Howl (2015) Review
Spoiler-free so you can read before you watch
Horrorific content by dusan on March 21st, 2022 | Movie Review | Survival, Desolate, Confined, Werewolf
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When passengers on a train are attacked by a creature, they must band together in order to survive until morning.
Howl was directed by Paul Hyett (The Seasoning House and The Convent) and stars Ed Speleers, Shauna Macdonald (from The Descent and The White Chamber), Elliot Cowan (from Muse) and Holly Weston (from Await Further Instructions).
Last Train. Full Moon. All Change.
Howl is a British horror film that decided to portray its werewolves using prosthetic suits instead of the generic CGI we get to see a bit too often these last couple of years. The plot is fairly simple, a train comes to a stop in the middle of nowhere when a fuel pump gets damaged. There is no cell service this deep in the woods and our protagonists must come up with a best way to get to the nearest populated area.
Now comes the tricky part. The group realizes the engineer is missing and decides to just follow the railway track on foot to the nearest station. One of the train guards, Joe (Ed Speleers) takes it on himself to lead the group to safety but things quickly take a turn for the worse and once they hear howls and a werewolf is introduced to the scene it becomes clear they need to barricade themselves inside the train wagon.
Was this a poor choice? Was it better just to run and seek help? To be fair, it does seem logical to assume that the safest place would be inside since no one knows what kind of creature is lurking outside, but we all know this will turn into a disaster.
Our group is a mixture of different characters and that is always a good thing for a survival horror movie since you have people you can cheer for and people you want to see with their heads on the plate. Howl gives us just what is needed and should be an enjoyable ride for the fans of the genre.
As for the nerd in me, I also enjoyed the small CGI adjustments with the creature's appearance. Anatomically speaking, the legs of humans and wolves are far from similar so this was a nice touch. Another plus in visual effects with glowing eyes of the creature as wolves have superior nocturnal vision (it isn’t the best but still beats the creepy lenses used in Twilight, lol).
Worth Watching?
In all honesty, yes. This is an underrated werewolf horror that focuses heavily on the themes of being confined and stuck in a desolate place with very few options.
