Trapped in their Hollywood Hills home, a family fights for survival when caught between a raging wildfire and a pack of savage coyotes. As the city loses power and chaos spreads, nature turns feral and what starts as isolated attacks escalates into a terrifying siege they may not all survive.
What We Thought:
Like Together, which I watched recently, Coyotes plays bigger than it should. It’s a smaller film with two mainstream actors that help carry the flick. It’s about a husband, wife and daughter whose Hollywood Hills home is taken over by coyotes. It’s a creature-feature mixed with a home invasion vibe and man vs. nature story with some cool effects.
Now, will it blow people away? No, not at all, but it should hold your attention while you try to figure out how the family will survive the coyotes and a storm that knocked out their power. There are side characters who serve their part, but it’s real-life husband and wife Long & Bosworth and their film daughter who you care about.
I watched the making of bonus feature and learned the film was shot in South America. It’s directed by Colin Minihan who I’m familiar with, but I don’t believe I’ve seen any of his previous movies. His real-life partner plays a side character who ends up with the main family. Listening to him and the cast talk about making it, they firmly believed they were making something big. They reference Spielberg and other filmmakers that influenced this movie. This is nowhere near as good as Poltergeist or any of the 1980s family/horror films they say influenced it. It’s very watchable, but you can see why it wasn’t a box office hit.
Coyotes is solid with Long and Bosworth handling their roles well. The daughter character is played by an actress who does well too. The special effects are good and if you are looking for something just different enough it’ll work for you. Keep your expectations low and you’ll probably like it.
The Nerds Templar 