While on assignment in the jungles of Nepal, photojournalist Ted Harrison (Michael Pare) and his girlfriend are savagely attacked by a hideous beast which tears the woman to shreds and leaves Ted badly mauled. He later returns to the States to live near his sister Janet (
Mariel Hemingway), nephew Brett (Mason Gamble) and their German shepherd Thor, hoping the presence of family will dispel the horrific memories... until the inevitable effects of a werewolf curse begin to surface. As his humanity begins slipping away, only the family dog begins to suspect something is wrong -- but poor Thor ends up being the chief suspect in a string of recent mutilation murders. Writer/director Eric Red's script (based on the novel Thor by Wayne Smith) plays with the standard werewolf conventions -- territory already barren after being strip-mined by a plethora of
Howling sequels -- but tends to retreat into cliché too often to kick it more than a notch or two above the average direct-to-video fodder. Cinematographer Jan Kiesser's widescreen compositions lend a threatening edge to the woodland locations but are sadly lost to cable and home-video formatting. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide