Film Review: HOWL (2015)

Screenwriters Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler try to craft a new version of the werewolf tale in their film Howl (2015).  A train of passengers led in part by one of the ticket takers Joe (Ed Speleers) gets sidelined and their train is forced to stop in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere.  With only a couple miles between them and their destination, the passengers of the train talk Joe into unlocking the outer doors and allowing them to walk the couple of miles to the next station after Joe realizes that the conductor is missing.  It’s not long before they all realize that there is something in the woods bent on killing them all and once they make their way back to the train, the train becomes their tomb as the creatures on the outside fight to get on the inside.

Joe must work with the eclectic group of passengers in order to find a way to get the train running again and get them all to safety but time is running out and the creatures outside will stop at nothing to get inside and the tensions among the passengers escalates as they all refuse to band together as one.

Howl looks great as directed by Paul Hyett but suffers from a lack of likable characters as most of the characters you want to see killed by the werewolf-like creatures in the film.  It’s no trick saying that they are not werewolves as the title of the film and the fact that once someone is bit they turn into one but they don’t really look like your typical werewolf and probably act like something more in line with the ones seen in Dog Soldiers or Underworld.  This being said the CGI for the creatures doesn’t really hold up and get overused when more of the creatures show up.  The film also has a problem in that there is way too much padding to the film and after the halfway mark the characters start making very dumb decisions which get annoying after a while.   This may deter most horror fans but if you’re looking for a decent werewolf time waster than you can do worse than this one.

Film Review: WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS (2014)

In general, I don’t particularly care for vampire films.  There are so few that actually have something to say and they’re filled with clichés and things that you’ve seen time and time again and even if the Twilight franchise has watered down their image there are just as many 30 Days of Night films that try to go in the complete opposite way.  Vampire comedies, in my opinion, fit even below the lowest of my expectations which is why it has taken me so long to get around to What We Do In The Shadows (2014).  I had zero interest in this film but due to the overwhelming great critical response to the film I decided to give it a chance and boy am I glad I did. 

The film follows three vampire flat mates – Vladislav, Viago, and Deacon (Jermaine Clement, Taika Waititi, and Jonny Brugh, respectfully) whose lives are turned upside down when they decide to allow a film crew to film their lives as they prepare for the vampire party of the century.  The three vampires are trapped in their own time from when they were turned.  Living in the modern era has left them lost in time, but salvation comes in the form of a newly turned vampire who is up with the modern era but needs a little help with being a good vampire.  

The film crew is given full access to everything and get to see and experience the day to day lives of vampires including their drinking habits, their animosity towards werewolves, and how they deal with vampire hunters.  For a film like this it covers a lot of ground while still being very character driven and funny at the same time.

What makes the film so successful is that the comedy is all character based and not bad jokes sprinkled throughout.  This film could have become a complete parody of itself but writer/directors Clement and Waititi do a great job grounding the film in the zany world of vampires.  Having the style of the film as a documentary goes a long way in allowing the audience to take the film seriously even though it is a comedy.  

I ended up enjoying this film immensely as the story was easy to follow yet presented an almost “traditional” vampire story in a non-traditional way.  It had me entertained from beginning to end and even had some impressive visual FX to go with the story.  This film is one I highly recommend for both comedy and horror fans.

Film Review: LITTLE DEAD ROTTING HOOD (2016)

The story of Little Red Riding Hood is as old as it has been re-interpreted by different story tellers and film makers and even been used several times as the basis for a werewolf film which is where Little Dead Rotting Hood (2016) comes in.  It follows Samantha (Bianca A. Santos) who has been recently sacrificed by her Grandmother (Marina Sirtis of Star Trek: The Next Generation) in order to prepare for the coming epic battle of werewolves verses humans. 

Trapped in the middle of all this is Danny (Romeo Miller) who is searching for his girlfriend Samantha when he discovers what she’s become.  With the help of the local Sheriff Adam (Eric Balfour) the two must find a way to stop the werewolves from rising and killing all the humans in their town but it won’t be without the help of the supernatural Samantha whose sacrifice has made her into something that even werewolves fear.

The film is saddled with an unimaginative script and bad CGI, which wouldn’t be all that bad except its really bad CGI.  The only thing that’s remotely interesting is the story about Balfour’s Sheriff whose search for the truth is actually an interesting one and he does a great job as an actor in the role.  It’s hard to believe that he’s so good yet everyone else around him is so mediocre (if not all out bad).  It’s good to see Balfour giving 110% even when the film doesn’t deserve it.

A film really only (barely) for the curious and the werewolf fans.