The Horror Show
Howl
by Paul Hyett
The Descent’s director, Paul Hyett, stands behind Howl, a low-budget film about avid flesh-eaters who chew and claw their way on board a stranded train, forcing the passengers into a gory battle for survival.
Hyett’s lead protagonist in The Descent, Shauna Macdonald, isn’t absent from his latest attempt to induce horror in mainstream audiences, however this time he chose to cast the leading part to Downton Abbey’s Ed Speleers.
The protagonist, Joe, disappointed with his dead end job as a train guard merely tries to make it through his midnight shift when the train suddenly breaks down in the middle of an eerie forest during a full-moon night. At first, his biggest problem seems to be keeping the passengers calm and avoiding any discomfort, but soon he realizes that a sinister nightmare awaits.
Joe and a group of passengers (strangely enough not all the passengers that we see in the beginning, but only a few – as if the others weirdly disappeared) come face to face with horror when they get hunted and mauled by savage werewolves that are lurking in the dark forest. The battle for survival is depicted through clichéd characters that are so commonly found in such flicks and certainly yearn for a heartbeat.
There is always something attractive when it comes to horror stories that unfold inside trains, where the level of threat seems great and the chance for survival minimal. And in most cases, like the 2004 British gem Creep, the ambiance created in such environments can be rather dour.
The howling flesh-eaters look like failed makeup test extras and their appearance brings back memories from the 90s, when VFX and costumes were astonishingly inferior to some of today’s masterpieces. However, their presence creates an air of mystery and tension that certainly adds bonus points to a movie that is at times bereft of soul.
The storyline raises a few questions to those who care to make a thought or two about its pace and progression, but Hyett chose to focus mainly on the characters and their survival rather than offer the perfect plot. As it usually happens in low-budget movies the story unfolds in a spectacularly staged manner leaving not much for the imagination and this results in nothing other than a very limited shelf life.
Maria Kriva, HMS
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