Prowl

This starts out like a coming-of-age drama with a young woman named Amber who's sick of small town life in Famfield despite her close friends, mother and part time job. There are some unexplained snippets with ominous visions that include people chasing her and decomposing bodies. Is something calling her, or is it just the stress and mounting pressure of cabin fever? She wants to move away and get her own apartment in Chicago but first she has to get there with a deposit before another prospective tenant. Her five friends tag along for the road trip, until right outside of the city limits their car breaks down. As chance would have it, a friendly semi-truck driver pulls over and they beg him to take them to the windy city, but not before telling him they want to snap his picture, that one should ride up front and, of course, their family should know who they're with for safety's sake. Can never be too careful, or can you? They hang loose in the back cargo area by playing games, drinking and smoking drugs. Suddenly they take a nasty swerve and get thrown about. They call the driver and he gives them the run around to stop, which makes them suspicious enough to call 911, though where they just entered the signal doesn't go through. The driver backs in to a loading area of an abandoned warehouse that looks like it used to be a slaughterhouse. After the back door opens, everything turns into chaos when they step out into the factory with no visible way out and strange creatures who fly through the air, crawl on the walls and want to consume their flesh sooner than they can rip it off. From then on out it ends up being something like "The Most Dangerous Game" as these victims are treated like not only lunch but challenging sport. "Prowl" is a director's film first and foremost. It has a steady pacing that keeps up a certain element of mystery without laying out a full view of its blueprints, as well as it manages to escalate the story to different levels while still slowing down in a few areas to catch its breath and explain. The dialogue also dances around and doesn't lay it all out for the audience, which gives it some challenge and curious questions even after the credits roll. It manages to cover up its plot holes--sometimes after the fact, which makes you wonder about a few in the meantime--such as certain physicalities. It gradually unveils the blood-craving beasts from quick shots to extended, which keeps a viewer guessing as to what they are and what it all means while--thank the horror Gods!--doesn't fold in on itself and make what they have going too cheesy. This is more intriguing and mysterious like a thriller than it is continually scary like a horror, though there are still a few jumping shocks used to rile one's pulse, even if not terrifying. What at first seems like it's only prolonging the inevitable, comes full circle and turns into a tale of finding out what Amber's life means before she even gets to her promised land. The blood is more watery than the truly crimson looking stuff and there are frantic camera shots that go a little overboard. Though this was a quick, basic and entertaining piece that could have been a run-of-the-mill movie with different direction, less measurement and passion put into, not to mention it's a simple story that only has a few conventions tweaked around and isn't the most original out there, but the way it carried itself was turned into an effective experience that urges forward. One where it's a little more unexpected than other don't-take-rides-from-strangers fare.

I first saw this a decade ago on a dvd which I own. Revisited it recently. The film has enuff tension, moves at a good pace n the creature mayhem is scary but the shaky cam n poor lighting ruined it for me. The creatures r similar like the ones from 30 Days of Night. If only they wud have avoided the shaky cam man.

The plot - A young girl decides to leave her old life behind and move to the city after discovering that she was adopted. She asks her best friend to accompany her, and the road trip is eventually joined by a bunch of pals. Unfortunately, their car breaks down along the road and they take help from a truck driver. The group gets jittery when they discover hundreds of cartons of blood n the truck driver refuses to stop until he reaches an abandoned meat-packing plant that is infested with blood thirsty creatures.

Notable face is Bruce Payne as the truck driver.

Amber (Courtney Hope) is surrounded by failing parents and appalling friends. You know the type - alleged teens who are horny/stoned/drunk at all times, with the kind of pack personality you'd expect from such a lowbrow designer catwalk crew. When they end up in the kind of trouble a film with a title like 'Prowl' couldn't exist without, it's difficult to care for such preening twits. They attempt to ditch their former unfulfilling lives by hitching a ride which unexpectedly leads them to no-nonsense Veronica (Saxon Trainor), and her delightfully bloody slaughterhouse. From here, things get progressively more messy and tense.

'Prowl' is good once it gets going and we get past the lazily drawn 'hero' types. It staggers me how obvious it seems to me to make your characters likeable, but that so many directors - Patrik Syversen, here, is one - seem to think that's too easy. Better to make them edgy in the belief that makes them interesting. It doesn't! Or perhaps we are supposed to be aching for them to get dispatched in as gory a way as possible. If that's the aim, then it succeeds.

After crashing down on a remote highway, a group of friends find the tow-truck at their rescue is delivering them to an abandoned warehouse to be of use for a group of bloodthirsty creatures in hunting training.

This ending up becoming one of the biggest disappointments around and it really had no reason to do so. There's some exceptionally good times here with the story as it has an awesome premise that's incredibly original which is played off really nicely here. The growing realization of their predicament when they arrive in the back of the truck and the uncertainty of what's coming next give these scenes a really great sense of tension by not adhering to a set pattern. Even once they're released and can go look around in a creepy location filled with pretty chilling creatures, there's some really fun times here as the relentless attacks by the voracious predators come of really fun as the numerous attacks throughout the facility and the surrounding buildings utilizing their speed and agility to launch surprise attacks on the group filled with boatloads of gore, yet instead of playing with this as expected, there's just not a lot of other good stuff here. Among the main flaws featured here is that we have way too much time in the beginning with the group of friends trying to establish their relationship together, and none of this is appealing or enjoyable. That it's all so bland as they hand out and party at the house just goes nowhere and feels endless overall without any kind of real purpose being set-up as a drama about needing to get out of the small town. Even more troubling is that after they arrive at the location, the film's confrontations with the creatures within the abandoned building really tend to stop and start quite readily, dragging itself out in the middle by going through their investigation of the area rather than dealing with the creature encounters. There's a really down-beat sense of energy here when this should be building up furiously during that point and becoming the film's highlight when instead it becomes a dull, dreary mess. There's also the fact that, even if the pacing during these scenes where fine the rapid-fire editing during the action scenes that make it really indecipherable what's going on as the blurry creatures are quite hard to see as well further the rather troubling section. The other flaw to this is that the final twist at the end doesn't help matters by being so ludicrous and really ends up putting the film on a rather confusing note. Too bad, as it doesn't need a whole lot of work to end up pretty awesome.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity and drug use.

If you love watching horror movies then this will be fun to watch, Its not ranked up there with the classics, Salem's lot or The Exorcist, but its worth a watch. Only bad thing i can say about it was the ending, it was an anti climax but it does leave it open for a follow on sequel. If you are looking for scantly clad teenagers running around half naked then this is not for you, although the leading ladies are easy on the eye. Gore factor 6.5: Lots of blood in this & a few body parts flying around the movie set.

Scare factor: 6; One scene certainly had me jumping from my seat, but these are BOOM!! in your face flashes & not many off them.