When a village is attacked by an army of werewolves, a small group of knights are tasked with venturing through the territory of the monsters to seek aid from the king. Thorfinn, a young village boy whose family and lover were killed in the attack, joins the knights on their quest to stop the werewolf invasion.
This movie provides examples of:
- Arc Words: "Better to die a man than to live as half-beast."
- Attack the Mouth: Vortigern kills Hal by shoving his sword into his mouth and down his throat.
- Big Fun: Thomas, aptly known as "Thomas the Huge", is the cheerful and jovial of the knights, even forming a friendship with Thorfinn.
- Bittersweet Ending: Vortigern is killed and the werewolf threat is ended, but all of the knights are dead and Thorfinn has his village behead him to ensure the werewolf curse is ended.
- The Caligula: Vortigern is noted by Hal to be a cruel king who cares little for his people, but he turns out to be far worse than that. He's the one behind the werewolf invasion, viewing his kingdom's people as weak and desperate, and deciding that killing them off and replacing them with werewolves is the best solution.
- Death of a Child: Thorfinn's younger brother Oskar is the first to fall victim to the werewolves in the opening attack.
- Doomed Hometown: Thorfinn's village gets attacked by the werewolves at the beginning of the movie. Thorfinn's failure to protect his loved ones is what spurs him to join the knights on their quest.
- Downer Beginning: The film opens with Thorfinn's village being brutally assaulted by werewolves, with Thorfinn's father, brother, and lover being killed in the attack.
- The Dragon: Wolfstan is this to Vortigern, leading the werewolves in their attack upon the kingdom.
- The Dreaded: Hal Skullsplitter, aka the Blood Hurricane. Thomas notes that despite being banished and wanted dead by the king, nobody is brave or stupid enough to try to challenge him.
- Dwindling Party: The knights get picked off by the werewolves throughout the film, with only Thorfinn and Hal reaching Vortigern's castle.
- The Exile: Hal was banished by the king, though nobody dares challenge him due to his feared status.
- Face–Heel Turn: Percy agrees to be transformed into a werewolf upon being captured, unwilling to die and taken in by the prospect of gaining more power.
- Fake Defector: Thorfinn seemingly agrees to join the werewolves' ranks. However, upon being turned, he uses his newfound strength to slaughter the other werewolves and end their invasion.
- Fully-Embraced Fiend: All of the werewolves are this, having chosen to be turned, but it's most prominent with Wolfstan, who refers to the curse as him having been liberated.
- The Hero Dies: Thorfinn has the villagers kill him in the end so that the werewolf curse is ended.
- Join or Die: The werewolves sometimes give their captives this ultimatum. Percy and Thorfinn are both faced with this ultimatum, with Percy choosing to join them, while Thorfinn pretends to accept, only to use his newfound strength to turn the tables on the werewolves.
- Kill All Humans: This appears to be King Vortigern's end goal. He states to Thorfinn that men are gone and the rest will be transformed into wolves.
- The Man Behind the Man: King Vortigern is revealed to be werewolves' true master and the one behind their creation.
- Noble Fugitive: Hal is King Vortigern's son, and was exiled by his father and wanted dead.
- Offing the Offspring: Vortigern murders his son Hal by driving a sword down his throat.
- Off with His Head!: Thorfinn has the village leader behead him at the end to end the werewolf curse.
- Old Soldier: Hamelin Wiltshire of the knight variety. He's the oldest of the knights and acts as their leader.
- One-Man Army: Thorfinn becomes this in the climax after being turned into a werewolf, cutting down all of the other werewolves with ease.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: They're humans who've willingly renounced their humanity in favor of living like a beast. They can transform at will and can stay in their human form if they please, as demonstrated with Wolfstan and Thorfinn.
- Plot Armor: Rather notable when Thorfinn gets attacked by the werewolves. The werewolves are shown tearing their victims to shreds with ease, with Osmund, a knight in full-body armor, being pinned down and mauled to death within seconds. Yet during the same attack, Thorfinn gets pinned down and mauled for an extended period of time twice, and both times comes out without a scratch.
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn: The werewolves lay waste to numerous villages and slaughter its inhabitants, with Thorfinn's village being among them.
- Red Baron: Hal Skullsplitter.
- Sibling Murder: It's revealed by Vortigern that Hal killed his own brother in battle.
- Take a Third Option: In the climax, Thorfinn is presented with the choice to either join the werewolves, or be killed. He chooses to become a werewolf, but instead of joining the pack, he uses his newly-gained strength to fight back and kill them all.
- Took a Level in Badass: Thorfinn starts the movie hiding in fear from the werewolves as they slaughter his loved ones. He slowly becomes more courageous as the film goes on, fighting the werewolves and even rescuing a captured knight. After being turned into a werewolf, he single-handedly slaughters all of the other werewolves.
