Howl

Genre: Horror
Rating: 18
Warnings: Gore, Misogyny, Death

An indie horror film with fairly good special effects, acting and cinematography, Howl was good but just didn't satisfy my horror desires. The narrative, while complete and consistent, just felt flawed to me as a horror narrative. Unlikeable characters who wronged both other characters and the audience outlive those who have yet to 'earn' death.

This takes any enjoyment from the gory scenes and isn't subversive enough to feel deliberate; it's just the way the plot happens to unfold. The monsters and the injuries shown are great in quality, and the setting of a stopped train in the woods is beautifully spooky. I found some frame rate oddities in some action scenes, though that could have been caused by being played via a cast-to-TV device. 

Unsuprisingly from the name Howl and the full moon setting, the monster of this story is a werewolf. Even with brilliant prosthetics, the film takes the slow burn route. Building the suspense with glimpses and only seeing the effects the monster is having, the eventual reveal is much more exciting. The realistic lack of knowledge the characters have do hint that the monster is something else; skinwalker, mutated animal or yeti. The contagious element of the werewolf myth eventually prevails, and adds the muddiness of the character issue, with characters dying in the middle of their endearing moments and a character's compounding unpleasantness and misogyny seemingly rewarded. In this, the audience lose the gift of lovely characters and are punished with unwanted ones.

The train setting is integral to the story, setting up the scenario and providing the flimsy safe area. There's always a nice familiarity to a UK film made by British people. The fictional train company is similar enough to any UK rail company to feel realistic, but isn't so specific as to be controversal or too niche for international audiences. From the out-of-order toilet, locked doors and potentially surprising fire and maintenance equipment, Howl gives a realistic look at both an uneventful train journey and a siege on a train carriage. 

Some interesting inter-character development is in here, too, with protaganist Joe's promotion application, crush on his coworker and unpleasant boss, but unfortunately this doesn't get much further than the opening. Likewise, the seeds of connection between the passengers are planted, but too quickly thrown out with badly timed deaths. It's such a shame, as the rest of the film is so good and there is real potential for a brilliant and impactful film.