THIS is what happens when you let your guard down, even if only for a second. When I first read the description for PRESIDENT WOLFMAN I thought it sounded like it was going to be a fun, silly, exploitation film full of gore and titties. I couldn’t have been more wrong. In fact, I was so far away from ‘wrong’ that the light traveling from ‘wrong’ would take about 1,000 years to reach me. The plot summary I got in the mail with the screener described the president of the U.S getting bitten by a werewolf and going on a killing spree. Again, sounds like a fun little exploitation romp, doesn’t it? But when you read on, and I completely blame myself for not reading on, it then points out that this is a “green movie.” What’s a “green movie,” you ask? Well Imma gonna tell ya. PRESIDENT WOLFMAN has absolutely no new footage in it. Nothing was actually shot for this drab, dud. A “green movie” is one which only uses public domain and recycled stock footage. If there’s no copyright on the footage, it’s fair game. In addition to stock footage and public domain films, ‘director’ Mike Davis David also uses over 100 governmental instructional films, educational films, and vintage stag reels. So yes, there are titties in PRESIDENT WOLFMAN, but they are really old titties attached to women who are most likely long dead.
I’m all for the green movement, people. Recycling should be a priority on everyone’s mind … except a filmmaker’s. PRESIDENT WOLFMAN is completely unwatchable. From all the various copyright-free footage, Mike David edits the shit out of the material into what he thinks is a fun, campy, coherent plot. After he edited all the various scenes together he then “wrote a script” and hired some voice actors to lay down a new soundtrack. So not only does nothing make sense here, but the voices don’t even match the movements of the mouths on screen. At best this film should be an editing exercise for a second or third year film student. But to release this film and charge people money for it is a fucking insult to horror fans and to movie distribution in general.
The press sheet that came with the screener emphasized that PRESIDENT WOLFMAN was a favorite on the film festival circuit. Of course it was!! Have you ever been to a horror film festival? If you have then you know that you’re watching horror films in a room full of drunk horror fans looking to enjoy every film they see. I’d have probably gotten a few laughs out of this piece of crap if I saw it in such a setting. But I didn’t see it with a bunch of hammered horror fans. I watched it alone. In my family room. I was pissed. Very pissed. There was nothing fun about this film. I urge you not to waste your hard earned money on PRESIDENT WOLFMAN. This is an embarrassing low point in the horror genre. That alone should tell you something!! Avoid at all costs.