Lucha de fuego

Unscrupulous oil company boss Stark (Robert Picardo) orders his workmen to blast an ancient Indian artifact with C4 explosives, unleashing Monsterwolf, a vicious, shoddily-rendered, CGI animal spirit dedicated to defending native Americans in their time of need.

Monsterwolf doesn't like workmen. Monsterwolf doesn't like litterbugs. Monsterwolf doesn't like sell-outs. Monsterwolf doesn't like drunk drivers. Monsterwolf doesn't like being hit by a truck. Monsterwolf doesn't like mercenaries. Monsterwolf doesn't like Stark. And I sure as hell didn't like Monsterwolf, yet another crappy, low budget SyFy production sent to test the patience of horror fans.

Poor performances, a generic script, dreadful direction and cheezy special effects all go to make this one hell of a chore to sit through. A heavy-handed score works hard to inject some urgency and excitement into proceedings but is woefully unsuited to the lacklustre action. Worst of all, perhaps, is a truly amateurish animated sequence that tells of the Indian legend of the Monsterwolf.

2.5 out of 10, generously rounded up to 3 for Leonor Varela as tasty tattooed hotshot lawyer Maria, who swaps her power-suit for a tight white vest to battle the beast, and for Jon Eyez' laughable performance as hired killer Coughlin, the actor doing a half-assed impression of Ving Rhames from Pulp Fiction for his role.