French police, led by Captain Klaus Pistor, question Claire Porter as she recovers in a hospital bed. American tourists vacationing in France, Claire’s husband Henry and son Peter were viciously mauled to death in a savage attack by an unknown beast. When Claire makes a claim that the shadowy figure resembled a man, the police arrest brutish local man Talan Gwynek for the murders. Expatriate attorney Katherine Moore requests to represent Talan. Fellow American Eric Sarin works as her investigator. Kate hires animal expert Dr. Gavin Flemyng, with whom she had a romantic relationship five years earlier, to complete the defense team. While interviewing Talan at the police station, a struggle breaks out with the authorities. Gavin is scratched by Talan while trying to shield Kate. Kate’s team travels to Talan’s remote house in the woods to interview his mother. Mrs. Gwynek tells them that she is originally from Romania. She claims that Talan would have been too physically weak to commit the murders because he suffers from a rare genetic condition passed down through the males in their family. She also makes a claim that the police are targeting Talan because the government wants to take their land for use as a nuclear waste disposal site. Gavin attempts to flirt with Kate, which spurs resentment from Eric. Gavin also begins feeling gradually more ill since suffering the scratch at the police station. The defense team comes to believe that Talan may suffer from porphyria. While undergoing medical examinations in police custody, a stress test involving a strobe light causes Talan to react violently. Using apparent superhuman strength, Talan kills everyone in the room and escapes the building. A citywide manhunt eventually traces Talan to an abandoned building. Talan is caught on camera transforming into a werewolf before attacking an armed assault team, falling eight stories to the ground below, and evading capture. A second manhunt finally corners Talan after he kills several police officers. Talan is riddled with bullets and his apparently dead body is then transported in a police vehicle. Kate and Eric follow the police caravan. The van carrying Talan overturns as Talan comes back to life to continue his rampage. Meanwhile, Gavin investigates the Gwynek residence and ends up killing Mrs. Gwynek after coming to realize that he now has the same affliction as Talan. Gavin shaves off all of his body hair as he begins giving in to his new werewolf alter ego. In the commotion at the crash site, Talan kills Eric. Talan moves to attack Kate next, but Gavin arrives to battle the other werewolf. The fight ends when Gavin strangles Talan, presumably killing him. Kate confronts the transformed Gavin at gunpoint. Before she can act, a sniper’s bullet fired by Pistor from a police helicopter hits Kate in the stomach. Gavin goes into a rage, throwing an assault team member’s body into the chopper and causing it to crash. News footage in the aftermath reveals that Kate survived. Pistor is implicated in a conspiracy that killed Talan’s father George to take the Gwynek’s land. Talan Gwynek's body was never recovered and he remains at large and is assumed to be responsible for the continued killings, meanwhile Gavin’s true identity as a werewolf remains a secret.
Plans for Wer were initially announced in January 2012 during an interview with Dread Central, when Bell and producer Matthew Peterman said they had been working on a werewolf-themed project for the past 10 months. The two initially planned to begin production on the film, a "faux-documentary style project," in Romania during April 2012. In March 2012, Cook was confirmed as the lead heroine of Wer, and Rob Hall's Almost Human, Inc company was recruited to create the movie's special effects. Later that same year, Vik Sahay and Sebastian Roché were also attached to the project. Sahay initially debated whether or not to take the role of Eric Sarin due to a busy schedule, but ultimately decided to join because the character and the movie's world "were just too interesting to walk away from". Filming for Wer began in May 2012 in Bucharest, Romania, and Bell shot the movie concurrently with another project, The Vatican. A trailer for Wer was released in October 2013. Additionally, the film is not, as may have been mentioned earlier, a found footage film.
Reception
It currently holds an audience rating of 39% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
