Coyote is a film by local St. Louis-area filmmaker, Trevor Juenger. I went into the screening with great interest, because not only was it filmed locally in the St. Louis area, but it also just so happens to be one of my favorite styles of horror. Coyote stars Bill Oberst Jr. as Bill, an insomniac that progresses into the deep end of delusion and insanity. Oberst's performance is spot-on perfect as he convincingly transforms himself into the character, slipping into the point of no return. Coyote is a fierce and relentless piece of art. The film does have some very welcome styled scenes that are reminiscent of classic Lynch and Cronenberg. The music score (by Michel Schiralli) is very dark and fitting for this style and well placed into the film. Speaking of audio, however, the score and sound effects seemed to sound much more developed and mastered than the dialogue audio, although that was not poor either. That, as well as some interestingly placed video editing effects does give Coyote somewhat of a film- student-project kind of feel to it, which may sound unfortunate, but I will say that Trevor and his team made it work. I do have ONE issue with Coyote however, and before anyone decides to retaliate my following statement, know that this is just a personal opinion - and that is I very much dislike the use or overuse of Fish-Eye, which is frequently used in this 75 minute feature. That being said, it does work in some scenes very well and I couldn't imagine them being shot in any other way. I am simply not a fan of Fish Eye in general. On a better note, however, the props and special effects are insane and were pulled off way better than I had expected, done in an original, yet familiar to classic Cronenberg style, which I appreciated seeing from a small local piece of art like Coyote. Bottom Line: While Coyote does have it's flaws, I believe it is a very welcome addition to the horror genre. It may only be 74 minutes long, but it will keep you thinking. I am very excited to see what Trevor Juenger has up his sleeves next.
