Dead Howling

A recurring theme for horror films at the moment are dystopian futures whether by climate, virus, or both.

So begins Dead Howling with the outbreak of a virus that has turned the majority of the world’s population into zombies that are starting to evolve and understand their surroundings. Of course there are those that aren’t affected.

Coming in six months after the outbreak and the virus at its peak there’s the lone man trapped with his meagre resources in a quarantine area. Out looking for food Carter (Joel Jackson) has manged to survive.

Out on his dailies there’s an attack on a car carrying three people two he saves the third is killed. The survivors, teenage brother and sister Billy (Riley Stiles) and Megan (Téa Heathcote) are devastated by the death of their uncle. They were on their way to a place called ‘Sanctuary’ that is being broadcast as a safe area. Initially sceptical Carter decides to go with them.

Sound familiar? Well as the film goes on the trio stumble into every known cliché being duped, attacked and let down. It’s all been done before which is not the problem. That is down to the pace with film being ponderous at times and even with a runtime of 105 minutes, it looks padded.

The saving element is the serum that Carter had developed and which he uses as a last resort to save himself by turning him into the creature heavily hinted at in the title and the poster. That’s quite an interesting idea but is run down by the rest of film’s stumbling around well-trodden narrative territory.

The transformation effects for a low-budget film are fine. And it should be borne in mind that whatever the budget, werewolves have been notoriously difficult to bring to both big and small screens since the 1941 Wolfman.

Dead Howling had its UK premiere at Tubi Halloween FrightFest 2026.