DVD Reviews: ‘Husk,’ ‘Prowl’ From After Dark Films Underwhelm

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CHICAGO – Stalled cars, prophetic visions, fresh meat in need of tenderizing, and off-handed expulsions of the dreaded line, “I’ll be right back.” These are merely a handful of the timeworn elements utilized by two new direct-to-video releases from After Dark Films. Both pictures are competently made and well acted, which makes their lack of originality all the more depressing.

Brett Simmons’s “Husk” and Patrik Syversen’s “Prowl” are billed as titles in the After Dark Originals series, the collection of horror films financed and produced solely by After Dark Films, which seems hellbent on providing even more content for FearNet OnDemand. They’re the sort of films I tend to watch during a bout of insomnia. Throw one of these diverting yet disposable flicks on the screen, and you’re guaranteed to fall asleep in no time.

HollywoodChicago.com DVD Rating: 2.0/5.0
DVD Rating: 2.0/5.0

It’s revealing to note how “Husk” and “Prowl” are more or less telling the exact same story with the exact same stock characters. Protagonists confront their fears while joined by a gallery of expendable friends, including an ill-fated “uber-male,” a doomed couple, a comic relief and an awkward guy with glasses. The self-absorbed young characters are just dumb enough to make the viewer enjoy watching their exceeding misfortune. After their carpool breaks down, the friends become trapped in a claustrophobic location that provides countless places for unspeakable creatures to hide in the shadows. The cornfield in “Husk” is no different from the slaughterhouse in “Prowl.” Even the big “twist” in both pictures is identical. What makes these films especially dull are the monsters themselves, which are all derivative variations on the rage-filled zombies in “28 Days Later.” Faceless homicidal threats can be unnerving when used sparingly, but these schlock-fests quickly devolve into a redundant pattern of bloody chases and attacks that quickly drain the material of any visceral terror. The experience of watching these films is akin to being lost in a mediocre haunted house populated by costumed teenagers who lunge and howl as you try asking them for directions.

Wes Chatham stars in Brett Simmons’s Husk.
Wes Chatham stars in Brett Simmons’s Husk.
Photo credit: Lionsgate Entertainment

While technically skilled, neither filmmaker has a clue about how to produce genuine chills on a low budget. The triumphant minimalism and carefully modulated suspense of “The Blair Witch Project” and “Paranormal Activity” worked on an audience’s imagination rather than their gag reflex. “Prowl” is slightly more effective than “Husk,” primarily because it actually bothers to build a half hour of tension before the inevitable bloodbath occurs. The eeriest moments in both films are always the most subtle, such as when a scarecrow’s head slowly turns to follow a passerby, or when an unidentified figure runs silently behind an unsuspecting hero. Too bad these sequences are few and far between. All that’s left to admire are a few of the performers who work tirelessly to elevate the surrounding dreck. Courtney Hope perfects her Selma Blair scowl as the long-suffering heroine of “Prowl,” while Devon Graye exudes genuine charm as the geek whose knowledge of chess proves indispensable to his friends in “Husk.” Somehow, the rules of chess seem to help the characters makes sense of the supernatural events they encounter. Lesson for future After Dark directors: as soon as your film starts applying “rules” to a story about killer scarecrows, the scare-factor tends to decrease rapidly.

Prowl and Husk were released on DVD on March 29, 2011.
Prowl and Husk were released on DVD on March 29, 2011.
Photo credit: Lionsgate Entertainment

“Husk” is presented in its 1.78:1 aspect ratio, and includes a decent amount of extras, including storyboards, a photo gallery and an 11-minute featurette where writer/director Simmons is seen staging an attack sequence. He describes to the actors how the evil spirits are playing tag team with the bodies they possess. To create the ghostly glaze that falls upon the eyes of the undead, actors wore contacts that blinded their vision, allowing them to become truly lost in their characters. In an interview, the director argues that horror films provide “the only entertainment venue where good and evil are black and white.” What about the horror that comes from within?

The audio commentary track accompanies Simmons with cast members Graye, Wes Chatham, and C.J. Thomason, who seem excited to have helped the filmmaker finally realize his dream project. “Husk” was based on Simmons’s 2005 short film of the same name, which the director refers to as his dress rehearsal. He wanted to utilize as many practical effects as possible, while avoiding to stage scenes around an open isle in the corn (a la “Signs”). Simmons also admits that he felt obligated to include many of the standard horror clichés since they’re often embraced by the “After Dark” fan base. It’s a shame he couldn’t subvert them further. There’s nothing surprising about a geek who proves to be helpful, a jock who proves to be violent and a heroine who functions as little more than a red herring.

“Prowl” is presented in its 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and includes vastly inferior extras. Director Syversen was busy editing a film in Norway when the commentary track was recorded, thus relegating his presence to a series of jokey phone messages left on screenwriter Tim Tori’s phone. Hope and Joshua Bowman are on hand to discuss their experience of shooting the film in Bulgaria (of all places), while Tori confesses that he had originally envisioned his creatures as “down and dirty vampires.” After being asked to come up with something more original, Tori decided to create an entire mythology for the “strays” that was ultimately left on the cutting room floor. In a 2-minute featurette, Tori describes them as “descendants of night-feeding birds from 1,000 years ago.” Say what you will Tori, but your strays are no different from the scarecrows in “Husk.” They’re just zombies in different outfits.

‘Husk’ and ‘Prowl’ were released by Lionsgate Entertainment. ‘Husk’ stars Devon Graye, Wes Chatham, C.J. Thomason, Tammin Sursok and Ben Easter. It was written and directed by Brett Simmons. ‘Prowl’ stars Courtney Hope, Ruta Gedmintas, Joshua Bowman, Bruce Payne, Jamie Blackley and Saxon Trainor. It was written by Tim Tori and directed by Patrik Syversen. Both films were released on March 29, 2011. They are rated R.

HollywoodChicago.com staff writer Matt Fagerholm

By MATT FAGERHOLM
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
matt@hollywoodchicago.com

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