Howl (2015)
Directed by Paul Hyett
Is it just me or do werewolves not get the respect they deserve? In movie terms, I mean. Everyone is familiar with Werewolves, they’re a classic monster, but there aren’t that many A-List movies about them. There’s a full canon of great vampire films and more ghost movies and hauntings than you can shake a stick at, but Werewolves have always seemed relegated to B-Cinema. Not that I’m really complaining, B-Movies are a ton of fun and have the freedom to go in new directions, but it seems odd that such a recognizable monster doesn’t have a more mainstream interest. That brings us to today’s movie, Howl, an English Indie werewolf film that reminded me how much fun werewolves are!
The Plot of Howl (With Added Terrible Joke)
Howl is the story of Joe, a put upon ticket-taker aboard for a train in England. After being given an overnight shift on the last train out from London and into the countryside, Joe starts another hellish experience of terrible passengers and little sleep before his normal problems are interrupted by a much bigger problem, the train breaking down in the middle of a rather dangerous looking forest. With the charming guests onboard the train making their frustrations known to him, Joe tries to figure out how to get everyone out safely while not getting fired. This is all complicated by the sudden appearance of everyone’s favorite furry murderer, a Werewolf, who intends to turn the whole train into the Dining Car. (Ba-Dum-Tsss)
A Delightful Throwback!
In a lot of ways, Howl feels reminiscent of many sci-fi/horror movies of the 80s-90s. There’s a classic protagonist in the likable schlub tradition with Joe, a down on his luck ticket-taker who wants to get a promotion and maybe a date with his coworker who he likes. Joe’s an instantly relatable character and you immediately feel for this guy who’s stuck on a shift he didn’t want and dealing with people no one wants to deal with. In the same vein, there’s a simple and easily understood plot where the entire movie is based around one central problem, and how these people try to resolve that problem is the bulk of the story. This adds up to a really solid premise where you immediately know what’s happening, why it is happening, and why we should care.
These Performers Are Slightly Too Good At Being Jackasses.
Unfortunately, there’s one big problem here to mess that all up, the passengers. The train workers are such relatable characters that I feel not an ounce of empathy for any of the approximately 50% of the awful passengers that they encounter. I know that I shouldn’t judge people’s entire life based on one train ride when they’re an asshole…but I still do. In my mind, taking out your frustrations on someone who is doing their job and literally cannot talk back to you or they will likely lose their livelihood is an indication that you are a bad person. So when these people are talking down to the train staff, not listening to them, and disregarding everything they say that could slightly inconvenience them, I’m not rooting for them to survive.
But So Much Else Is Great!
That is a shame though because a lot of other stuff in Howl works really well, like the look of the werewolf! The werewolf design here is super different than in most werewolf movies I’ve seen and even though I don’t think it’s my favorite design, it is super unique and always welcome to see a different approach to a classic movie monster. Another great thing about the monster here is that it moves in a really strange and unsettling way. I can’t quite put into words exactly how it moves and why it feels so different, but the werewolf here doesn’t move exactly like either a wolf or a person, more like a combination of the two. It feels very much like an intentional Uncanny Valley effect where it feels wrong but not for a reason I can immediately describe. This may have been helped by the misty English countryside providing a good atmosphere to hang this all on.
Surprisingly Good Pacing!
Also, the pacing is shockingly good. In movies that are set in one location, it can be really easy for all the scenes to be kinda samey and make the movie feel slower than it actually is. Thankfully, Howl doesn’t have that problem. The film moves at a good clip without ever feeling like it’s rushing to the next scene for this movie to be over as quickly as possible. This may be part of the film where having a large cast helped out, we can spend some time getting to know everyone along the way so there isn’t a lot of rehashing. It helps that most of the performances are pretty good, even if the characters they are portraying are jerks.
Great Example Of A Fun Werewolf Flick!
Howl is the type of movie that tends to get lost in the shuffle these days. It doesn’t break the mold for werewolf movies, but it is a solid film that has something in it for fans of classic werewolf tales and also for people who want something a little different from their horror stories. There may be some issues with the characters that are a bit frustrating, but that shouldn’t take away from the good filmmaking on display. Not considering the characters for a second, there’s good effects, good pacing, a solid atmosphere, and smart usage of limited resources that is always great to see from Indie films. If you like werewolf movies or monster movies in general, Howl is a movie you should check out. There are a couple places you can find Howl, I watched it on the horror streaming service Shudder, a great site that has a lot of fun movies like this.
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