Howl
This week I stepped outside my subgenre comfort zone and rented the 2015 direct to video British werewolf film, Howl. I’m not a huge werewolf fan, but I took a chance on this based on some favorable reviews from fellow horror fans.
The plot follows Joe a train guard , Ellen a tea trolley girl, and about eight passengers on an overnight train. The train is departing London on the eve of a full moon. At some point before the train reaches its destination, it runs over something on the track that damages the fuel line. The conductor leaves the train to try to remove what he ran over (a deer). He never returns. The passengers and crew are now stuck in the woods in the middle of nowhere and something or someone is trying to get on the train with them.
As I said, I am not a big fan of werewolves but Howl was a nice surprise. I was able to put myself in this situation because I have taken long distance trains twice and both included an overnight. While not as scary as airplanes, I am not a fan of being trapped anywhere. Even minus the monsters, I’d have a total meltdown if my train was stuck in the woods somewhere all night.
Howl had creepy atmosphere, gore, action and suspense. The only disappointment was that the monsters were scarier before you saw them. However, I could make that statement about many films. I think the threat is often scarier when you can’t see it. I couldn’t locate a budget for this film but for a direct to video, indie horror film the lighting was pretty good. The majority of the film was shot at night and sometimes in the dark when the train was without electric, I was still able to see all the action.
Overall this was a fun, fast paced werewolf film that didn’t disappoint. Sadly, this was so much better than most of the garbage released in theaters in this country. I’m starting to wonder if I should give up American horror films all together. We need another Wes Craven dammit!
You can stream this film on Amazon.
LITTLE MISS HORROR NERD’S RATING: 4 out of 5
