I thoroughly enjoyed this! I'm not sure how to praise it without writing a novel. There's so much to say.
Just to sit and listen to the witnesses who encountered the "dogman" was a treat. I believe them. Their stories made me feel uneasy and on-edge for the rest of the night. It's obvious that these are regular, genuine people with no reason to lie. Their accounts are decades old, yet you can still sense the terror in their voices. It was chilling.
They definitely encountered SOMETHING. In my state we have the Jersey Devil in our Pine Barrens region not far away from me so I grew up hearing similar tales around mysterious beasts in the woods. The dogman isn't far off.
These things must have some basis in reality. It's likely there are horrific animals out there that we can't see or haven't seen yet. This documentary suggests that the dogman *could* be paranormal in nature; a product of the Indian burial grounds.
Personally, I reject this notion. No, as with most situations, there is a scientific answer here... somewhere. Dogmen, like Bigfoot, can possibly exist without the benefit of ghosts.
And boy, let's talk about the style of this piece! It uses an 80's VHS aesthetic with a great synth soundtrack which was perfect.
In keeping with this theme, for dramatic effect they used a bad, campy werewolf costume and it was awesome! I wouldn't have it any other way. The lighting they used makes it crazy scary as the scenes synced with eyewitness testimony. They elicited more raw emotion with probably 150.00 than a Hollywood studio would with thousands spent in CGI.
There is no reason why American Werewolves doesn't deserve a perfect score. I'm going to watch it again soon!