Coyotes

Sometimes you come across an actor that you remember from a certain film, where the actor or actress made a certain impact on you. It could the way that person acts infront of a camera or have a certain looks that matches well with the character. One actor that comes to my mind is the actor known as Justin Long who have made quite a lot of films over the years. However, when i think about Justin Long i have a personal favourite film simply because it is so bizarre and very entertaining. And that is the 2014 horror comedy known as Tusk from director Kevin Smith. This has to be one of the most bizarre cinema releases of the year of 2014, and let me be honest and say this is not a film for everyone. This is a really weird story about a podcaster named Wallace Bryton ( played by Justin Long ) who see a very bizarre advert and decide to visit the man who wrote it. The man is called Howard Howke ( played by legendary actor Michael Parks ) who seems to have lived a life full of adventures around the world. This will be a perfect story for Wallace to tell on the podcast as he prepare to interview this older gentleman. What he doesn´t know is that Howard have a completely different plan than just an ordinary interview. Tusk is one of those films that will divide people because it is so bizarre. I personally love bizzare horror comedies and this turned out to be a very positive surprise. I feel that this is one of the films i enjoyed actor Justin Long most in his filmography and his screen presence together with actor Michael Parks. If you love bizarre movies just like me you have to watch Tusk, no matter if you rent it on digital, buy a physical copy or watch it on streaming. If you do buy a physical copy of Tusk listen to the commentary track by director Kevin Smith. Over the years i noticed that Justin Long have been in several films i have not checked out yet, so last year his latest film called Coyotes was released at Fantastic Fest 2025 in Austin, Texas. I did not visit the festival ( i would like to at some point ) but i did rent Coyotes on digital instead. Since i am a fan of old school animal horror films is this worth or watch, or is Coyotes not a film that turned out to be that good?

Scott ( Justin Long ) with his wife Liv ( Kate Bosworth ) and their teenage daughter Chloe ( Mila Harris ) is living a good life in their Hollywood Hills home until a big storm breaks out, shuts down all elecrticity and a big tree fall over their car. That might seem like one big issue, but their biggest problem is that coyotes are spreading across Hollywood Hills looking for food.

I have seen a lot of animal horror films over 30 years in everything from animal horror comedies to more traditional horror films with animals included. I appreciate the effort using animals if the film itself have a fun plot or at least good characters. In the case of Coyotes i can say this film is a bit of a mixed bag for me, and there is especially one detail i feel doesn´t work at all. Let´s get to the positive first and i do feel that the characters of this film manage to work, especially the chemistry between the three main characters Scott, Liv and Chloe playes by actors Justin Long, Kate Bosworth and Mila Harris. Considering this is supposed to be a family i feel that the acting performances feel natural within a family portrait. Even if you know that this family doesn´t always get along i think this is good, not showing a fake image of the perfect American family. The coyotes themselves doesn´t look competely terrible considering they are CGI animals. Trust me, i have seen terrible CGI animals in the past ( anyone remember The Asylum animal horror film Battledogs ? ) and when it looks bad you lose interest in the film. So the fact that these coyotes doesn´t look too bad is actually positive. If you are going to make an animal horror film you have to make the animals look descent at least to work with the horror story. I do like the character of Julie playes by actress Brittany Allen ( who you might recognize from TV series Dexter: Original Sin ) and her wild personality. I have to mention actor Keir O´Donnell as the rat killer Devon, at least have some charming scenes. Ok, so we have to talk about one big issue with this film and that is the attempt of comedy scenes. This is not a funny horror comedy at all and i did not laugh much at all, which i feel is a failure if you planned to make a funny horror comedy. What actually works in Coyotes is the horror scenes, so on that part of the film i can´t really complain. At the end of the day this is actually what made me enjoy this film for being a simple but effective animal horror film. Does this film have flaws? Yes, but i can actually look past this and just enjoy this film for what it was trying to do bring back old school animal horror films. Director Colin Minihan ( director of the great sci fi horror film Extraterrestrial, worth checking out ) have made a simple yet effective horror film if you just want something easy to watch. If you love animals and if you love horror movies combined, Coyotes could be something you might appreciate.

Ratin: DDD