Howler (2019 film)

Howler is an American 3D computer-animated comedy-horror film based on the Howler franchise, being directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. It is produced by Lord Miller Productions, Village Roadshow Pictures and Warner Animation Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and has released on October 25th, 2019.

Synopsis
Jeffrey Morrison/Howler was once a normal young adult when he ends up getting bitten by a strange wolf that gives him the ability to turn into a werewolf at night. Soon, he ends up meeting a group of supernatural creatures as he encounters a woman who wants all supernatural creatures eradicated, including Howler, as he also struggles with his new double life.

Full plot
In the town of Shadow Falls is a young adult named Jeffrey Morrison, who lives in a one-story house with his father who is obsessed with the supernatural and his mother who is really caring. Jeffrey spends his time in his room while Boris watches a horror movie as Lisa tries to have Boris watch something that isn't supernatural-related. Then, one day, while walking down the sidewalk, receives a phone call from Phillip and Lacey, who then asked him if he wants to go to the park tonight just to hang out. Jeffrey accepts, but ends up stumbling across a woman named Jeanette Helsing due to him being distracted, having himself walk away as Jeanette yells at him.

Later that night, Jeffrey and his friends head out to the park to hang out. However, they end up hearing noises nearby. They investigate, only to see a strange wolf that starts chasing them. While they run off, Jeffrey trips on a rock, causing the wolf to run up to him and bite him on the arm. He becomes extremely shocked to find the bite mark and begs Phillip and Lacey to take him back. As they do so, Jeffrey rushes to the bathroom to treat the bite mark, but begins to notice that for some reason, there is hair growing on his arms, much to his horror. He then rushes out of the house to prevent his parents to see what's happening with him.

While running, he arrives to the dark side of the woods. However, things get worse when he encounters Jeanette and her guards as they were looking for supernatural creatures to eradicate. They then notice Jeffrey and because of the hair that's growing on his skin, they see him as a supernatural and start chasing after him. Suddenly, Jeffrey accidentally falls through a steep forest trail and hits his head on a tree as he then slowly faints as a figure is briefly seen before he completely loses consciousness.

Jeffrey wakes up to find himself in a burrow and encounters a vampire named Bella, two ghost children named George and Georgia, a lynx named Lex, a frankenstein monster named Frank, and a gargoyle named Greg. They all notice that Jeffrey is a werewolf as Jeffrey starts arguing with them, claiming that he is not a werewolf until Georgia reveals a mirror, proving Jeffrey that he indeed is a werewolf, much to his horror. As he freaks out over that, Bella and the others notice the bite mark on Jeffrey's bite mark and ask about it. Jeffrey then explains how he got the bite and how Jeanette and her guards chased him down, which shocks them, as they explained they heard about her and her plans to eradicate every supernatural being, but there is a solution: someone has to be the hero and fight for their lives.

They take Jeffrey to a place where they believe he'll have help using his powers to fight, which is revealed to be a witch hut. He is then introduced to a witch named Wylda, who was testing her potions on two zombies named Zachariah and Zoey. She then sees Bella and the others as they introduce her to Howler. After the explanation, Wylda becomes rather interesting in training Howler how to protect the Shadow Falls forest and decides to train him, only for it to get cut short when a snake-like creature named the Naga enters and kidnaps Bella and the others, giving Howler attention and having him almost screwing up, but ends up defeating Naga successfully, which interests Wylda.

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Cast

 * Rafe Spall as Jeffrey Morrison/Howler
 * Scarlett Johansson as Bella Stoker
 * Michael Cera as George
 * Ariel Winter as Georgia
 * Seth Rogen as Frank N. Stein
 * Channing Tatum as Greg
 * Dee Bradley Baker (vocal effects, uncredited) as Lex the Lynx
 * as Phillip
 * Aubrey Plaza as Lacey
 * Johnny Depp as Boris Morrison
 * Jennifer Aniston as Lisa Morrison
 * as Jeanette Helsing
 * Nick Kroll as The Naga
 * Tiffany Haddish as Wylda
 * John C. Reilly as Zachariah
 * TBD as Zoey
 * TBD as Mayor Vlad Dracula
 * Mahershala Ali as the Black Knight
 * TBD as the Headless Horseman
 * TBD as Mr. Impton
 * TBD as Gold Statue
 * TBD as Jacky
 * TBD as Rex
 * Daniel Wright as Cop #1 (voice cameo)

Differences between the first game and the film

 * In the first Howler game, Howler gained a crush on Bella when he first sees her. In the movie, however, he doesn't show attraction towards her until near the end when Bella kissed him on the cheek.
 * Kris, Kloe, Jacky, and Rex all appear in this movie even though they debuted in the second Howler game rather than the first one.

Release
The film will release in theaters on October 25, 2019 while competing with Black and Blue, The Last Full Measure, The Current War, Countdown, The Kill Team, and The Gallows Act II.

Marketing
The first teaser trailer came out on March 11, 2019. Later, on June 7, the first official trailer released. Its second official trailer released on July 10, 2019.

Home media
The movie had its Amazon and iTunes release on January 7, 2020 and its DVD and Blu-Ray release on January 21, 2020, with special features showing behind-the-scenes, deleted scenes, and the short film that released along with the film, Courage the Cowardly Dog: Demon Face.

Rating
This film is rated PG for mild violence, thematic elements, and brief scary images.

Critical response
The film received generally positive reviews from critics, viewers, and fans who are fans of the Howler franchise. On CinemaScore, it was given a "B+" Cinemascore. It also had a 81% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 81/100 on Metacritic, and an 8.1/10 on IMDb.

Possible sequel
On October 4th, according to Christopher Miller, he tweeted that he thinks if Howler does well, there is a chance it could get a sequel.

Promotions
On July 5, 2019, it was announced that Coca-Cola will release a new limited flavor called Freaky Fruit to promote the Howler film, and has released in stores on July 10, and will continue being sold until November 1.

On October 14th, 2019, McDonald's has been selling Howler trick-or-treat buckets as part of their Happy Meal.

Trivia

 * It is revealed that this film will be a re-telling of how Howler came to be, though there will be a few differences in this movie.