least partly that was in comparison to the other actors. William Davis, Test, Reso, John Rhys Davies, Mercedes McNabb, they all look super embarrassed just to be in this. Co-star Brigitte Kingsley only looks decent in her scenes with Cymek, otherwise she is almost as wooden as him. What legitimate doctor dresses like that? These two hamriffic performances are so bad the movie should at least be funny to laugh at but it's too bad even for that. The climactic scene where she's in a cage going underwater and talking to Cymek literally resulted in laughter at the most inappropriate time at their awful performances. Let's not mince words, she has huge breasts so guys will like to look at her and that's about all either 'star' has to offer in this flick. Cymek's not much of a director or writer either with terrible, predictable plot points and dialogue. Here's hoping this movie flopped so bad he'll never get money to make another one.
I cannot actually believe I was able to watch this pile of crap (and this is still a compliment). I see 22 Fb-likes and I can't believe that either.
This movie is not even good for killing time. Simple screenplay overly twisted, terribly played. I mean, I could hardly see any expression on Johnny's face. Actually nobody was terrified in this movie. The audibles is not what one can read from their lips, maybe it's re-synced, no problem, but I regret paying 100 minutes of my life watching this. Sucker Punch (which is a not-that-bad movie) should receive a hundred Oscars compared to this.
It's OK, my fault, because I ignored the IMDb ratings and I saw John Rhys-Davies starring.
This movie is not even good for killing time. Simple screenplay overly twisted, terribly played. I mean, I could hardly see any expression on Johnny's face. Actually nobody was terrified in this movie. The audibles is not what one can read from their lips, maybe it's re-synced, no problem, but I regret paying 100 minutes of my life watching this. Sucker Punch (which is a not-that-bad movie) should receive a hundred Oscars compared to this.
It's OK, my fault, because I ignored the IMDb ratings and I saw John Rhys-Davies starring.
- leonhardcastle
- Aug 13, 2011
- Permalink
Any time an independent movie is written by and directed by and stars the producer that usually means the movie is a turd and this is no exception to that rule. The acting is laughably bad and the story is so damn stupid you wouldn't believe me if I told you. Basically a crazed serial killer is locked up with other lunatics but then somebody kills the asylum's power which somehow makes all the cells open and turns on the red emergency lighting, which is extra bad because one of the crazy serial killers turns into a bull creature whenever he sees the color red. Yep it really is that stupid. Nothing in this movie is right and everyone involved in the making of this should be embarrassed to have it on their resumes.
Whatever this movie's budget is I guarantee 99% of it went into getting John Rhys Davies, Smoking Man from X Files and Mercedes McNab who was occasionally on Buffy to agree to be in this. They're in it for a total of about five minutes by the way.
This movie is a huge dud so do yourself a favor and avoid it at all costs.
- elliot_gordon1
- Jul 25, 2018
- Permalink
If you are planning on spending money on this movie... DON'T! The director needs to go back to school and learn what a movie is. Heck, he should sign up for netflix and just watch movies all day every day for the next 10 years and then he should realize that this movie wasn't bad but HORRID. Acting 101 went out the door. Please save your time, money and SANITY by not watching this movie. The few people that gave it a 10 on this site must have been drunk employees or a few actors that dared to even rate this film to try to keep it above a 5. This movie should be a 2 or 3 at best.
If you do attempt to watch this movie, please bring the following
1) Another movie to switch to when you realize that this posting was correct. 2) A few barf bags 3) Maybe a good book 4) Your IPod 5) Maybe a good psychologist to make sure you are not insane!
In short... R U N ! ! ! Don't watch this!
Hope this helps.
If you do attempt to watch this movie, please bring the following
1) Another movie to switch to when you realize that this posting was correct. 2) A few barf bags 3) Maybe a good book 4) Your IPod 5) Maybe a good psychologist to make sure you are not insane!
In short... R U N ! ! ! Don't watch this!
Hope this helps.
- ihateatandt
- Aug 13, 2011
- Permalink
Look from reading most of the reviews out their on the Internet one may drop the gun and think that this movie will turn out to be one of the worst movies ever. In all honesty it's nowhere near that level. All the movie is, is just a slasher thriller with a goofy sounding premise and quite surprisingly an affective one. From what I've seen in other reviews, they say that the acting is the biggest atrocity that's ever hit cinema. I can already name like 50 other movies with worst acting then this one. Sure sometimes the acting gets really hammy but really based on the dozens of other hammy horror films out their this shouldn't be close to an "Atrocity of acting." Editing wise it makes some rather weird turns but it's still smooth and unlike other bad movies I can tell what's going on. If your into shutting your brain off and just watch a thriller slasher flick then I think you can handle Medium Raw. I sure enjoyed it and going in I was already on the other side of my argument right now. So, definitely give it a watch sometime.
- wonderman1111
- Sep 28, 2011
- Permalink
- SusieSalmonLikeTheFish
- Dec 22, 2014
- Permalink
Not a good comedy....yes I know it's a horror movie, but it was so bad I did get a couple laughs.
The Doctor with the hooker boots channeling her best Basic Instinct cooch shot to a seemingly lesbian cannibal psych ward patient who wants to lick her. Yup, you read correctly.
Great idea to bring your granddaughter to work the same day that the kid serial killer arrives and let her watch him get wheeled in with restraints. Better yet, let the kid serial killer see her and peak his interest.
How does someone get stuck to a butcher block via knife in hand and remain unable to escape with the other free hand??? Yes this was hooker boots Doctor. Got her degree from Phoenix University.
"Are you the Woodcutter?" - the movie tag-line. Erroneously attributed to the Red Riding Wolf theme, but in reality refers to the challenge presented to the viewer...Can you cut through these wooden lifeless performances and find some enjoyment.
Davis, Davies and McNab were fair and the only reason I gave this a shot.
The Doctor with the hooker boots channeling her best Basic Instinct cooch shot to a seemingly lesbian cannibal psych ward patient who wants to lick her. Yup, you read correctly.
Great idea to bring your granddaughter to work the same day that the kid serial killer arrives and let her watch him get wheeled in with restraints. Better yet, let the kid serial killer see her and peak his interest.
How does someone get stuck to a butcher block via knife in hand and remain unable to escape with the other free hand??? Yes this was hooker boots Doctor. Got her degree from Phoenix University.
"Are you the Woodcutter?" - the movie tag-line. Erroneously attributed to the Red Riding Wolf theme, but in reality refers to the challenge presented to the viewer...Can you cut through these wooden lifeless performances and find some enjoyment.
Davis, Davies and McNab were fair and the only reason I gave this a shot.
- Scarecrow-88
- Jun 22, 2013
- Permalink
This is a stinker of a horror movie. I don't know why but for some reason the horror movie genre tends to draw wannabe film makers and movie stars to it to do sub standard horror films. This horror movie is not scary at all and is even funny most of the time which is a bad thing because it is not trying at all to be funny. The plot is so awful you can't help but laugh. The beginning starts out all right and it seems like it will become a good scary movie but once the awesome wolf costumed killer is captured it gets stupid really fast. Basically a little red riding hood killer with a metal wolf costume who kills little girls gets put into an asylum, the power goes out and yadda yadda yadda you already know where this is going. There are good supporting actors in this but the lead (Detective Johnny) is maybe the worst actor I have ever seen, as other reviews here say he has absolutely no facial expressions let alone acting ability. We laughed out loud several times as he said his lines with zero emotions. The other lead is not much better as the doctor/his wife he is separated from. Also there are a lot of really stupid plot twists. For example one of the patients becomes a homicidal bull man whenever he sees the color red. Insanely bad movie.
This is quite a bad effort but the blow is softened by this apparently being the director-writer-star's first movie (According to another review here)... the story is incredibly stupid with plot holes you could pilot an oil tanker through. The acting is really bad and the celebrities in it are only in it for a few minutes total and they're obviously just going through the motions to collect whatever their pay check is. Worst of all is the acting of the two stars but at least it adds some laughs to a movie that otherwise would be entirely unwatchable.
- nogodnomasters
- Dec 2, 2018
- Permalink
Okay, okay, this isn't the best film ever made-but don't write it off just yet. If you have already seen this film, and you absolutely hated it, then try and remember that Cymek has only directed less than a handful of projects. Even though they may not be anything particularly special (and they aren't), he still has enough skill to work in some decent dialogue, interesting (though predictable) twists, and a generous amount of gore/ways to die. I wasn't impressed, but at least this one showed some promise of a technique..that may need some fine tuning...and practice.
For those of you wondering if it's worth the time to invest..eh..it's really a question of whether you're willing to give beginner directors/writers a try. And I say go for it. I wasn't left wishing I had that time back (I've seen plenty of films that have), I found some quality aspects to the writing. For example, Johnny Morgan maintains an unusual sense of humour in some darker areas of the film..made me at least smile. There are far too many corny one-liners, but by the end, you can forgive most of them. And if you love gore related to maniacs, then you'll find a scene or two that'll make you cringe a tad.
All in all, it truly deserves a mere 5/10. Just watch it with an open mind, and decide at the end how to critique it.
For those of you wondering if it's worth the time to invest..eh..it's really a question of whether you're willing to give beginner directors/writers a try. And I say go for it. I wasn't left wishing I had that time back (I've seen plenty of films that have), I found some quality aspects to the writing. For example, Johnny Morgan maintains an unusual sense of humour in some darker areas of the film..made me at least smile. There are far too many corny one-liners, but by the end, you can forgive most of them. And if you love gore related to maniacs, then you'll find a scene or two that'll make you cringe a tad.
All in all, it truly deserves a mere 5/10. Just watch it with an open mind, and decide at the end how to critique it.
- PrincessPeachx
- Jul 5, 2012
- Permalink
After capturing a notorious serial killer, a detective and the workers at a psychiatric facility try to deal with the murderous inmates housed there when a power outage frees the criminals held inside and begin threatening the group inside.
This one turned out to be quite a fun slasher once it got going. There's a couple of rather big flaws here in the first half of the film, which is mainly based around the fact that the two conflicting subplots are barely worthwhile because there's little to make us care. It's almost impossible to care about the capture of a killer or the workings of an insane asylum when there's nothing to get us into those elements. The inmates are crazy and psychotic, while little of the investigation takes any kind of importance since there's little about it revealed that's relevant about the case or the killer revealed later. It's all dropped away in the second half here anyway with the rampage of the different lunatics, some of whom are just lame overall or clash oddly with the serious tone as they go about indulging in a matter of goofy set-pieces. This is mostly resolved by the film's middle segment where it really gets going by engaging in a series of suspenseful stalking and ambush scenes inside the creepy sanitarium as it utilizes the surroundings to its' fullest potential, has some pretty decent kills and generates a fair bit of prowess with its animal costume so there's some good to be had as well. The last positive here is a rather nice twist at the end to make all the loose threads tie up nicely and helps this one turn out pretty nice overall.
Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.
This one turned out to be quite a fun slasher once it got going. There's a couple of rather big flaws here in the first half of the film, which is mainly based around the fact that the two conflicting subplots are barely worthwhile because there's little to make us care. It's almost impossible to care about the capture of a killer or the workings of an insane asylum when there's nothing to get us into those elements. The inmates are crazy and psychotic, while little of the investigation takes any kind of importance since there's little about it revealed that's relevant about the case or the killer revealed later. It's all dropped away in the second half here anyway with the rampage of the different lunatics, some of whom are just lame overall or clash oddly with the serious tone as they go about indulging in a matter of goofy set-pieces. This is mostly resolved by the film's middle segment where it really gets going by engaging in a series of suspenseful stalking and ambush scenes inside the creepy sanitarium as it utilizes the surroundings to its' fullest potential, has some pretty decent kills and generates a fair bit of prowess with its animal costume so there's some good to be had as well. The last positive here is a rather nice twist at the end to make all the loose threads tie up nicely and helps this one turn out pretty nice overall.
Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.
- kannibalcorpsegrinder
- Apr 27, 2015
- Permalink
Directed by Andrew Cymek "Medium Raw" has a very in depth synopsis with multiple stories playing out centering around a serial killer and his connection to the other cast of characters in this action/horror flick. A rookie cop catches a notorious serial killer known as "The Wolf" who killed his sister when he was a child and left him scarred. While seeing the killer to his new digs at Parker's Asylum officer Johnny Morgan and a small group of others find them selves in a twisted battle for survival when pandemonium ensues bringing them face to face with some of the worlds sickest killers. The film stars William Davis, John Rhys Daves, Brigette Kingsley, Mercedes McNab, Jay Reso, Kristina Miller and Andrew Cymek.
"Medium Raw: Night Of The Wolf" has some really cool elements and some very bad ones. The things that I enjoyed about this film most were eclectic group of serial killers locked within the asylum and the fact that it happens on the eve of the Christmas holiday. There was a big flirtation with the Little Red Riding Hood fairytale between "The Wolf" and a small child that really should not have been in the facility to begin with. For me the most exciting thing about this film was the "smack down" concept as the killers are released from their cells forcing the people trapped inside to fight or flee in order to survive. The best character in "Medium Raw" was Mabel Hannibal. A crazy woman who was captured and locked away for killing and cooking people. If Hell has a chef then Mabel Hannibal is that chef.
The few things that fell flat for me in this blended plot structured action/horror flick are simple and only minor irritations at best. First Andrew Cymek's direction and vision for this story was awesome but his portrayal of Johnny Morgan came of a little more comical than I think it was intended. The second thing that seemed to take way from the story was the under utilization of the twisted and dark doctor of Parker's Asylum. William Davis as a sinister figure is commanding. He is evil incarnate on screen and I would have rather seen more of his character as well as the iron wolf suit than all the flashbacks to Johnny Morgan's past.
"Medium Raw: Night Of The Wolf" has a lot of good qualities to entertain. The gore and blood is there and great quality effects. The acting for the most part was believable and the haunting air of the Christmas holiday gave an added darkness to the film that I loved. The soundtrack played out perfect with the scenes and helped to bring the emotion outward. The asylum could have had a stronger story with more face time for the other killers but oh well. The fact is "Medium Raw" gives us a holiday gathering that only Hell could conjure.
"Medium Raw: Night Of The Wolf" has some really cool elements and some very bad ones. The things that I enjoyed about this film most were eclectic group of serial killers locked within the asylum and the fact that it happens on the eve of the Christmas holiday. There was a big flirtation with the Little Red Riding Hood fairytale between "The Wolf" and a small child that really should not have been in the facility to begin with. For me the most exciting thing about this film was the "smack down" concept as the killers are released from their cells forcing the people trapped inside to fight or flee in order to survive. The best character in "Medium Raw" was Mabel Hannibal. A crazy woman who was captured and locked away for killing and cooking people. If Hell has a chef then Mabel Hannibal is that chef.
The few things that fell flat for me in this blended plot structured action/horror flick are simple and only minor irritations at best. First Andrew Cymek's direction and vision for this story was awesome but his portrayal of Johnny Morgan came of a little more comical than I think it was intended. The second thing that seemed to take way from the story was the under utilization of the twisted and dark doctor of Parker's Asylum. William Davis as a sinister figure is commanding. He is evil incarnate on screen and I would have rather seen more of his character as well as the iron wolf suit than all the flashbacks to Johnny Morgan's past.
"Medium Raw: Night Of The Wolf" has a lot of good qualities to entertain. The gore and blood is there and great quality effects. The acting for the most part was believable and the haunting air of the Christmas holiday gave an added darkness to the film that I loved. The soundtrack played out perfect with the scenes and helped to bring the emotion outward. The asylum could have had a stronger story with more face time for the other killers but oh well. The fact is "Medium Raw" gives us a holiday gathering that only Hell could conjure.
- ASouthernHorrorFan
- Jul 23, 2013
- Permalink