Wolf Hollow review.
Confusing werewolf rules and stunted transformations can’t prevent Wolf Hollow from providing a fun, focused, time.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Wolf Hollow
Directed by Mark Cantu
Written by Mark Cantu and Brian Ceponis
Starring Felissa Rose, Hannah Fierman, Angel Nicole Bradford, Brian Ceponis, Noah J. Welter, Brandon Krum and Lynn Lowry
Wolf Hollow Review
When you watch as many werewolf movies as we do (that damned full moon comes around every 30 days or so) you reach a point where you aren’t even sure what you want out of them anymore. After enough serious takes on the subject…you start to think you want something that just goes crazy. Of course, when you get that in the form of Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf…you are forced to question everything. Wolf Hollow takes a while to reveal what kind of werewolf movie it is going to offer. Once it does…it turns out to be exactly the kind you can always get up for. Sometimes simple is better.
A film crew does some location scouting in The Hollow in Wolf County…the site of a previous werewolf attack. Accompanying them is Ray (Noah J. Welter) …who comes from The Hollow and has family in the area. His older brother Bart (Brian Ceponis) hopes to welcome him back into the family…something Ray has no interest in. The family drama escalates as an all-out werewolf assault targets the stranded film crew.
Wolf Hollow has an interesting structure. The opening scene sets the stage for the second half of the movie. It opens with a group of people partying in The Hollow. They are quickly and savagely taken out by a pack of werewolves. We’re talking heads ripped off, people. If you enjoy the sound of that…you’re going to be very happy when the sun sets on the film crew. This opening is a sample portion of the main course of Wolf Hollow. After the necessary set-ups, character introductions and exposition scenes…this is a survive the night movie through and through.
The pre-main course part of Wolf Hollow has enough laughs to keep the pace moving before we get to the good stuff. The drama between Ray and the family he left behind mixes in an interesting enough dynamic as well. We even get a bit of wolf fun in the daylight…they seem to be playing by a bit of The Howling rules here. People have control over their transformations. They also have Predator-like wolf vision that looks cool but isn’t a major aspect of the story.
After an accident in the woods involving the lead actress of the film (played with hammy perfection by Lynn Lowry), we get another werewolf attack. The deaths start before sunset, including one very funny and unexpected one. Also…these head ripping werewolves also rip off an arm. It’s a good way of showing that these werewolves aren’t controlled by a wolf as much as they use their wolf powers to attack like a human would. It’s as close to an explanation for these wolves as we get in Wolf Hollow. One attack does let us know that it leads to becoming a wolf…at least, eventually.
The biggest disappointment in Wolf Hollow is its transformation effects. Apparently, these werewolves can not only control when they change…but how much they change. The partial transformation make-up is far better than the full wolf form…which is probably why that choice was made. The full wolf form looks only slightly better than a store-bought wolf costume. Or, perhaps, exactly like one.
There won’t be many surprises in how Ray’s family drama ends up. This is a werewolf movie, after all. That isn’t to say that it doesn’t work, however. I was surprised at how well some of the dramatic beats landed in Wolf Hollow. Look…it’s not The Godfather…but for a low-budget werewolf movie? It’s pretty good. Most of the other characters don’t leave a big impression (and are largely there to be wolf fodder anyway) …but the family stuff works.
Once it becomes a survive the night movie…Wolf Hollow is good bloody fun. Carnage is often accompanied by a smile. We see a character take charge and attempt to lead the crew through the prolonged attack. A character named Lucky Steve (Brandon Krum) steals a lot of scenes through a unique ability to turn gruesome attacks into punchlines. Plenty of death on display.
If you can look past the subpar wolf transformations and spotty werewolf logic…there is a lot of fun to be had in Wolf Hollow. Putting all their eggs into an all-out attack featuring practical effects and some decent laughs was a good idea. It allows Wolf Hollow to separate itself from…ahem…the pack.
Scare Value
Wolf Hollow might not be able to pull off all the aspects of werewolf movies we care most about…but it understands, above all else, that it needs to be fun. Devoting most of the story to one night of survival gives it a fast pace full of blood and death. The first half has its moments…but it’s what happens after night falls that makes Wolf Hollow a winner.
3.5/5
Wolf Hollow Links
Rent/Buy on VOD from Vudu and Amazon
