UK Premiere: Oct 31, 2026
Tubi FrightFest Halloween
Home Video & VOD Release: Nov 2, 2026
Between pulp and a serious tale, just where John V. Soto’s Dead Howling fits seems uncertain. I feel it leans more towards family drama rather than be a full on challenge between species. That’s because there can only be one werewolf against a massive horde of zombies! Also, when the set design suggests an abandoned present-day world with lots of rust, just where it fits when marketing describes a post-apocalyptic setting is certainly subject to interpretation!
After a zombie virus devastates the world, Carter (Joel Jackson) lives alone, spending his nights hunting the living dead for sport with the help of a tremendous power. He finds a new purpose after saving two siblings, Megan (Téa Heathcote-Marks) and Billy (Riley Stiles), who are seeking a rumoured safe zone. Unsurprisingly, this loner agrees to protect them on their search for sanctuary. Along the way, they must dodge encounters with the walking dead, random or otherwise, meet other survivors and hopefully make it out alive. This Australian-made film evokes the frontier in a few scenes. We just need more desert than suburban sprawl.
Part of the fun is a monster pairing I don’t recall seeing before. Just how can a savage werewolf deal with the undead without becoming one himself? Which virus is worse? Those were the questions I was asking. This hero can transform at will rather than wait for the light of a silvery moon. I imagine this filmmaker has a superhero-style film in mind, in the same vein as Marvel’s Werewolf by Night. A serum made him a werewolf, and that’s all I’ll say for now.
After Soto tinkered with James Pickering‘s original screenplay, the result offers a welcome change of pace from the usual werewolf lore and hunters armed with silver bullets! For a story about a literal lone wolf learning to care, there’s some good “pack building” here. He takes a liking to the teens and teaches them to fend for themselves should he not be around. It almost seems like he intends to leave the youths after taking them to the promised land.
The journey isn’t simply a succession of zombie attacks either. Carter’s past threatens to catch up with him as Corporal Reynolds (Ryan Kwanten) and Major Butler (Dan Paris) try to locate their missing experiment! They don’t show up until much later. That delay feels deliberate, but it makes the film drag when I expected the action to be as fast and furious as a wolf going for the kill.
As for the slower creatures, I wonder if the zombies have a history with the military too. The practical makeup effects are good, even though these aren’t the usual decayed monsters from yore. The film seems to take a page out of Fallout, which leaves me wondering: can they evolve into something more dangerous? Heck yes! With Amazon’s series in mind, I started imagining this story set during the Civil War. Picture a pandemic, survivors relying on simple pistols and shotguns … and in charges a cavalry of werewolves! Who knows, there may be a story out there already, and Dead Howling will have to compete!
At least this film finds some heart in its makeshift family plot, even though it did not bare its teeth often enough.
3½ Howls out of 5
Dead Howling Movie Trailer
