A werewolf movie that sinks its teeth in but doesn't quite take a whole bite. The pros for HOWL are great makeup effects, gore effects, prosthetic suit work, and werewolf design. Some great horror movies of the past have been set on trains, they provide a certain kind of atmosphere. Howl is added to the list of films that use that atmosphere well. It also feels just as much like a survival horror film at times and joins different creature features where the horror is focused on the territoriality of monsters. The film's biggest flaws are the pacing at the beginning and the characters. Scenes with just the characters early on make the film feel like it is going through the motions. None of the characters ever emerge as someone really worth remembering. The subpar characters only add to the pacing issues early on in the film. Once the wolf carnage starts, and you actually see the werewolf the film gets going.
Synopsis: When passengers on a train are attacked by a creature, they must band together in order to survive until morning.
Early on the film establishes who some of the characters are in various ways. Joe (Ed Speelers) is a train guard who was denied promotion and gets criticized by his supervisor for not handing out enough penalties. After his shift he is asked to go on another run by his supervisor. His only real reason for accepting the job is seeing his crush, the tea-trolley girl, Ellen (Holly Weston). Some of the distinctive personalities on the train are an older couple, Ged (Duncan Preston) and Jenny (Ania Marson), Nina (Rosie Day), Adrian (Elliot Cowan), Kate (Shauna MacDonald), Matthew (Amit Shah), and Billy (Sam Gittins). Historically, almost any survival horror film has characters that fit into certain archetypes. There is often always a couple, someone selfish who is out for themselves, an annoying character and one who gets scared when things start happening, one who helps the main character and has a skill that they do not have, and one who rises to the occasion. All of the various characters in this film slot into those archetypes perfectly. THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD laid out these archetypes that are usually still followed in these kinds of films.
Shauna MacDonald as Kate in HOWL, she also starred in THE DESCENT
Eventually the train hits a deer, damaging the wheels and the fuel lines. In a wasted performance by the best actor in the film, the conductor (Sean Pertwee) goes to investigate and is killed by the werewolf. Similar to other survival horror films, the passengers want to run around outside before the werewolf eventually barricades them in, starting a siege narrative. Between some of these werewolf attacks there are moments of the characters getting to know each other. As I've said because I didn't much care for any of these characters, these attempts at dramatic sympathy feel more like filler than anything I emotionally invested in.
Director Paul Hyett worked on the special effects for THE DESCENT. He has worked with director Neil Marshall on some of his other films as well. Whenever an FX artist directs a horror film, normally that means the FX work will be a main focus. The FX work does not disappoint in this film. Great looking leg wound on Jenny's werewolf bite, great FX work on her face and the contact lenses for various werewolves in this film. Also one great gory neck rip. Cinematographer Adam Biddle, brother of Adrian Biddle does a great job with some of the night cinematography as well as the fog machines. So the craft here is great. The substance leaves a little to be desired. The score by Paul E. Francis works well in the film and features some moving human vocals within it.
A look at the werewolf in HOWL
Some things in the second half of the film help ratchet up the tension. Joe contacts the train dispatch, but because of a storm knocking out power and trees in the woods around them they are stranded indefinitely. Billy is able to find out a way to start the train back up. Him and Matthew eventually try to do that, while the others stay on the train. The two different scenarios help build tension. There are also a couple of dumb character decisions, that I may have been to forgive more, or at least see a little differently if I had any emotional investment in these characters. A third act development also increases the tension. One character also gets some great comeuppance leading to a satisfying ending.
While HOWL has its flaws, mainly in how cliche some of the characters are, it still functions as a fun, tense, and well made werewolf survival film. The look of the werewolf is unique and interesting. There is a fair amount of blood and gore and great FX work. I also enjoyed the lack of the "silver bullet" being the absolute way to stop a werewolf. While this isn't quite HORROR EXPRESS in terms of a horror movie taking place on a train, or a ROGUE in terms of a territorial creature feature, this is a decent film. I could understand if someone said "this film walks so TRAIN TO BUSAN could run."
Rating: 6.5/10
Trivia: The werewolves were played by people in prosthetic suits, with the exception of the legs which were all CGI.
Full Movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ioc7q_26tE
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