[Documentary Review] WEREWOLVES UNEARTHED

Spooky Season has made its arrival once more, and if you need to take a break from fictionalized slashers, the supernatural, and other horror narratives, Small Town Monsters has released a documentary on werewolf sightings. Titled WEREWOLVES UNEARTHED, director and documentarian Ward Hiney teams up with writer and journalist Chad Christy, aided by camera operator and “tag-along” Justin Domhoff, to conduct an investigation in western Philadelphia and the Ohio Valley over the course of five to six days.

WEREWOLVES UNEARTHED is not the greatest documentary around, and it may be due to sound editing in areas where the quality of speech and dialogue is not sufficiently clear yet is good enough in such a way that exterior noises cannot be heard. Hiney and Domhoff shot this documentary with what recording devices they had. However, one question that must be constantly asked whilst watching this roughly hour-and-twenty-minute film is: “Does this crew possess enough resources and evidence to confirm the existence of a werewolf or werewolves, or, in their specific situation, dogman or dogmen?”

Spirituality versus Research

One point made to gauge the authenticity of this documentary is the assertion that the North American West Coast has more physical research, while residents on the East Coast–that is, those interviewed here–at least have their limited spiritual “feelings”. On the one hand, the several individuals interviewed deliver their own personal accounts of werewolf sightings, most descriptions of which lend to what is already widely known about werewolves from popular media that we have seen beforehand.

One particular element of these descriptions is the size of the creature and the distance from which it or they have been spotted. The sightings have all occurred during nighttime, and even one interviewee and his colleagues have borne witness to a werewolf around 3:00 a.m. following their night shift. The fact that this sighting occurred at this time is interesting because folklore cites the period between 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. as the witching hour or the devil’s hour, an hour where it has been said to be associated with supernatural events. This same witness also mentions the decision to interact with these kinds of creatures as left up to “whatever high power you believe in.”

Another witness describes a creature as “demonic” and “unworldly,” while one of the crew says a Christian prayer before attempting their own findings at night. Unfortunately, the documentary does not appear to possess any solid evidence other than sightings and spiritual “beliefs,” and it concludes without providing any answers or solutions as to what the trio has set out to do.

Are WEREWOLVES UNEARTHED?

With a stronger budget, more equipment, and even more witnesses to the sightings of the dogman, WEREWOLVES UNEARTHED might head in a potent and substantial direction with its mission. The brief discussion about the alleged “rivalry” between the Sasquatch and Dogman is an interesting point to make as it reminds viewers of the possible existence of one or both kinds of creatures. To add to the matter, the size of the dogman being several feet tall sounds intriguing, even eerie to ponder. Yet, to spot this figure from hundreds of feet away is a truth that can easily be disputed.

There needs to be more reported attributes about the dogman’s physicalities to corroborate claims that have been made. Otherwise, all that will be had is premature conclusions.

The feature-length documentary is now available on Amazon Prime Video and YouTube. Following a TVOD release, WEREWOLVES UNEARTHED will bow on Tubi. A special 4K, ad-free version will also be available for Small Town Monsters YouTube subscribers.