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@journeywithacinephile
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Film: Skinwalker: The Howl of the Rougarou
Year: 2021
Director: Seth Breedlove
Writer: Seth Breedlove and Heather Moser
Starring: Lyle Blackburn
This is another documentary that was sent over to me as a screener from Justin Cook. He has sent over two others from Seth Breedlove, the co-writer/director here, that have dealt with other cryptid lore. When I saw the title for this one and knowing that it dealt with skinwalkers, I was intrigued. Coming in, I knew that this is the name for werewolves among Native American tribes here in the United States. To get into this documentary, the synopsis is do real werewolves exist? In the American south, legends tell of encounters with a creature that stalks the swamps and bayous. An ancient evil called the Rougarou.
Where I would like to start breaking this movie down is giving a bit of the back-story that kicks off us. We learn how this lore dates all the way back to Native American days. There was a tribe that practiced a ritual that was considered forbidden and involved eating the flesh of your victims. By doing so, it would make you stronger. The moment I heard this, it made me start to think of the Wendingo, which is an evil entity that roams the woods. This documentary actually references it as well.
From this opening introduction to this lore, what I like is that we then get interviews of people’s stories to correlate to the different chapters that the movie is giving us. Going along with this, we get cave drawings, paintings and other art that gives us a visual of what they’re saying. I think there is an added element here as well showing how far this goes back as well. Something else that is added in is re-enactments. For me this adds tension. I know what we are seeing isn’t real, but much like you’d get with Unsolved Mysteries. Hearing these people’s stories is one thing, but seeing it play out how they said adds an element.
I like that this documentary tries to pull in as many variations of this creature as they can. There were a lot of people from different places moving to Louisiana, where this is focusing. It is an interesting land. The northern part is prairies and normal land you would associate with the American south. The southern part though is unique with the swamps and the bayous. This movie even seems to consider how the environment is changing and I got a vibe a bit that man is partially to blame. There is a section of land that needs the Mississippi to overflow for the nutrients, but due to building levees, it cannot anymore. There is also the fear of the swamp disappearing as the salt water from the gulf overtakes the fresh water areas.
To circle back to something that was stated, there are a variety of people moving to Louisiana and bringing their lore with them. The rougarou is believed to be a variation on the French term for werewolf of loupgarou. This makes sense as how deep the French roots are in the area. We also get stories of this being a curse like in many werewolf movies of today and the past. Changeling lore is also another take on it and wayward spirits that protect the forest. There are even tales here of how rougarous aren’t necessarily evil, but they’re protectors of the land. It would seem to me there was a lot of research done here and people were sought out to give the deepest look.
Since I don’t want to spoil this and break down each story individually, I will say that much like the other documentaries from Breedlove, I enjoyed this. He has an interesting take on exploring these legends. There is a connection that I make as these are urban legends in the area and we all have stories like this growing up. Do I fully believe that everyone here that was interviewed saw what they did? Not necessarily, but I do believe they saw something they can’t fully explain. I like the re-enactments that are added along with the older drawings and art used to correlate back. This is another well done documentary. If you are into cryptids and want to learn more of this creature, I’d recommend this for sure.
My Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Skinwalker: The Howl of the Rougarou will be available to purchase or rent on September 14th on a number of platforms from 1091 Pictures, including iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu and FandangoNOW. Small Town Monsters will also release a special edition Blu-ray ($18.99) and DVD ($14.99) from their official store.
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