Lycan Colony — Lycan Colony (Blu Ray)
From the early 2000’s Lycan Colony is an ultra-low budget, yet wonkily ambitious werewolf-come-action film. With tacky & badly edited 90’s PC graphics/ blood splats, dodgy green screen set-ups, some truly awful-though-of- kind- of charming acting, very cheap ‘n’ ropy looking werewolves, and generally bumbling/ bad filmmaking….we are very much in Birdemic territory. Here from Visual Vengeance is a recent Blu-Ray release of the picture- with a good selection of extras.
Lycan Colony is from the year 2006, and it was written/ directed by Rob Roy. It's his one & only completed feature to date- though he has in production Damaged Disciples, which finds an anally retentive atheist social worker who stumbles upon a society of Angel and Demons. Though he has Cinematographer credits for two 2021 shorts- Weapon of Choices - The Making Of, kinda sorta, not really, what the f is a pandemic?, and The Handler II - City Dog.
The film is based in a woodland set New Hampshire town. Recently moved into the area is ex-acholic, baldly and paunchy Dr. Daniel Solomon (Bill Sykes)- with his blond forty-something wife Sandy (Kadrolsha Ona Carole), and their wiry dark-haired teen son Stewart (Ryan Roy). One night, while sitting in his bedroom in the half-light Stewart gets a knock at his window- it’s a teen girl who says she’s a neighbour- she convinces him to join her out in the night- as mom & dad laying snoring on the sofa.
The pair head to the local graveyard- once again in the half-light, with badly dubbed over-the-top laughter & banter on - she throws him down, biting into his chest. He leaves her stumbling back home- back into his bedroom- for sticking out cheap teeth, dodgy contacts, and stuck-on hair werewolf transformation.
Next, we see Dr Daniel going to his first AA meeting in the new town- with his sponsor Bill (Sean Burgoyne) who often has very expressive/ OTT eyebrow-led acting. It’s in a church, and seemingly everyone is swigging water. After the meeting, Bill & the doc go to a local bar/ coffee shop, and while chatting they notice two newcomers- a bulky man, with a badly hovering superimposed tattoo on his neck, and a rather brash woman- these two are looking for their hunter dad who disappeared in the area.
Next thing all the customers disappear except the four in the bar- with two very ropy-looking werewolves attacking the group- basically, it’s two men in furry shorts, covered in black shoe polish, and wearing cheap masks.
As the hour & twenty-eight-minute film, we move one example of bad film wonderfulness to another. First, we have acting- lines are largely spoken in a clipped, awkward & totally unconvincing manner. Next, there is a real issue with lighting throughout the film- with many scenes captured in half-light. There are the 1990’s PC graphics- which go from cheaply animated blood effects, gunshots, and spell clouds. Some great use of dodgy green screen set-ups. We have a soundtrack that moves plodding synth music- which sounds like it’s from a low-budget 90’s soap, onto a selection of badly played/ realized rock/ metal music.
We move towards a ridiculous showdown in the red forest (basically woodland with an overdone red filter on) with a big daddy werewolf in a ropy-looking grey fur suit, a caped & blond witch, and a host of wavering filters/ effects.
All in all, Lycan Colony is a wonderful example of bad filmmaking, but of course not in any way a good werewolf film. So, if you looking for a component, gory, and believable Lycopene chiller- most certainly look somewhere else!.
Moving onto this recent region-free Blu-ray, and we get a good selection of extras. First, out of the gate, we have two commentary tracks- the first is with the director, and the second is with Sam Panico of B&S About Movies and Bill Van Ryn of Drive-In Asylum. I played the first track, and it’s an okay director's track- sure at points he goes down the route of just explaining what's going on screen, but we do get some worthy insights/ background. He starts by pointing out that the young boy running through the forest is his youngest son, and the main family's teen son Stewart is played by his teenage son. He talks about how he filmed a lot of the film with handheld/ steady shots- which caused him to bruise his ribcage. We find out a few of the soundtracks more rocking/ up-beat tracks were played by the director's own band Rob Roy, as well as other local bands playing on the soundtrack too. He talks about how all the women in the film are empowered, and the use of overdubbing of dialogue/ loud sound effects due to the background noise. We find out why the film features so many dodgy half-light shots- these shot were captured on a bright sunny day but were darkened up to look like they were in the nighttime. And some of the werewolf hair was from an alpaca Later on he talks about how some of the effects were created, and the dodgy green screenshots. He talks about locations and a few shots that had to have several multiple shots.
Otherwise, we get a new filmed interview with director/ writer Rob Roy (21.34) He starts off by admitting he didn’t know what he was doing with the film- learning as he went along. We find out he built the werewolf suits himself. He talks about how the film was edited quickly, after being shot over three weeks. He admits he tried to bury the film himself, and how it’s become known/ respected for its so bad it’s great quality. And how at points the actors hated him, and he hated them There’s a blooper reel (3.22), full Rifftrax version of Lycan Colony, music video and trailer.
The release comes in a slip with rather misleading decent-looking werewolf art on it. Inside we get a Lycan Colony car air fresher with the scent of a New Hampshire Forest, Four-page liner notes/ essay by Sam Panico, a Collectible Folded mini-poster, and a ‘Stick your own’ VHS sticker set.
Lycan Colony is a real treat for fans of so-bad-it’s-great cinema- with this new Blu-Ray release giving us a good selection of extras and a neat presentation from the folks at Visual Vengeance.