Frank Grillo and Steven C. Miller are bringing a unique twist to an iconic horror monster inWerewolves. After making his debut with the grisly horror movieAutomation Transformation, Miller went on to find success directing both horror and action projects, including 2012’sSilent Night, a remake of the 1984 cult classic, andmultiple Bruce Willis movies, including 2015’sExtractionand 2017’sFirst Kill. Grillo is similarly known for his work in both genres, namely starring in multiple installments ofThe Purgefranchise and playing Brock Rumlow/Crossbones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Rick Flag Sr. in James Gunn’s upcoming DC Universe reboot.
Grillo stars inWerewolvesas Wesley Marshall, a biological scientist and former special ops soldier studying the supermoon event that occurred one year before the film’s start, in which every human on the planet had a latent gene triggered that turned millions into the titular creatures and led to millions more deaths. With the supermoon set to return one year later, Wesley and a group of fellow scientists race to find a cure to prevent more deaths, though their efforts will prove troublesome when the public begins turning.
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Alongside Grillo, the ensembleWerewolvescast includesNCISstar Katrina Law,Godfather of Harlem’s Ilfenesh Hadera, Golden Globe nominee Lou Diamond Phillips,Heroesalum James Kyson and James Michael Cummings, among others. Featuring stellar practical effects and creature designs from two-time Oscar nominee Alec Gillis, well-known for his work on theAlienandPredatorfranchises, and his team at Amalgamated Dynamics, as well as fast-paced action and interesting world-building, the movie proves to be an energetic and wild take on the werewolf subgenre.
In anticipation of the movie’s release,Screen Rantinterviewed director Steven C. Miller and star Frank Grillo to discussWerewolves, how the movie is a combination of action and horror in a similar vein to thePurgemovies, working with Gillis and his team to create the designs for the titular creatures, some of the other genre influences they had, and the potential for Grillo to return forThe Purge 6.
The Horror & Action Genres Have More In Common Than Some May Think
“…for me, it was the perfect blend…”
Screen Rant: I am so thrilled to chat aboutWerewolves. I watched it yesterday, and it is just such a fun ride from start to finish. Steven, I’ll turn to you first. You’re no stranger to both the action and the horror genres, but I’d love to hear what it was like finding the right balance between the two genres as you were putting this together.
Steven C. Miller: You know what’s great about horror and action is they’re both all about timing, right? You’re only going to get that scare from the right timing, the right cut, the right split second. Action is the same way. Action only works if it’s got great timing and great people behind it. So for me, it was the perfect blend, because I had already done a lot of horror, a lot of action, and to be able to come to something like this, add werewolves to the mix, it was just something that was really fun.
Werewolves' Similar Vibe ToThe PurgeWas What Drew Grillo In
Frank, I’ll turn to you next. Obviously, I’m a bigPurgefan, and I couldn’t help but have little flashbacks to that here and there. But what was it about this project that drew you to want to be a part of it? Was it that sort of similar feeling? Was it your character?
Frank Grillo: Yeah, I keep saying it, I read the script, I immediately called him, and I was like, “Brother, this is The Purge meets werewolves.” I said, specifically, Anarchy, it feels like Anarchy meets werewolves. And we’ve said it a few times, we had to kind of tone it down. We had to tweak the script a bit so it wasn’t too much like Purge, but that’s how I described the film, because I know how many people love those Purge movies, specifically Anarchy and Election. If you like those movies, you’ll love this movie. It’s got all of that, plus werewolves, and that’s it. That’s what attracted me to it. I know this world, I know how to do this.
The Team Turned To “A Master” To Create The Movie’s Werewolves
Miller & Grillo Were Afraid Of The Effects For A Very Different Reason
So, speaking of the werewolves, Steven, I’ll turn back to you, because I love how much of a mix they are of practical and CGI, with most of the CGI just being the transformations themselves. Can you talk me through, again, that process of finding that balance, especially since this is more of an indie production versus a big studio movie, where you have lots of money to create these things?
Steven C. Miller: That’s always the challenge when you’re dealing with an indie movie, is trying to get the creature right. I think that’s something that I’ve got to attest to Myles [Nestel] and the producers really focusing on, from the very beginning, making sure that was something we got absolutely right. We knew if we didn’t get the monster right, the audience wasn’t sold. And so to get the monster right, we turned to the guy that could do it, that’s Alec Gillis. Alec Gillis has done insane [stuff with] Predator, you know, we’re talking Pumpkinhead. The guy is a master, so we really wanted to get him. Lucky enough, we got him, and his creature designs were great, and it was awesome.
Frank Grillo: People don’t shout out producers enough, but Myles Nestel, who produced this film, who I did a movie called Wheelman with for Netflix, without his belief in the movie and going above and beyond what he was initially going to do in post, we wouldn’t have had this. So, hats off to Myles Nestel for having the vision and taking the care and the time in post to make this movie look like a studio film.
Steven C. Miller: We were lucky he was a horror nerd, right? He loved these kinds of movies, so he really got behind us, and me and Frank went on a couple different tangents of doing things on our own that I don’t know that he was expecting what we do in the movie. So, it’s good on him for allowing us to really play around with us.
I want to quickly expound on that just a little bit, and hear about the designs themselves, because they do feel so much bigger and so much more visceral than most werewolf designs that we see in film.
Steven C. Miller: Well, one of the movies we talked about very early on was Dog Soldiers. In Dog Soldiers, the werewolves are so menacing. They’re big, they’re hulking, they’re not hunched over, they’re not sparkly, like other kinds of movies, right? So, for me, that was really important. We started out pretty much with a really hairy wolf, then me and Alec just kept started shaving them down. And then he started really honing in the abs, and what they were gonna look like. And it just became more apparent that the stronger these things looked, the scarier they were. So, that was something that was really cool.
I love that thought process. Frank, what was your first reaction when you saw the full prosthetic werewolf suit on set?
Steven C. Miller: You’ve got to remember when you’re showing Frank the werewolf for the first time, it’s probably the scariest moment of my career, because you just don’t know, right? He hasn’t seen it yet.
Frank Grillo: [Laughs] When I saw it — because I’m an old-school guy, I love everything practical — I was like, “I don’t know if this is gonna work, but this is cool. This I want to be a part of.” And it was funny, because my kids were there for a minute in Puerto Rico visiting me, and I said, “We’re gonna see the wolves, come to the set.” I got them there, and of course, kids being kids, they looked at me, and they go, “That’s not that scary.” It frightened me! I was frightened, and then I saw the film. I showed them and I’m like, “See? You were wrong.”
Yeah, it works when you’re not just staring at it without the proper mood lighting and fake blood.
Frank Grillo: Exactly. [Laughs]
Steven C. Miller: I think he was probably standing there with a blow-dryer trying to keep cool.
Frank Grillo: He was eating, like, a taco, and my son was like, “No, not that scary.”
Steven C. Miller: I think my son was there too. My 10-year-old was like, “I don’t know, dad.” But I think that’s the beauty of filmmaking is what we put on screen and what the camera sees, what you guys see, is the magic. There’s something cool about that.
Grillo Went On An “Emotional Journey” With HisWerewolvesCharacter
“You have to have that heart…”
Frank, I’d also love to hear more about your character, because he isn’t the typical action hero that we’ve seen you play here and there. He’s far more intelligent, he’s trying to think as much as he will fight in this situation. Can you talk me through that balance of the action hero side with the more intellectual side of him?
Frank Grillo: Yeah, I’ve done a bunch of movies where I played the mercenary and the special ops guy. This guy was a scientist with a background in military ops, and, for me, what I loved about the script, also, is there’s a bit of a journey emotionally. I’m a guy who’s really not had a family or a wife, and I’m left at year two with my brother’s family, being responsible for them.
So it’s this kind of emotional journey for me, while I’m dealing with all this craziness that’s going on. It does give the movie some weight. It gives the movie some emotional weight, and for the audience to really get attached to me and to my family and want them to live. I think that’s what’s important in films like this. You have to have that heart, the balance of that, because it’s pretty intense once it gets going.
Steven C. Miller: Yeah, I think that’s also what’s really fun about the character, is that he’s learning that along the way. It’s not something he had instinctually from the very beginning, I feel like you were constantly learning, as you were going on, how you were going to take care of this family.
Frank Grillo: And how I was going to take my shirt off. [Laughs]
Steven C. Miller: As much as he could. [Laughs]
Frank Grillo: That was really why I took the film. It’s just so I could take my shirt off.
Steven C. Miller: Right, the initial conversation was, “Do I get to take my shirt off?”
Frank Grillo: That’s all I want to do at my age. [Laughs]
So, part of your journey is also working with Katrina Law’s character, who is someone who is also on her own emotional journey. I’d love to hear what it was like finding that rapport and that dynamic with her as you were filming?
Frank Grillo: Yeah, she and I, as well as Ilfenesh [Hadera] and I, we found a rapport early on, really quickly, and it felt as if we knew each other for a long time. They were both tremendous actors, and it was really easy to act across from them. And they were both gamers, they’re both physical. So, running through the streets with Katrina was like, I couldn’t keep up with her. [Chuckles] I really couldn’t, she’s fast and tough. They’re both strong women, and they’re both beautiful. It was easy.
Steven C. Miller: And from my perspective of really trying to help them out, we actually shot a lot of this chronologically. So, I think that really helps when you’re an actor and getting to know someone, you’re actually doing it as the movie progresses. So yeah, it really helped in our process.
Frank Grillo: And Puerto Rico, it’s like being on vacation.
Steven C. Miller: Yeah, it was in Puerto Rico, everybody’s having fun.
Grillo Isn’t Sure He’ll Be Back ForThe Purge 6(But May Have A Different Franchise Lined Up)
“I might not be available…”
So Frank, I did want to ask you really quickly. We talked about how this is a lot like The Purge with werewolves, but I’m stillholding out hope forThe Purge 6. Have you heard any updates?
Frank Grillo: I heard they are working on it. I don’t know if I’ll be in it. I don’t know. I know they’ve had some conversations. We’ll see what happens. I might not be available, I might be doing Werewolves 2 and 3.
Steven C. Miller: That’s a good point. Yeah.
I mean, this world feels so ready to just keep growing with future years. So Steven, have you and Matthew had any talks for sequels?
Steven C. Miller: Yeah, we’ve had talks. Me and Frank have had talks. We feel like we’re ready to get there. We want to do it.
Frank Grillo: We have a great story. I don’t know if I can break it here, but we have a great story where a werewolf takes over the White House. [Laughs]
AboutWerewolves
In WEREWOLVES, a supermoon event has triggered a latent gene in every human on the planet, turning anyone who entered the moonlight into a werewolf for that one night. Chaos ensued and close to a billion people died. Now, a year later, the Supermoon is back….
Werewolves
Cast
Werewolves is a sci-fi thriller set a year after a supermoon triggers a genetic mutation in humans, turning them into werewolves and causing massive casualties. As the supermoon returns, two scientists race to prevent another outbreak while grappling with the impending threat and their personal connections.
