I say it every single time I watch one of these types of film for review, but I will say it again, I really don't rate werewolves as a decent movie monster. From the title alone, I assumed Wolf Hollow would be another entry in that sub-genre of horror and I was right. Directed and co-written by Mark Cantu, this one may have had a terrible plot, but I found myself enjoying it, thanks to the design of the creatures, some cool special effects, as well as some surprisingly fun characters.
A young film crew out on a location scout in rural Pennsylvania get more than they bargained for when they discover the place they are scouting, Wolf Hollow, lives up to its name, with many of the inhabitants werewolves. With one of the crew, Ray (Noah J. Welter) having previously ran away from the area a year previously, his reappearance leads to lead werewolves, Evie (Felissa Rose - Craving, Sleepaway Camp) and Bart (Brian Ceponis - Occurrence at Mills Creek) going on a murderous killing spree, determined to both kill him and his new friends.
The prologue left me confused, dazzled and unsure if this movie was going to be worth the eighty minute run-time. I found the claustrophobic directing and many quick cuts in editing to be off-putting, making things hard to see. As is often the case, thankfully, when the film begins proper, things do improve. The directing remains the same for the action sequences, a dizzying amount of quick cuts, but this works at keeping the threat of the werewolves feel real, without having to linger too much on the werewolf costumes. I can't say I ever really got used to the way the cameraman felt part of the scenes, spinning his camera in all directions despite this not being found footage, but it worked for making these scenes feel chaotic. Talking of the werewolves, they reminded me of the look of the creatures from the classic Dog Soldiers movie, walking upright, and able to operate with some intelligence, they were the best kind of portrayal of this old movie monster.
Complimenting all the killing are some lovely special effects, that include people having their limbs ripped off, insides pulled out, even a nice shotgun to the eye effect. These are all joined with plenty of blood, making these many scenes one of the highlights to be found here.
On the other side of the coin is the terrible plot. Ray knew full well that Wolf Hollow was home to werewolves, not only that, he knew these werewolves would not be happy to see him, yet he still convinces his friends that it would be a great location for shooting the film they are working on. There is never any blame put on him even when it all becomes apparent, but I felt the blame did fall squarely on his shoulders. Many of the protagonists were either bland or unlikable, especially with the awful Beth (Jess Uhler), who just seemed horrid for the sake of being horrid, to turn her frenemy, Alex (Christina Krakowski) into more of a main protagonist. As for Alex, she seemed a bit too over the top at times, a bit too screamy and shouty compared to the rest. Special mention has to go to Brandon Krum as Lucky Steve, the best character of the whole film. Sure, he may be a comedy character, but he was also a capable bad-ass, not letting his impressive injuries prevent him from playing a key role. He also had my favourite line of the movie when after having been attacked by werewolves several times, but still surviving, he says "Hey guys, I think I may be immortal, I don't think I can die!". This comical confidence never got old with this fantastic character.
The main story took place at Wolf Hollow, but the various subplots, such as a werewolf attack at the local police station, never seemed to go anywhere. At least, I thought it was a neat little twist that the police were well aware of werewolves existing, but had previously been content to just leave them alone as long as they didn't bother them.
The plot for Wolf Hollow may have been terrible, and the direction and editing sometimes a bit too in your face, but I did enjoy the many action scenes, thanks to the good special effects. Add in some cool characters to be found among the chaff, and you had a film that while not perfect, was still an entertaining ride.
SCORE:
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