'Prowl' Movie Review

Title: Prowl

Director: Patrik Syversen

Stars: Ruta Gedmintas, Joshua Bowman and Courtney Hope

Written by: Karen Benardello


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.

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