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HOWL [2015, UK - English]

Truth be told, there are not many great werewolf films around. A low-budget B-grade at best, Paul Hyett's Howl offers a slice of British horror that reminds us of Snakes On A Plane, but this time it's Werewolves On A Train. I have no issues at all with the premise, in fact I have always admired directors who can manage an intense and thrilling film using a single claustrophobic setting with finesse, be it horror, thriller or even drama. However when it's delivered in a dreary sequence of garden-variety gore, scares and clichés, I find Howl an awfully frustrating experience to watch.

To illustrate my sentiments, let's all dwell into the world of everything cliché in monster-horror film making. To begin with, they couldn't have written a more bromidic group of cast. We've seen them all recurring in so many horror flicks, an everyday bloke unaware and forced into a heroic role, an arrogant man (usually it's either a rich businessman or a muscular but dim-witted jock) often arguing his way selfishly against everyone to save his own life, a fat chump who cares about nothing but food and who will always be one of the first victims to be killed off, an annoying teenage brat who's pointlessly angry with everyone, gosh! In this case, Downton Abbey alumnus Ed Speelers plays a train guard who appears to be the laziest protagonist we have ever seen. As he leads a red eye train into a misty woodland where deadly feral presence awaits, the ride takes a sudden halt, making all the passengers sitting-ducks in the middle of nowhere. The dynamic tensions of the endangered group are hastily established – and the biggest problem is, you'd find yourself loathing most of them. As the story unfolds, you will not even be rooting for the hero as he practically does nothing to lead the rest. He basically breathes along heavily throughout the ordeal, doing not much while waiting for others to come up with ideas to survive. In fact, the heroic moments come from two other characters. As the lycanthropes gnaw their way into the train, the group continues to irritate each other besides getting on the audience's nerves. I won't be surprise they would've ended up killing each other even if there were no werewolves!

Every jump scare is almost something we've already seen in other horror flicks. Hyett choses to use tall men in hairy suits coupled with a little CGI, and the results, not to my liking. Except for the legs they look nothing like werewolves. Lastly, it doesn't help when the film is penned by writing duo Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostle who until now, have been best known for their work in children’s television, they should've steered clear from other genres and remain with their Thomas & Friends and Peter Rabbit. Howl co-stars Holly Weston, Elliot Cowan, Amit Shah, Sam Gittins, Shauna Macdonald, Duncan Preston, Ania Marson, Rosie Day, Calvin Dean, Sean Pertwee, Brett Goldstein.

Rating: D+

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