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| Skinwalkers | |
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| Credits | |
| Title: | Skinwalkers |
| Directed by: | Jim Isaac |
| Written by: | James DeMonaco; Todd Harthan; James Roday |
| Produced by: | Robert Kulzer; Brian Gilbert; Don Carmody; Dennis Beradi |
| Music by: | Andrew Lockington |
| Cinematography: | David A. Armstrong Adam Kane |
| Edited by: | Allan Lee |
| Production | |
| Distributors: | Lions Gate Entertainment Constantin Film Produktion Stan Winston Productions After Dark Films |
| Released: | May 22nd, 2006 |
| Rating: | PG-13 |
| Running time: | 110 min. |
| Country: | USA |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | Unknown |
| Gross: | $1,018,965 (US) $2,250,771 (Foreign) $3,269,736 (Worldwide) [1] |
| Navigation | |
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Skinwalkers is an American horror film of the werewolf subgenre. It was directed by James Isaac and written by James DeMonaco, Todd Harthan and James Roday. It was produced by Lions Gate Entertainment in association with Constantin Film Produktion and Stan Winston Productions and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in France on May 22nd, 2006. The film stars Jason Behr as Varek, Elias Koteas as Jonas, Rhona Mitra as Rachel Talbot, Natassia Malthe as Sonja, Kim Coates as Zo, Sarah Carter as Katherine and Tom Jackson as Will.
Plot[]
Two packs of werewolves, divided by principles, are signaled by the moon of the coming of an ancient prophecy. A young boy named Timothy approaches his 13th birthday, unaware this marks the time of his transformation. Timothy has been raised by his grandmother Nana, his mother Rachel (Rhona Mitra), his uncle Jonas, his cousin Katherine, and Katherine's boyfriend, Adam. His father is said to be dead.
Rachel and Timothy have been unaware that the rest of the family are "good" werewolves who have guarded Timothy and his secret since birth. They know that Timothy is a "half-blood" who is prophesied to end the curse. But they also know that Timothy's power will put him in danger, for there are other werewolves that revel and embrace their blood-lust and are bent on finding and killing the boy. Four of these werewolves are a motorcycle pack — leader Varek, and cohorts Zo, Sonya, and Grenier, who use a hawk as an airborne spy — who track down Timothy in the small town of Huguenot, precipitating the movie's extended chase.
Varek discovers the location of Timothy via a video tape which is shown to various "good" werewolves that he is alive and well. Reaching Huguenot, Varek saw Nana and Timothy and proceeds with a gunfight between his pack against the "good" werewolves and various townspeople. Adam's father is killed in the gunfight and Nana sacrifices herself to let Timothy and the others escape. Jonas explain the whole situation to both Rachel and Timothy and they are convinced after Jonas and others turn into werewolves at night.
The next day, Timothy faints and is sent to a nearby hospital. Varek's gang infiltrate the hospital and attack Timothy. Grenier is killed by Adam while Katherine is being held hostage by Varek. It is subsequently revealed that Varek was Caleb, Rachel's husband and Timothy's father, and his transformation was due to him feeding on humans.
After escaping to a safe place, Adam goes off on his own and finds Katherine and brings her back. At sundown, Katherine was discovered to have been forced to feed on humans and kills Adam with his own gun. Just as Katherine is about to attack Timothy, Jonas manages to kill her with a gunshot in the back.
They manage to find their next safe place, with Rachel and Timothy hiding in a steel cage while Jonas sets out to ambush Varek, Zo and Sonya. Zo is killed after being trapped and being dropped down from a height. Sonya tries to attack Rachel and Timothy but is shot by Timothy. Rachel then proceeds to finish Sonya off. Varek then tries to kill Timothy but is stopped by Jonas. They get into a struggle and in a bid to win, Jonas feeds on Varek's arm and knocks Varek unconscious. Taken over by the blood frenzy, Jonas attempts to attack Timothy, but is shot to death by Rachel. Varek wakes up and bites Timothy but the clock chimes midnight. He is then struck by Rachel and knocked to the ground. He then transforms back into a human and to his former self, Caleb.
It is later revealed that Timothy is the cure via his blood and that they travel around, giving the cure to those who want it. They also fill bullets with Timothy's blood. The film leaves off with Timothy saying "For some I am salvation, for the others their destruction".
Cast[]
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Notes & Trivia[]
- The tagline to this film is "For them to live, we must die".
- Production on Skinwalkers began on September 19th, 2005. The movie was filmed entirely in Ontario, Canada.
- Skinwalkers premiered at the Canne Film Festival in France on May 22nd, 2006. It was screened at the European Film Market in Germany on February 12th, 2007. It was released theatrically in the United States on August 10th, 2007 and in the UK on August 26th at the London FrightFest Film Festival.
- Skinwalkers closed out of theaters on August 26th, 2007 after being in release for a total of twenty-one days. [2]
- Skinwalkers was released on DVD by Lions Gate Home Entertainment on November 27th, 2007. [3]
- James Roday is uncredited as a co-writer on this film.
What else have they done?[]
Cast[]
- Actor Jason Behr, who plays Varek, also played Billy "Ford" Fordham in the "Lie to Me" episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He later played hapless boyfriend Doug in the 2004 film The Grudge, where he reunited with Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar.
- Actress Rhona Mitra, who plays Rachel Talbot, also played Sebastian Caine's neighbor in Hollow Man, Laura Tollins in the psycho-thriller The Number 23 and the vampire Sonja in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. She also played vampire Claire Radcliff on all thirteen episodes of The Gates.
- Actor Elias Koteas, who plays Jonas, also played fallen priest Thomas Daggett in The Prophecy. He was Edgar Reese in the 1998 demonic thriller Fallen. He was John Townsend in another Biblical thriller, Lost Souls. He played Reverend Popescu in The Haunting in Connecticut and was an unnamed policeman in the vampire movie Let Me In.
- Actress Natassia Malthe, who plays Sonja, also played a character named Janine in the 1999 predatory animal comedy Lake Placid. She also played a French maid in the 2002 slasher Halloween: Resurrection.
- Actor Matthew Knight, who plays Timothy Talbot, also played the role of Jake in The Grudge 2 and The Grudge 3. He had a recurring role as Ethan Morgan on the TV series My Babysitter's a Vampire.
Crew[]
- Director Jim Isaac also directed House III, Jason X and Pig Hunt. He was a member of the creature crew on Gremlins and was a second unit director on Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror.
- Co-writer James Roday is also a television actor and director. He is best known for playing the role of fake psychic Shawn Spencer on the USA Network television series Psych. He also played Carlos, the groom in the "In Sickness and In Health" episode of Fear Itself.
- Cinematographer Adam Kane is also an executive producer on the North American remake of the BBC television series Being Human.
The year in film[]
Other films that were released in 2006 include: