If you’re tired of cookie-cutter blockbusters, BayView Entertainment just dropped something that’s a little different. Howler, the latest flick from indie writer-director Richard Bailey, is officially out now on streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video. Think of it as an arthouse film that accidentally wandered into a dark forest and came out a little… spooky.
A Poet, a Party, and a Prophecy
The movie kicks off on the biggest night of Leni’s life. She’s a poet about to receive a major award. As she is writing an acceptance speech, she’s hit with a terrifying apocalyptic vision.
Leni decides to use her big moment to warn everyone that the world is ending, which goes about as well as you’d expect. Her friends and family start panicking—not about the apocalypse, but about her reputation (and their own social standing). Things get truly weird at a party in her honor. “Unusual images” and wild ideas start to blur the line between reality and a total nightmare.
The Vibe: Texas-Sized Surrealism
Director Richard Bailey spent over a decade making films about social and ecological issues, but for Howler, he drew on his childhood on a Texas farm. He wanted to capture that “spooky, washed-in-blood” feel of old-school folk sermons and the mystery of the Texas landscape.
The Team
Bailey has assembled a talented indie cast to keep the mystery alive in every frame, including Rhonda Boutte, Jenny Ledel, Christie Vela, and John Flores.
If you like films that feel like a lyrical, ethereal dream—one that occasionally leans into fantasy and borderline horror—Howler is definitely your brand of strange. It’s a “slow-burn” mystery that treats the Texas wind and trees like characters with their own dark secrets.
