A horror-comedy whodunit featuring some of our favorite gays, ‘Werewolves Within’ is an underrated gem

The biggest blockbuster of the year so far has been the animated Super Mario Bros. Movie, which already earned enough cash to enter the ranks of the Top 20 highest-grossing movies in the world. Ever.

Historically, video game adaptations haven’t had a lot of success at the movie theater (just look at the first Mario Bros. movie from 30 years ago), but given the record-shattering amount of money Mario, Princess Peach, and the rest of their Nintendo pals have raked in ($1.3 billion and counting), we’re pretty sure we’re about to enter a new era of gaming characters on the big screen.

With that in mind, before video game adaptations take over the box office, we wanted to bring your attention to an under-seen gem of movie from just a few years back that’s fresh, funny, and queer-inclusive: Werewolves Within.

Based on the 2016 multiplayer VR game for the Oculus, Windows, and Playstation, you might not be familiar with the game itself, but we can almost guarantee you already know how to play it.

Werewolves Within is, itself, inspired by the popular party game known as Werewolf—or, Mafia—in which players are secretly sorted into one of two groups: Werewolves and villagers. If you’re in the former group, your goal is to covertly “kill off” the villagers one by one each round. The villagers, then, must debate and decide who among them is a werewolf, naming the correct suspects before it’s too late.

The role-playing nature of the game and the absence of any deeper narrative makes its the perfect sandbox for a film to play in, which is exactly what Werewolves Within does, taking creative liberties to create a fun horror-comedy whodunit that’ll keep you guessing, laughing, and screaming.

Instead of the game’s medieval fantasy setting, the 2021 movie takes us to the snowy mountain town of Beaverfield, where forest ranger Finn Wheeler (Veep‘s Sam Richardson) has been newly assigned.

As he quickly discovers, there’s already plenty of tension in Beaverfield—before the titular creature shows up—as the residents quibble over the construction of a new pipeline in their otherwise sleepy village.

But after a few folks go missing and a mysterious power outage, everyone finds themselves holed up in the local lodge, which is when it dawns on them: Someone among them is the werewolf. As the body count rises, the survivors point their figures and try to apprehend the culprit… not unlike the gameplay of Werewolf! Pretty ingenious, really.

While the movie has its fair share of jumps and scares, it functions primarily as a comedy, populating its game cast with hilarious scene-stealers and character actors as its suspects/potential victims. Among them are Milana Vayntrub (perhaps best recognized from her many AT&T commercials), Michaela Watkins (SNL, Wanderlust), Sarah Burns (Enlightened), and Orange Is The New Black stars Catherine Curtin and Michael Chernus.

And then, mostly notably, there’s out, queer actors—and Queerty‘s personal favorites—Cheyenne Jackson and Harvey Guillén as wealthy husbands Devon and Joaquin Wolfson, respectively. Could their last name be a rather obvious hint to the movie’s central mystery? We’ll never tell.

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Described as an “ex-city, nature-loving, millionaire power couple,” Jackson and Guillén have a blast in the roles with a fantastic on-screen chemistry, only getting funnier the more dire their situation becomes.

It may be a small town, but no one has any qualms with their relationship—it’s mostly because they’re rich snobs that their neighbors are eager to throw them under the bus when the sh*t hits the fan.

Still, Devon and Joaquin stick to their guns and stick together even as Beaverfield’s residents begin tearing themselves apart. It’s pretty sweet, actually, and very, very funny. And, it may seem like a small thing, but given the scope of video game film adaptations we’ve seen previously, Werewolves Within stands out all the more for prominently featuring a gay couple, even among an ensemble.

Sure, it may be a stretch to classify Werewolves Within as “queer cinema,” but considering how much we gays love whodunits and party games, the movie is pitched to our sensibilities—so long as you don’t mind a little campy, bloody mayhem.

Plus, any movie that lets us watch Guillén stretch out Jackson’s calves for a little hot yoga is a must-see in our book!

Werewolves Within is available for digital rental via AppleTV, Google Play, Prime Video, Vudu, and YouTube TV.