Technically, this stand-alone episode is part of the extended MCU. It’s absolutely charming as a Halloween tidbit, though, and may become one of my routine annual watches. Let’s see if it stands up to a fisk. But, please! Watch it first so my spoilers don’t ruin the enjoyment.
ONE
Begin the Marvel credit introduction, and then, with a screech and a slash mark, change it from color to black-and-white. Put the theme song in a minor key. Roll credits in the style of an original monster movie from the 1930s.
Voiceover narration introduces the darker side of the Marvel heroes, the monsters that operate beneath the surface and their hunters. Introduce the Bloodstone family. The patriarch wields a supernatural relic, the bloodstone. (Wait, is the family named after the necklace, or vice versa, lol?)
TWO
Continue with illustrative sketches while the narrator informs us that Ulysses Bloodstone has died. The position of head of the family and the ownership of the relic are now up for grabs. Switch to live action as the narrator announces that tonight is his funeral. (And continue with B&W, throughout.)
Establish a wooded landscape with a many-windowed domed building situated in the middle. The narrator sets the Rules of the Magic: Global hunters, strangers, meet for a ceremonial hunt that will decide who next wields the bloodstone.
Reveal our main character, panning up from his feet, as the narrator proclaims, “Woe to the monster who finds itself” among the hunters. He’s a man in a suit, regular except for dark eye circles and a strange chalk-like face tattoo. (It will take a long time before we’re told his name, but I can’t just keep calling him “our hero”. He’s Jack.)
THREE
Jack stands in a hallway covered in fresco paintings that crudely depict monster kills. He pauses and frowns at the werewolf picture. The hallway opens into the domed room we saw from the outside. Sopranos wail as the camera pans to the chandeliers and the taxidermy trophies. Others, dressed as formally as him, wait in the room. He strolls, looking about.
FOUR
A butler taps the shoulder of a woman wearing a black veil (presumably the widow).
(Oh! Look at that! As she rushes away, Jack stands next to a box with a red stone — the only splash of color.)
Close on it as he draws nearer, and the red light flashes in a beam.
A tall Scots with a big beard greets him and brags about the number of kills he has. Then he admires Jack’s skull make-up. (Oops, not a tattoo.) They are to remain anonymous, apparently, except for Ulysses. The Scots gestures to an upright, black-draped casket.
A woman in a leather jacket enters.
Cut to the Widow walking briskly down the hallway to meet this woman, Elsa. The veil mottles the Widow’s face like leprosy, and she snipes at Elsa, who only asks for what’s hers. (They vehemently don’t like each other.) The Widow wonders if she’s up for the hunt after all these years without training. Elsa retorts that she just didn’t train with her father.
Okay, establish that the Widow is not Elsa’s mother. In the tradition of the ‘30’s homage, Elsa remains a cool customer: A mix of femme fatale and hard-boiled detective.
Tossing back her veil, the Widow strides confidently into the trophy room.
The hunters sit in a circle while the Widow congratulates them for their kills, listing off their totals. The Scots has the most, at 57, but Jack has “over one hundred deaths”. The change in phrasing is noticeable.
Theatrically, the Widow embraces the casket and speaks fondly. Interrupting her, Elsa takes a chair and grates it across the floor to her spot. After gushing on, the Widow announces that Ulysses has prepared his statement. The butler takes a large handle and inserts it into a hole in the casket. Cranking, he opens the viewing doors at the top. Inside, arms crossed over his chest, is the dead Ulysses. (He gestures and speaks like a classic animatronic from a Disneyland ride.) Jack looks unsettled, while others smile at the spectacle.
It’s time for the hunt to decide who will carry the bloodstone. Soon a monster will be released into these “sacred” grounds. The hunter who slays this beast will become the new leader, taking possession of the stone. (Insert the box, the stone still the only thing with color.) Ulysses’ dead hands close over his chest and the butler cranks the lid closed.
Then the butler pivots to open the doors to the bloodstone box. Elsa’s reaction is watchful. Ah, the Widow clearly states that the stone belonged to Elsa by birthright, but she’s “forsaken” that right through absence. For the hunt, weapons have been placed throughout the garden.
Lifting the red brooch and holding it out, the widow dramatically states that the stone will be affixed to the monster’s hide. (Cue a worried look from Jack.) The stone will weaken the beast, but also make it angry.
Now that the hunt is imminent, some contestants complain about Elsa. Has she earned the right like they have? Where’s her medallion? The Widow overrides the complaints. Elsa is welcome. And, like everyone else . . . she’s fair game. Then we have some sort of ritual. Turn in your medallion in exchange for — I can’t tell, lol, it’s in B&W — something they each draw from a skull surrounded by candles. Oh, it’s a little marked tile, like drawing straws. Jack shall go first.
Out in the garden, all stand around as snarling is heard. The Widow proclaims that the stone is in place, and now the first hunter begins. Hahaha! A tuba with fire from the trumpet is blown by a man leading Jack up to the gate. While the music hoomphs, the others chant some ritualistic verse with the Widow. Guards stand outside a monolithic archway, and Jack walks through. The camera rises over the top to reveal a labyrinth of stone, stairs, and foliage. The music crescendos.
And now, we’re just with Jack in the quiet. As he navigates the maze, looking around, we hear the tuba, indicating the next hunter will enter. Tuba, hunter. We see a shot of each as they prowl about. When we get to Elsa, a phonograph plays. Oh, it’s actually a practical in the maze. She approaches and lifts off the arm.
We’re with Jack as he continues to look around. Cymbal crash as he rounds a corner and meets Elsa, both of them (and us) jumping with a start. Jack suggests they “pass each other by”. Elsa attacks him, but no, she’s knocking him clear of the Scots, who swings his ax at Jack’s head. The Scots tosses Elsa against a wall, dazing her. She comes at him, doing one of those wrap-legs-and-twirl-takedown maneuvers women superheroes now routinely (and beautifully) master. While he’s down she takes his battleax and climbs away.
(Oh, brilliant! A projector’s mark flashes in the upper corner of the screen, as if we’re watching an actual film that needs a reel change. I love such detail.)
Elsa, wielding the ax, steps slowly and carefully through the maze. In a doorway she sees a very large footprint. She inches toward a little house. Clicking noise. As the door opens she rushes it and slams a hand holding a weapon just as it fires. (Whoa, what the heck is it? A claw and a crossbow mix.) She wrestles with it until she can swing the ax and cut off its arm. Oh, it’s one of the hunters. They fight. He catches her in the leg. She ends up shooting him with his own crossbow, then rolls him off the walkway as the Scots approaches.
Here he comes, hand ax at the ready, while Elsa holds still, unseen. (He’s good at locating these secret weapons, isn’t he?) He moves on, and Elsa jumps up, undiscovered.
Back to Jack sneaking around. As he hides against a wall of ivy, a monster claw reaches through and grabs his chest. Jump-startle music. Jack grabs at the hand, and then smiles. He cuddles it and says hello. Through the foliage we see a sorta sweet monster face with glowing eyes and a forlorn expression. Jack can understand its grunts, and asks if it’s okay. He chastises it — they obviously know each other — and the monster moans. Reverse angle to show the glowing spot of red, the bloodstone, attached to its back. (It’s sad! The monster is in pain, weakened by the stone.)
SWITCH
Meanwhile, as Jack chats and reassures the monster, one of the hunters sneaks up on them. The monster warns him, and Jack dashes while the hunter chases. He slips into the little house. Oh, it’s a crypt. Elsa sits on a sarcophagus and warns him not to latch the door. Too late. The hunter outside locks them in. Elsa paces, limping from her wound.
FIVE
Jack offers to help her. Obviously distrustful, Elsa refuses and administers her own tourniquet. He insists on looking at it. As he takes off his tie and applies the cinch, Elsa questions him. You didn’t want to fight earlier, did you? Neither one of them is a hunter like the rest of the group. Why do you want the stone, Elsa asks.
Trying to strike a deal, Jack says he doesn’t want it. If she’ll help him get the monster away, he’ll get her the stone. They sit, staring at all the tombs, and talk about the requirements of family. She has the Bloodstone tradition, and he has — or he seems to have — a pack of monsters that needs saving.
Elsa remembers her family lore. She bashes in the faceplate on the sarcophagus of Crazy Aunt Frances. Reaching in, she pulls out skeletal bits that she hands down to Jack. Finally she grabs the key, and out they go.
Jack finally introduces himself and says his name! They have a plan: Jack will blow the wall, and Elsa will bring the monster to him. She takes the crossbow off the hunter corpse and gives Jack directions through the maze. Their trust in each other is tenuous, but they are a team. Haha, he tells Elsa to call the monster by its name: Ted. At the end of the joke beat, Jack asks Elsa how he’s to turn on the sticky bomb. And, of course, he activates it by mistake. They run.
Cut to the sneaking Scots who now has two weapons! He’s got a small hammer and a massive battleax. Elsa runs up behind him, pointing the arm crossbow. He turns, ready to confront her. Suddenly, a rustle in the bushes becomes the monster in full view. He slams his claw on the Scots’ head, dissolving it in an energy beam.
(Well, that was unexpected!)
The monster turns to threaten Elsa, and in the beat we long to see, Elsa forces out, “Ted?” His mean frowny face collapses into one of gentle surprise. Your friend is waiting for you, she says.
Cut to Jack, running, as he looks for the proper wall placement for the bomb. Ah, there it is. One of the outer walls has a crack. Hiding behind a stone, he tosses the ticking disc at the wall. It goes “plink” and bounces away. While Jack looks for it, cut to Elsa running with Ted following. Back to Jack, who pushes the bomb onto the crack. It falls off.
Oh, and now we see two hunters running through the maze, as well.
Jack slides the bomb into a crevice and ducks just in time. Boom, and Ted runs for the opening. Before he can leave, Elsa chains the stone on his back and pulls it free. Ted escapes.
Both Elsa and Jack smile. Jack bends to retrieve the bloodstone and it blasts him with a red explosion. He writhes while the other two hunters arrive. Elsa appears to know what this means.
Here comes everyone, the Widow, her butler, and a goon squad. Jack’s a monster, pretending to be one of their own. The butler zaps him with an electric rod. While Elsa looks down at the unconscious Jack, the butler zaps her in the back.
(Haha! Another reel change marker!)
A blurry screen resolves into Jack waking. He’s in a cage. Blinking, he regains full consciousness and look around. Elsa is in the cage, too. She sits far from him, wary. He apologizes for not telling her. Bitter, she rejects most of his explanation for how he integrates monster and human.
He locks himself away every full moon, and the next one is in five days. Nothing to worry about!
She cuts right through his cheer. The bloodstone will transform him in five seconds. And they locked her in with him for that reason.
SIX
Now he’s worried. The taxidermy trophies on the wall look down at them in their cage. As a door opens and sounds come closer, Jack begins to sniff Elsa’s hair. He wants to remember her scent.
SEVEN
Here come the ghouls, wearing black hoods. (The cage takes up the whole center of the round room!) Jack begs for them to just kill him. “Otherwise there will be no mercy, I promise.”
The Widow lowers her hood, revealing a gruesome mask. Then the mask comes off to show dark makeup like a flood of tears under her eyes. No deal, obviously. She and Elsa snipe, and we see the red bloodstone hanging around her neck. Chanting, she takes off the stone and holds it toward Jack. Overhead shot of her circling the cage while Jack writhes. He apologizes to Elsa, and she nods like a boss.
EIGHT
The bloodstone lights up, and a beam of lightning shoots from it to Jack. Red light flashes, and all the masks and monsters stare at the process. Elsa cringes.
Closeup of his fingers lengthening and eyes changing. Then we see Elsa, with Jack’s monster shadow transforming on the wall behind. (Classic!) Dolly in closer to Elsa, tormented, while human sounds become beastly.
The Widow lowers the stone and its red light, marveling at the creature in the cage. The two remaining hunters remove their masks. Laughing, the Widow takes one step closer, and Werewolf Jack grabs her arm and drags her against the cage bars. Close on her screaming face as whatever happens plays offscreen. But the trusty butler comes in with the rod and zaps her free.
Flashing lights, fur, smoke. We settle on Elsa, still seated against the bars. She looks up, as do we all. The top of the cage has been forced open. Jack is out.
Hunters prepare, the goon squad holds out their rods, the camera moves slowly about the space. Suspense builds.
From the ceiling the Werewolf jumps down and attacks. He’s a furry man who steps closer to the camera and into the light. We all get a good look at the fierce face. When he jumps impossibly high onto the top of the cage, he pauses at Elsa. Boom, and he’s after the others.
(Whoa, intense. Flashing lights and dark shadows can’t obscure how the Werewolf bites and tears at their throats.)
Elsa makes it out of the cage (somehow, shh, lol). grabs a sword, and starts fighting the other hunters. One down, one to go. Meanwhile, Werewolf Jack takes care of the goon squad staff. Oh, wow! Black blood splatters on the lens when Jack attacks. Behind him, the vertical elevator door is slowly closing off the round room’s entrance.
While Elsa battles the last hunter, Jack claws at the metal door. The Widow picks up the bloodstone and slowly approaches him. When he jumps at her, she wields the stone and its light throws him back. And again. Werewolf Jack is in trouble.
Elsa takes out the last hunter, then chains the back of the widow and yanks her flat, knocking her out. Slowly, Elsa approaches the Werewolf. She picks up the bloodstone. Then she tucks it into her back pocket and holds up her hands. In the shadows, the hurt Werewolf crouches by the door. Elsa calls his name and moves closer. Suddenly, he jumps at her, attacking.
When he pauses, she touches his face. Monster and woman stare at each other. He backs off and escapes into the labyrinth garden. Elsa slowly sits up.
And then the Widow, now conscious, screeches, “You let him go!” Ranting, she aims a shotgun at Elsa.
Crash! The ceiling breaks and Ted lands behind her. He’s big!
He grabs the Widow’s waist in both claws, and her entire frame burns while she screams. Haha, he tosses her into the casket, sending Bloodstone’s dead head rolling across the room.
Ted grunts a greeting at Elsa, who smiles. She points and says, “He went that way.”
An overhead view of the round room shows Ted strolling out, Elsa walking in from the doorway, and the butler watching it all. Dead bodies are scattered about. Obsequious, the butler immediately offers to help Elsa, his new mistress. Clear all this up, she says.
NINE
As he walks away, Elsa sits in an armchair while holding the bloodstone. It flashes red, and then color infuses the screen starting from her hand. Haha, Judy starts singing “Over the Rainbow”.
Cut to the gramophone in the woods as it continues the song. We’re still in full color now. Jack, back to himself but looking groggy, wakes at a campsite. Ted, with a French press and a cup of coffee, plays solitaire. He offers the cup to Jack, who asks if Elsa is okay. He and Ted “talk” and laugh together like old buddies.
Tilt the camera up to the cloudy blue sky as Judy finishes the song. Roll credits.
CRITICAL NOTES
Notice that a story this odd needs to world build, and yet the plot moves so freely. The style and tone help a lot, but mostly it’s just good pacing. Get to the Four and let it do the work. Don’t bog down the Two with scene-setting. Very well done.
Also notice those reel change markers. Not only does this movie hit its Enneagram beats, it runs a simultaneous Three-Act structure, indicated by those subtle, wonderful dots. A tip of the hat for that.
A Three-Act structure, something suited to theater, will often fail in film because it tricks showrunners into skipping the Enneagram’s Switch. Werewolf navigates the melding of structures beautifully. Like many Story Enneagrams, the Four here is about meeting the team and the Five is when the team joins forces. Elsa and Jack (and Ted, lol) are the team. In order to survive this crazy night and rescue his friend, Jack needs Elsa. The Switch delivers her. Jack’s journey is the basis for this movie’s Enneagram. The key beats are his; he is our protagonist.
The Three-Act, though, is about Elsa and the bloodstone. At the first reel change we know most of Elsa’s story, and we know she can fight. The Second Act is about her teamwork with Jack, but it’s also about learning how her mind works. She trusts her instincts enough to collaborate with someone she shouldn’t. Any questions we had about her ability to lead the Bloodstone clan are answered in Act Two, which ends on a great high note when Elsa is zapped. The Third Act resolves all the problems Elsa made for herself in the earlier Acts. We last see her sitting in an easy chair as if it were a throne, and the world melts around her into technicolor.
One final word of praise. Gael Garcia Bernal makes a very sympathetic monster, which is necessary. This little movie doesn’t work unless we side with Jack. The powerhouse, though, is Laura Donnelly as Elsa. If you go back to my comments on The Nevers you’ll find her knocking me flat with her talent. Here, she manages to hit all the noir notes perfectly, and yet she also feels contemporary. Everyone is good, and the film’s style flourishes are enchanting, but without a solid Jack and Elsa, this show would’ve missed the mark. I love that streaming services allow smaller projects like this to get made and seen.