Howlers

Make no mistake, this is a B flick, and it's not good. But it's not the worst I've seen either. The acting is almost passable. The script, effects, etc aren't the worst I've seen. There are some funny moments. They make decent use of some horror tropes and cliches in a few places.

'High Moon', or 'Howlers' as it is sometimes known, is a horror/comedy involving a band of werewolves and a gunfighter from the Old West who has returned from the grave to hunt them. The result is slightly less interesting than this premise might have you believe. Whilst the idea of a biker gang of wolf men living on the outskirts of respectable civilisation is a good one, the low budget and some wooden performances don't do it a lot of favours.

It's not quite a comedy, not quite a horror but it would be wrong of me to suggest that it isn't quite good fun in places and there are worse ways of spending 90 minutes of your time. My score is 5 out of 10.

Okay, I'll start by saying that this is not a horror film. If you're looking to be scared then this tale is not for you.

What this movie is more a dark western fantasy, set in present times, based around supernatural creatures; lycanthropes - werewolves. And, it's not that bad.

The story is way out there, quite a few miles past the twilight zone... It's a story of one man's revenge against the men-come-creatures who killed his beloved. The trouble is evil never dies and once the creatures draw breath into their lungs so does our good cowboy hero. As we progress through the story we learn more about the good-guy in black. Such as he was trained in the martial arts by a long-dead Asian Warlord who had pledged to defeat these demons. How much cooler could you get than when the werewolves dispatch a biker gang and take their leathers and rides. What more could you ask from a story - an undead ghost trained, martial arts cowboy killing lycanthrope bikers from hell.

If the budget had been bigger then this could have been a truly awesome B-movie. Luckily, writer and director, Josh Ridgeway infuses his film with as much imagination as he did within his story. There are some nice camera angles and pans that add to the strength of the film. He's even adept at using lighting to create an atmosphere. I believe that if he wanted his audience afraid he could have put the scare into them.

Though Ridgeway shoots his action scenes with skill and minimises the shaky-camera effect to good effect the fights are too slow. On the whole, they are well choreographed, they just need to be a tad faster to make them exciting.

The acting is also above par. Tom Zembrod as the Alpha Werewolf Willie Price is perfect. He has such a good repartee, especially when he's chanting and bating Colt, our kung-fu cowboy, that it keeps you smiling and watching. Matthew Tompkins as the Sheriff is gruff, strong, and ideally cast. I've liked Sean Patrick Flanery since I first watched him in Powder. However, in this film, he's not at his best. He seems to be lacking an "oomph" that his character requires. He gets the sleaziness across flawlessly but it feels like something is missing. The rest of the cast range from good to decent.

The special effects aren't brilliant but they do work. The worst, by far, is the rubber mask werewolf. The Willie Price werewolf is layered up and looks quite good - it's passable. But this only adds to the nastiness of ol' rubber-face. Good thing he's only around a few times. You can forgive and forget.

I would gladly recommend this Dark Western Fantasy to all. It's entertaining, humourous, and has its fair share of action. It's a bonus that the acting and the story are greater than the usual fodder of this type. A nice waste of an hour and a half. I'll even watch this flick again... Enjoy.

Feel free to check out my Obsidian Dreams list-come-chart to see where this places in my fantasy films.

Now i like Ray Harryhausen films using old-hat stop motion animation so whilst films don't need ultra brilliant digital effects and retro has its place, there is a fine line between retro and pants. This movie has effects that are pants, so much so that the film is ruined. Werewolf masks looking like budget store Halloween dress up have no place in 2018 and frankly made what was otherwise an OK film a painful experience to watch. OK action scenes, OK but contrived plot, OK cast. Its all serviceable but those wolf effects... Man what on earth was the director thinking allowing that nonsense on screen. Sorry to all those involved with the movie but it was embarrassing to look at those cheap masks and impossible to enjoy the film.

The summary sounds good, suggesting a good time with a silly but fun movie.

Yeah, well, um...

The "story" is pretty stupid and includes a couple of total what the heck-moments, without any thrills or comedy, except for the occasional unintentional moronic dialogues or bonkers plot additions. In terms of dramaturgy it can only be called a mess.

Blood is there, not really gore though, the action scenes feel rather cheap, and the werewolfs look a bit weird. Not sure what they spend the estimated $6,400,000 on.

The acting is OK by some of the cast, not so much by others, most likely due to the script I imagine. Some things can't be pulled off with what's been given.

Somehow, although I stand by the points I made, there was something that elevates Howlers in its total slightly above its sums, maybe because of the absurd plot.

Yet, probably only worth a watch for die hard fans of werewolf-"horror" or "gunslinger" stuff.