Coyote (Review)

Director – Trevor Juenger (Johnny Be Gone)
Starring – Bill Oberst Jr. (A Darker Fifty Shades: The Fetish Set), Bill Finkbiner (Broken Faith), and Victoria Mullen (America’s Most Haunted)
Release Date – 2014
Rating – 3.5/5

Tagline – “Sleep is the enemy”

Horror films have the possibilities to offer the viewer some real unique films.  They have the ability to add humor, sci-fi, romance, action, adventure, and fantasy.  We sometimes gets films that combine multiple elements and genres to give the viewer something really different and entertaining.  Sometime last year several horror fans told me to check out a film called Coyote.  Most told me to check it out because it was a great mix of horror, drama, and arthouse.

When someone throws out the term arthouse when describing a movie, it usually makes me uninterested in seeing it.  Arthouse is such a broad term that could be used to describe a film that does not follow convention and delivers a film that is experimental in nature.  However, I will watch any film with Bill Oberst Jr so I reached out to Wild Eye and they were kind enough to send me a review copy.

**Spoiler Alert**The film follows Bill (Oberst) who has recently moved away from his mother to start his career as a writer.  Bill is struggling to find his creative mark and has now been overcome with a bout of insomnia.  Whenever he falls asleep her has violent dreams that he is murdered.  He refuses to sleep now and goes to his mundane job moving furniture with no sleep.

This starts to affect his mental ability and personality and he starts to become short with people often taking the defensive.  This leads to him becoming very hostile.  He then switches jobs and finds a woman to tie over his interest but he is still slipping mentally from not sleeping.  He is mean and rude to the woman and one day her dog bites him.  This brings up old memories and blood is then spilled as he totally becomes unstable. **Spoiler Alert**

Coyote came with a lot of critical acclaim from several horror reviewers that I know personally.  Me and these writers sometimes agree on a film but we have been known to disagree.  When they explained Coyote to me I assumed this would be one of the instances we would disagree on.  However, I was sadly mistaken.  The film does go the unconventional route but gives the viewer something unique.

The acting in this one is fucking fantastic but I do have to say that I am a little biased when it comes to films starring Bill Oberst Jr.  Oberst is one of my favorite indie actors and when he agrees to work on a film he always brings 110% and dedicates everything he has to the role.  Coyote is no exception and Oberst delivers one intense performance.  The supporting cast is great as well which really helps the insane story flow well.

The story for this one is simple but not simple in the delivery.  In essence, the film is about a man who loses touch with reality when he refuses to sleep due to violent dreams he is having.  Simple and very poetic is you really think about it.  However, the film’s execution and final result is nothing as simple as one would think.  The film is very surreal and has several “what the fuck” moments.  Typically, a film of this caliber would lose the viewer but Trevor Juenger and company is able to pull it off.

Finally, this film is not a body count movie and if you are expecting to see one then you will be very disappointed.  However, if you want a film that has some blood and imaginative storytelling then you will really enjoy this one.  Overall, Coyote is a beautiful mindfuck of a film that has an amazing performance from Bill Oberst Jr. and amazing imagery.  Check it out.