Spoiler-Free Reviews: COYOTES and OPEN WIDE (Fantastic Fest 2025) – HorrorFuel.com

COYOTES (U.S., 2025) Official synopsis: Trapped in their Hollywood Hills home, a family (Justin Long, Kate Bosworth, Mila Harris) must fight for survival as a pack of savage coyotes closes in.  Aficionados of “When animals attack!” movies and horror comedies are certain to find much to be delighted about with Coyotes . It’s not easy to get a near-perfect balance of fear fare and humor in a horror comedy, but here director/editor Colin Minihan does an outstanding job, working from a terrific screenplay by Tad Daggerhart, Daniel Meersand, and Nick Simon. The visual effects are striking, especially so with the killer coyotes and the gruesome displays of damage to their victims. Along with the chills and chuckles — and there are plenty of each — are some well-earned and well-performed emotional scenes that heighten the family drama as well as the survivors’ sometimes absurd attempts to escape their situation. Long, Bosworth, and Harris do fine work as the leads, with terrific performances from supporting players such as Brittany Allen — who also composed the score — as “lady of the night” Julie and Norbert Leo Butz as the family’s off-the-wall neighbor. I had a blast with Coyotes , which I
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