Title: Prowl

Stars: Ruta Gedmintas, Joshua Bowman and Courtney Hope

Slasher films have earned a reputation for forgoing relatable characters and a developed plot-line to instead focus on brutal killings. While horror audiences thrive on the adrenaline rush from seeing gory and bloody attacks, independent production company After Dark Films is hoping to change people’s perception of the horror genre with its new film ‘Prowl.’ Combining a main character with a detailed back-story with the ever-popular vampire attacking her and her friends, ‘Prowl’ promises to be one of the stand-out films of this year’s Horrorfest (also known as the ‘8 Films to Die For’ festival).

When first hearing of ‘Prowl,’ horror fans may feel it has the premise of most other slasher films, and it doesn’t do much to differentiate itself from other entries in the sub-genre. Like many other slasher films, ‘Prowl’ follows teen Amber (played by Courtney Hope), who is determined to leave the small town she despises, the parents she isn’t close to and the dead-end job she’s stuck in. Amber is resolved on moving to Chicago to settle into a new apartment on her own, but has no way to get into the big city. In one last outing together before she permanently leaves her old life behind, Amber convinces several of her friends, including Suzy (portrayed by Ruta Gedmintas) and Peter (played by Joshua Bowman), to embark on a road trip with her.

But when their van breaks down on the side of the interstate, the friends realize their journey into the city won’t be as easy as they planned. They eventually enlist the help of trucker Bernard (played by Bruce Payne), who offers the group a ride in the back of his semi, as he’s also on his way to Chicago. The friends come to realize that something is wrong when they discover packages of blood in the back of the truck with them. The group must then fight for survival when Bernard stops at a warehouse full of blood-thirsty creatures, called ‘The Strays,’ who are intent on using the friends as their prey.

While After Dark Films isn’t marketing The Strays in the film as vampires, it seems likely executives still want to profit from the current craze with the mythical beings. Even though director Patrik Syversen has said “The script was well written, had a clear central character with an interesting arc…in the process of running away from things in her life, (the main character) realizes who she is as a person,” horror fans may still question why this vampire movie is different from other films in the genre. Adding vampire-like creatures who just want to use the main characters as prey doesn’t seem to promise complex characters or an intelligible plot-line.

But Syversen and screenwriter Tim Tori, who penned ‘Prowl,’ will surely surprise many horror fans with their high-level of interest in exploring the characters’ relationships and pasts before introducing The Strays. As Syversen has said of Amber, she is “always running away, but in the process of running away from things in her life, she realizes who she is as a person.” The audience will surely connect with Amber the most out of all the characters after watching the beginning of the movie and seeing the struggles she has to deal with at home and at work.

As Tori has said of the friends, what makes them interesting is that “Before anything truly terrible happens in ‘Prowl,’ the audience spends time getting to know these people and liking them…the actors did a great job breathing life into them.” Viewers will empathize with Amber as she watches her friends get attacked by The Strays, as Tori understood her pain; he was able to understand her fear as he researched blood-feeding creatures, including the strige, a mythical bird that feeds on children, before writing the film. He also easily developed the personalities and emotions of the rest of the characters, as he based them on several of his friends who came from a small town like the one in the film.

While Syversen and Tori uniquely developed the characters, focusing too much time on Amber and her determination to leave her small town unfortunately resulted in a quick and poorly explanation of The Strays. After going through such an emotional journey with Amber, viewers will become just as interested as she is to find out who The Strays are and why they are attacking people. The film just barely clocks in at an hour and a half, so Syversen definitely had the time to explain their origins.

Overall, Syversen and Tori succeeded in their mission to create developed, interesting characters to balance the bloody attacks fans have come to expect from the horror genre. Amber will surely have an impact on the people who watch ‘Prowl;’ as Hope has said her character “has unique characteristics that other horror film characters don’t possess…her mindset is beyond her years when it comes to the outside world and being independent.” The director and screenwriter made the right decision in including Amber’s determination to make it on her own, instead of just focusing entirely on gory killings.

Written by: Karen Benardello