There is a college community and Chace (Cameron White) is one of the students. He is taking literature after failing out of drama. He meets a number of interesting young ladies as he acts weird. There is also a local werewolf community that kills people, a community that came from the Vietnam Timber Wolf- not to ruin it for you, but Eric Roberts has a Vietnam flashback were he has long hair as an American Soldier and he sees a Vietnamese turn into a Timber Wolf.

Now that I mention it, the werewolves are a head scratch. Sometimes they are just plain real wolves. Sometimes they are awkwardly moving CG wolves that look like regular wolves. Other times they are huge classic clay animation wolves. Other times it is just people with sharp teeth who look like vampires.

Chace is a quiet lad who has "the inability not to speak." He meets "The Dawn" (Stasi Esper) who "can see what you're hearing." The subtitle "Pray for sunrise" didn't really fit as the wolves seem to control their turning, as one turned during the day. Eric Roberts had a confusing role, one they should have just cut out. Soon Hollywood will realize having Eric Roberts in the film will decrease sales.

The soundtrack was metal and offered lyrics such as "I'm not the person you once knew" which is great for a werewolf film.

Guide: F-bomb. Brief sex. Brief male nudity.

Slated between fantasy/sci-fi/moderately horror this film lays an egg in pretty much all counts. It's a laughable love story between a woman and a man/wolf, a father and son curse and eventual showdown. The screenplay is mediocre at best with a lot of cussing in the dialogue. I was shocked well known actor Chris Mulkey and actress/singer Maria Conchita Alonso signed on for this. Alonso's character as Sherriff is poorly acted and makes no real sense for her being there. Throw in Sid Haig who is known for non-conforming roles and he was fun to see. The music score was slightly misplaced in some scenes but not overly bad. Now the actual werewolves creature is poorly designed, contrasting in how they transform is laughable. No true CGI involvement. I give it a 4 based on scenery alone.

The first thing you notice while watching DARK MOON RISING, a would-be werewolf-themed horror film made on a very low budget, is that it's an open rip-off of TWILIGHT that favours romance over horror content. It's a trailer trash-style film that features rubbish lead actors and poor writing throughout. The horror content is virtually nil and the direction is bad with lots of close-up shots and little varying to break up the tedium. Only the virtue of various slumming-it stars keeps it watchable: in support we get THE RUNNING MAN'S Maria Conchita Alonso as the town sheriff; Max Ryan as a heavy; Billy Drago as his usual sinister character; Sid Haig in a one-scene cameo; plus a minor role for the reliable interesting Chris Mulkey, who appeared in FIRST BLOOD. A shame it's such a dud.