PRESENTS

MONSTER DESIGN - Werewolf yes! Not beyond things we've traditionally seen but done well
MONSTER INTERACTION - Just about fully interactive.
MONSTER ORIGINALITY - rather appreciated the mixture of traditional werewolf with some additional modernizations.
MONSTER FEAR FACTOR - We did always wonder what she was going to do but there didn't feel like a massive amount of suspense from my end.

PRACTICAL EFFECTS - Some commendable blood sequences and natural element.
CGI/ANIMATION - A nice looking dear. Some rough generated jumping moments that pulled me out of the film.
FX MAKEUP - Some strong and nuanced elements that enhanced the storyline well.

STORY - This is where the film felt split in my enjoyment as well as it's genre in storyline
CHARACTERS - I didn't buy a good deal of the character relationships. However, on their own they had depth and intrigue.
DIALOGUE - Nothing felt outside of the ordinary but it also lived mildly in the world of tropey teen wolf movies.

I feel like I may be being a little harsh on this film AND something I can't fully get over is the over-sexualization and the storyline teetering on a "Teen Wolf," type film. In my eyes, a few shots and moments felt forced and unnecessary in the intent of showing partial nudity or sexual content. I would have loved to see this film turn away from the stereotypical teen desires and more towards a bloodthirsty and relentless tide of nature engulfing the leads actions. I rathe enjoyed some of the blood and practical effects and early in the film, we witness some interesting shots. However, and I hate to come back to this, many of the romantic or high intensity moments felt unearned or too fast in the arch of the piece. Lastly, the acting for the majority of the characters felt very real and you could see them working very hard. I just wish they could have tied that same energy into connecting with one another both in writing and in relationship.