Wolf Hollow

Based on the editing nightmare opening scene, I thought this flick would be bottom-of-the-barrel garbage. But once it properly begins... well... the sound mix is off, the lighting is inconsistent, and the actors are all in different movies.

However, as a comedy and a werewolf movie, there are some genuine laughs and fun gags. It's just not consistent enough for the fun bits to overwhelm the amateur and boring bits. Because, yeah, despite everything both positive and negative, its biggest sin is bogging down in its second half.

The practical effects are a mixed bag. The gore and splatter isn't bad, especially when used for yuks. The werewolf could have been ok if it didn't look like a particularly expensive inanimate Halloween mask.

I've seen worse movies and this honestly should be among them. But it tries real hard, I genuinely laughed a few times, and I kind of admire what they managed to pull off. If only they had the talent and the money to do better.

I recently watched Wolf Hollow (2023) on Prime. The storyline follows a young team of filmmakers traveling across Pennsylvania, excited to make their next film. Their ideal spot turns into a nightmare when they're attacked by werewolves, with locals divided between helping and harming them.

Directed by Mark Cantu (Average Joe), the film stars Felissa Rose (Summer Camp), Lynn Towry (Shivers), Hannah Fierman (V/H/S), August Kyss (Murdercise), and Angel Nichole Bradford (Desperate Souls).

While the movie is as cliche and straightforward as a horror film can be, it's intriguing to see some horror legends in the cast. Felissa Rose's portrayal as a backwoods country hillbilly might not have been a perfect fit. The dialogue and acting are average, with Lynn Towry standing out as appropriately annoying and a fun character to hope for her demise. The horror elements, including werewolf costumes and attack scenes, are passable, but some scenes could have been better. The film relies on overhead shots during werewolf attacks, limiting visibility. The ending has a few worthwhile kills but is predictable and cliché.

In conclusion, Wolf Hollow is a below-average addition to the horror genre, primarily appealing to diehard horror fans only. I'd give this a 4/10 and recommend skipping it.

It's a crowd-funded low-budget werewolf horror. And within those parameters it's pretty well done. The plot is straightforward and the performances are mostly fine. The creature designs are effective and they're reminiscent of the hulking anthropomorphized wolves from Dog Soldiers - if it ain't broke don't fix it. The gore and action are competently staged. The downside, aside from the constraints of the budget, is the attempted humor. It's sparsely utilized and it generally falls flat, especially strange and dated references to the show $chitt's Creek.

I'll add that as proud denizen of Pennsyltucky I found the accents distracting. Yes, we are feral hillbillies; but no, we don't actually sound like we're from Kentucky or Alabama or whatever some of the actors were going for here.

The few 10/10 reviews here are obviously from people involved with the film, related to people who are or were part of the crowd fund. It's not even close, not even in the horror genre alone, or even the werewolf genre. It's bad.

Good for the makers for getting their film made, but more time should have been spent on the script, especially the dialogue. Way too talky for it's own good.

The cinematography isn't great either, often finding the camera placement in awkward positions, giving a very messy feel to scenes.

I understand that it's a crowd funded film and had a very low budget, but the script should have been worked on a lot more and fine-tuned before deciding to green light the thing.

Like I said, congratulations to all involved on getting a film made. But next time, spend a helluva lot more time on the script, it's one of the most important aspects of any film.

Best of luck in the future.

I have seen a lot of movies that are way worse than this one. It's not nearly as bad as some of the reviews I've read. The acting is not that bad for a low budget horror film actually some of the actors were pretty decent and really none were terrible by no means. The makeup was definitely better than some other films I have watched. It's by no means Oscar worthy but it does have some interesting characters and some comical moments which are pretty funny so if you are looking for something to kill some time and are not to critical it is actually worth watching. I gave it four stars I thought it deserved that much.