HOWL (2015) DECENT WEREWOLVES FLICK. MOVIE REVIEW

For werewolves fans

When someone is a true fan of any horror or science fiction sub-genre, they tend to watch all available cinematic productions. Indeed, the vast majority are inferior. Another few are the established classics, anchors of the subgenre. But then we have the middle ground. Films that have enough merits to be seen, raising from the lower depths of the subgenre, but not good enough to be part of that select group at the top. And Howl is for the werewolves subgenre, just part of this middle section.

Trapped on a train.

Joe works as a steward in the English railway system. He is refused a promotion, and who earned the supervisor position over him nominates him to do a double shift on the night train. Without much encouragement, but motivated that he will share the job with Ellen, for whom he is interested, Joe accepts. In the middle of the trip and amid a heavy storm, the train stops. It just hit something in the heart of a thick forest, a long way from any civilization. The driver gets out to check what happened, walking along the train under the light of the full moon. Then, the passengers gradually realize that they are trapped, surrounded by strange and deadly howling creatures without the possibility of asking for help.

Character development.

The premise of placing a group of people in the middle of the forest, trapped inside a train, is adequately carried out. They manage to create good moments of claustrophobic tension since they are so deep in the woods that there is no cell phone signal to call for help. Another success of Howl is its short duration of almost 90 minutes. The story is almost perfectly cut into three acts. Given its short length time, the story has to go straight to the point, but even so, the film has a semi-slow pace.

We can learn a little more about the first-class characters, in which the film focuses on being the last survivors. None of them are friendly with Joe at the start. But little by little, the story gives each passenger some depth and manages to project a certain level of empathy to the viewer. Joe is the most developed character succeeding in giving him growth.

Scary looking werewolves.

The makeup and effects of the werewolves are satisfactory and scary. Hulking figures with strange movements and bright eyes lurking in the dense dark forest. The performances are adequate, but nothing remarkable. There are some genuine moments of tension. We get a reasonable amount of blood and gore, but they do not abuse. In general, there is a good mix of practical special effects, CGI, and makeup. Use the proven tricks of the genre. Of course, there are some bad decisions made by the characters, typical of Horror flicks. But there are also really credible situations in the way the characters react.

Howl is a nice werewolf flick

Hit or miss is the recurring theme of the Howl. A couple of things are made correctly, then followed by one that is not so credible. All in all, Howl achieves a good claustrophobic atmosphere. Those werewolves look menacing. There is enough gore. Without adding anything new to the genre, Werewolfs fans will enjoy this very decent and enjoyable addition to the Werewolf genre.

Delirium score