Film Review: Prowl

0 Flares Twitter 0 "> Facebook 0 Google+ 0 "> Pin It Share 0 "> LinkedIn 0 "> StumbleUpon 0 "> Buffer 0 Buffer"> Email -- Email to a friend"> Filament.io -- Filament Ideas to Inventions More Apps"> 0 Flares × About Prowl (2010)Gruesome horror from Patrik Syversen director of Manhunt in which some unlucky teenagers are chosen as fresh meat for a group of bloodthirsty creatures. Amber (Ruta Gedmintas) is a small-town girl who dreams of escaping to the big city. Taking to the road with a group of friends she doesn’t get far before breaking down. However a truck driver agrees to give them a ride. After their initial relief the youngsters have a look at the cargo surrounding them only to find containers of blood. The truck stops and they are unloaded into a pitch-black abandoned warehouse where something awaits..

Starring: Ruta Gedmintas, Joshua Bowman, Perdita Weeks, Jamie Blackley, Courtney Hope

Directed by: Patrik Syversen

Runtime: 84 minutes

Studio: Lionsgate

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Review: Prowl

Patrik Syversen’s film begins with Amber (Courtney Hope) trying to acquire an apartment in Chicago. She seems eager to leave her home town and friends and won’t take no for an answer from anyone. As a result, a group of friends decide to go on a road trip and get her to Chicago before a deadline for an apartment comes along. Unfortunately, the car breaks down just outside the town leaving Amber to resort to a “woe is me” act before her friends flag down a truck driven by Bernard (Bruce Payne). The friends are wary so have one, Eric (Oliver Hawes), ride up front with Bernard and insist on taking photos of the truck before setting off. Bernard agrees, no photos are taken, and away they go.

Predictably, Bernard isn’t as friendly as he initially appears. It soon becomes clear that he isn’t taking them to Chicago at all and after some partying in the trailer the friends become concerned about what is going on. They find dozens of boxes in the back filled with blood and when they ring Eric they have Bernard answer who insists all is well and that Eric is asleep. He wouldn’t convince under police interrogation, would he? The friends are taken to a meat-packing plant and when the trailer is opened they find they are prey to some bloodthirsty creatures. The question is can they survive and what is going at the plant?

After contending with Amber’s endless complaints at the outset, we are greeted by a group of friends who are not all that bright. Insisting on taking photos of Bernard’s truck for safety seems a good idea but to then get in the trailer without taking any pictures at all, well, that is just careless if you ask me. At the meat plant they come under heavy attack and are picked off one by one in gruesome fashion. Amber inevitably is around towards the end though and is made of pretty tough stuff though I won’t explain why this is. Prowl goes down the standard path for a horror film of this nature and the ending proves both unsurprising and uninspiring.

Prowl is a pretty poor horror film despite the build-up being okay. Once the blood flows this becomes fairly straightforward, seen it all before territory, despite the motives of the monsters. The ending is supposed to shock and leave us gasping I imagine but it left me feeling completely let down. While this is nowhere near the worst horror film you will see, it’s not a great one either, I’m afraid.

Verdict: 1/5

(Film source: reviewer’s own copy)

About the Author:

I was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England and have always been a bookworm and enjoyed creative writing at school. In 1999 I created the Elencheran Chronicles and have been writing ever since. My first novel, Fezariu's Epiphany, was published in May 2011. When not writing I'm a lover of films, games, books and blogging. I now live in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, with my wife, Donna, and our six cats - Kain, Razz, Buggles, Charlie, Bilbo and Frodo.

David M. Brown – who has written 763 posts on Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave.

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