It’s all been done before in the horror genre. It is when filmmakers take the various horror tropes and apply their own personal fingerprint, that I am truly impressed. This is the case with Patrik Syversen’s 2010 film, Prowl.
Amber is an 18-year-old girl who is sick of her small town and everything in it, including her alcoholic mother. The only thing standing in her way of freedom and a new start is a ride to Chicago. After gathering her friends and the ride she needed, their car breaks down, leaving them no choice but to hitch a ride with a random passer-by. What starts out as a fun road trip quickly turns into a fight for their lives, as the friends find out exactly where they’ve been taken.
We all know there is an overabundance of horror flicks that use the same old cliché of having a sexy, all teen cast. There aren’t many, however, that actually make you care for the characters. This is different with Syversen’s Prowl. The characters aren’t your typical ditzy teens, but are instead funny and entertaining and in the short time I got to know them onscreen, I found myself truly caring about what happened to them.
The cast is full of a bunch of unknown actors and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Each performer brought their own unique personality to their character, lending a huge hand in making the film as enjoyable as it is. Sure, we’ve seen the stoners, free spirits, and jocks before, but those stereotypical characters work for a reason and still do so even in Prowl’s bizarre world.
In addition to making this beautiful cast of youngsters work to his advantage, the director and his team also manage to take the overly popular vampire subgenre and shake things up a bit. Never have we seen a vampire film like this and it still amazes me that this can be said almost 200 years after the first literary appearance of a vampire, in John William Polidori’s 1819 novella, The Vampyre.
The ending of this film may not be for everyone, but I still strongly recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan of the vampire subgenre and/or supports independent horror. There is a good amount of blood and gore, impressive special effects, and an original story for you to enjoy… what more could you ask for?
I give this film 3.5 switchblades out of 5.
