Review by Matt Harries
‘Art House horror’. I don’t know about you but that term immediately causes an arterial explosion of words to issue forth from my mental recesses. ‘Bloody’, ‘visceral’, ‘warped’, ‘unconventional’, ‘non-linear’…’Lynchian’ of course. There are conventions even within the language of the unconventional. Reference points which we check off, co-ordinates we follow, that take us to the territory we recognise as being somewhere beyond the well trodden path.
We make this journey away from the typical, the popular, the easy, essentially because it affords us a different way of looking upon our lives. A different lens to look through which offers a new perspective upon the normal. The only problem we have here in 2014, in fact one of the biggest challenges to cinema and other creative forms, is that the less trodden path does not quite lead us to the virgin wilderness it once did. Look back the way you came; see, a path has been made. Not quite a highway, but a discernible trail nonetheless. Others have been here before.
What more can art house horror say when the likes of Cronenberg and Lynch have produced works which set the gold standard for the style? And more to the point for this article, to what extent does Coyote offer something which places it within the category of innovative rather than merely derivative? The key thing for me would be the question of whether it could engage with me on something other than the level of mere shock or disgust. Having watched it once, I certainly feel like it needs to be watched again to be fully appreciated and absorbed. In terms of its ability to make a lasting connection, it was perhaps only a partial success.
Coyote follows Bill, an insomniac writer, and his journey through hallucinogenic nightmares that occur in both waking and sleeping hours. Themes of paranoia, murder and physical transformation dominate his mind, afflicted by fear of sleep and a growing disconnection with reality. Unsurprisingly the story, such as it is, does not follow a linear pattern. Instead it lurches, disintegrates and reforms. Sinks into black depths and and emerges only to return writhing into the earth again. Bill seems to exist in a number of different guises; voyeur, fantasist, loner, worker. Violence simmers close to the surface of his personality and is an ever present theme of the nightmares he constantly experiences.
Something of a cult figure in the world of low budget horror, the workaholic Bill Oberst Jr. plays Bill with an impressive intensity which will be familiar to anyone who has seen his work before. Like some kind of cross between the younger De Niro and Jurgen Prochnow, his wiry physicality and steely blue-eyed gaze form a magnetic focus to a performance of real gusto. You get the feeling that he enjoyed getting his teeth into this one, especially considering the somewhat formulaic nature of so many of his roles (Werewolf Rising for example).
Considering the relative micro-budget, Coyote director Trevor Juenger shows admirable invention behind the camera. Super close-ups, the ever present fish-eye lens, strange perspectives and some decent lo-fi gore effects are some of the many techniques used. Perhaps the resultant air of chaos was deliberate, perhaps it was merely an inevitable result of a limited crew. I found though that the narrative of descent into mental illness could have been better served with a modicum of greater subtlety.
Given my disdain for the dreary recycling of form and formula in the world of big budget horror, it seems churlish to criticise a film which tries and largely succeeds to make a bold statement without pandering to the modern focus-group oriented approach. Juenger is certainly someone to watch; hopefully he will start to ally his experimental techniques and disregard for commercial success with the kind of storyline and characterisation that allows the viewer to make a real connection with the events within the film. As it was I was left a little cold upon the film’s climax, as thought I’d seen a montage of moments plucked from Taxi Driver, Deliverance and The Fly, thrown together and shaken about like some kind of mind-warping backwoods cocktail. In the end memories remain of certain shots and sequences, but no sense of having been on a journey.
Overall Coyote is well worth a look if you are tired of the modern horror film, or if you are interested in seeing Travis Bickle re-imagined by Ken Russell. Hopefully director and leading man will have more chance to bring our nightmares to life in the not too distant future.
Coyote is out now on Region 1 DVD from Wild Eye Releasing.