While a pretty decent Norwegian werewolf movie, there’s still a meaty chunk of this film that’s a little too plodding. It’s a little too cold, a little too bleak, and not scary enough. But, hey, a Scandinavian film that’s cold and bleak? You don’t say!

Viking Wolf is about a teen who survives a wolf attack and her mother, a local police officer, who hunts the beast down. But of course, a crazy old European werewolf hunter shows up to make ominous statements about curses and severing the blood line… you’ve heard this one before.

The werewolf effects in this film are… acceptable. Not stat-of-the-art in wolfy CGI, but serviceable for a pretty good creature design. Think on-all-fours cadaverously thin and savage… not human-with-fur. A well-done creature that leaves behind bloody corpses in a satisfying kind of way.

Too bad much of the movie is a little too dour. I guess it’s setting a mood of cold anticipation. Like we’ve seen enough werewolf movies to know where this is going. Yup, it’s a good old-fashioned werewolf curse. But when the creature is on screen or is human and afraid of transformation, the movie picks up.

The final act is fun and the conclusion is pregnant with sequel possibilities. This is a decent film weighed down by its own sense of cold doom. Or maybe it’s just a slog… you could go either way.

Score: 76