This Spanish horror/comedy Game of Werewolves has been heralded as as "A Spanish Shaun of the Dead, only with Werewolves¨. "Attack of the Werewolves¨ or ¨Lobos De Arga¨ is a Spanish language film and an entertaining one at that . ¨1910, in a remote village, a terrible curse has fallen on the evil Marchioness of Marino and her son transforming him into a bloodthirsty werewolf who preys on the residents of the village¨. One hundred years on , the only male descendant of the Marino family , returns his village . After 15 years, Tomas (Gorka Otxoa) , a not very successful writer, comes back to the village in Galicia where his family comes from , Arga , apparently to get an award . He returns home to a warm welcome from the villagers but things aren't quite what they seem. After a century of being terrorized by the vicious werewolf, they plan to break the curse by sacrificing him 100 years to the day when the original curse fell . But he doesn't know the real reason why he is there, to end with an old curse that is been haunting the village for the last hundred years . At the village he meets an old friend (Carlos Areces) , his editor (Secun de la Rosa) , the priest (Manuel Manquiña) and a bit later on appears his grandmother (Mabel Rivera) . The village of Arga has been cursed and it is up to Tomás to remove this affliction . The townsfolk need his blood and his sacrifice in order to remove the curse .

This title blends horror elements with comedy , tongue-in-cheek and action ; so, the tone of the film is light-hearted . Lobos De Arga knows many forms, this film has also been called Game of Werewolves and Attack of the Werewolves which is the United Kingdom title ; if one directly translates the Spanish title into English, then it becomes the much simpler Werewolves of Arga . It's a veritable buffet of the cream of recent Spanish horror plenty of action , laughs , and werewolves attacks . Likable acting by Gorka Otxoa as Thomas , an unsuccessful writer lured out to a remote rural village who must defeat the villagers and pit his wits against a violent beast in . Enjoyable main cast and agreeable support actors deliver one of the most engaging, hysterical, action packed and wonderfully shot werewolf movies in years . Intriguing and thrilling musical score by Sergio Moure who has demonstrated his particular talent on dark atmospheres such as ¨The Body¨, ¨Thesis on a homicide¨ and ¨Kidnapped¨ . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Carlos Ferro , showing splendidly Galician sets . This Spanish horror-comedy Attack of the Werewolves was much praised by critics as well as public during its European festival run . The motion picture was originally made by director/writer Juan Martínez Moreno who formerly directed "A Good Man" and "Two Tough Guys" . He clearly demonstrates sound knowledge of the genre he deconstructs with heartfelt accuracy . Rating : Good , above average . Well worth watching .

Director Juan Martinez Morena (LOBOS DE ARGA) complains that he's tired of seeing vampires and werewolves that are 'cool and f**kable.' He wants monsters you can believe in when you go to bed at night. Not the Bugs Bunny horror of CGI that couldn't fool a five-year old. His werewolves will have maximum special effects and stunts but minimum computer graphics. With a limited budget (much of which went on hair from China), Moreno dishes up a picture that is by turns seriously scary and seriously funny. Meet Thomas, a hapless failed writer who holes up in his parental village of Galicia, Northern Spain. A hundred years ago, his great grandmother cursed the village after abducting and forcing a gypsy to procreate with her. Thomas doesn't know a werewolf is out to get him. He doesn't know the villagers are out to get him. Mayhem ensues. But with a cutting edge comedy narrative you'd better examine yourself for bruises after you leave the cinema. When you laugh that hard, it's easy to forget the damage from where you kept jumping out of your seat. Lobos de Arga is a frank and sincere homage to movies such as An American Werewolf, and swooped the audience awards at the Edinburgh Dead by Dawn horror film festival to come first in competition.

I guess the normal title wasn't fancy enough, so they decided to spice it up for the international market. Unfortunately the movie didn't make enough money in Spain (as the director told the audience in attendance at the Festival I watched the movie). So a Sequel/Prequel is not very likely. Still if you like horror comedies, you will enjoy this one too, for exactly those things.

It's not a movie with a lot of weight or a lot to say, it's just entertaining and a nice way to pass the time. The characters are good and the story moves along quite nicely too. Some jokes might have more meaning in Spanish, but you will get quite a lot with the subtitles too. I'm sure this director has a few other funny things up his sleeve for the future.