Howl (2015) Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: After coming to an unexpected stop, a train and its passengers are assaulted by a pack of hungry werewolves.

Review: Meh, with a plot like "werewolves on a train," I guess it delivered what was promised. Still...the ending was stupid, and the look of the werewolves was unforgivably bad. Maybe if the story was a tad more lighthearted, or poked fun of itself, that could have offset the mediocre nature of the film. Admittedly, this could have turned out amazing in the right hands, but this is casual fare at best. I don't imagine anyone giving this one a second thought once it's over; "Dog Soldiers" it ain't!

Things start off promising enough as we meet the main character, Joe, who is forced to work a midnight shift right after already working a full shift. That kind of sleepy and defeated tone is established surprisingly well especially once we meet the goofballs riding the train. I hope the film did not intend for me to cheer for these people, because all I wanted was to see them ripped to shreds by werewolves. Well, I did want the engineer dropout to survive--that guy was actually really cool; in fact, he was a bona fide badass. Sometime into the ride, the train stops after hitting an animal that, maybe, the werewolves were munching on. The conductor gets killed by a werewolf while investigating, and the train becomes disabled. From the shadows the werewolves look decent, but, when you see them in their full glory, they look like shit. They aren't hairy at all--they're like hairless yetis or something. It's quite disappointing. On top of that, they try to give us a transformation sequence with an old lady that was bit, but that too is disappointing. Didn't this crew understand the concept of a werewolf? When the passengers try to work together to fight the werewolves the film picks up a bit. Unfortunately, this is brought down by further stupid actions from the characters who, of course, all end up dead. To wrap things up, Joe is magically turned into a werewolf for no discernible reason; I guess they wanted him in the pack? They kill this last douche despite it being daytime? Either that or they used shit-lighting for night. And to cap us off is the one chick teleporting to a train station despite the douche leaving first but still in the woods? Whaaaaat? Maybe chalk it up to shoddy editing, because something went wrong.

If you're looking for a novelty film, well, werewolves on a train might be up your alley. If you want a legitimately good werewolf tale, this isn't going to cut it. The core ideas are commendable, and the film makers do succeed at certain points. Keeping the werewolves in the shadows would have worked infinitely better since the special effects weren't cutting it. Likewise, ditching the typical weaknesses of werewolves, and making shit up as they go, was unexplained. I mean, if bashing one of their heads in with a fire extinguisher worked, why didn't fire? Overall, maybe this is worth a passing watch, but there are way better alternatives out there.

Notable Moment: At the end, when they cut to the chick at the train station. Seriously, what the hell is that all about? How did she get there so quick, and what station is this? It sure is bumpin'! This sloppy editing or outright idiocy really confused me when they were suddenly cutting back and forth with the douche in the woods.

Final Rating: 5.5/10