In 2022, Justin Long and Kate Bosworth teamed up for the horror comedy House of Darkness. A year later, the actors got married and are now parents, so it’s fun to see them working together again for another outing in the same genre. Coyotes, written by Tad Daggerhart and Nick Simon, and directed by Colin Minihan (Grave Encounters, Extraterrestrial), sees the couple stretching their acting chops by playing… a married couple in Los Angeles with a kid. The difference from reality is that this fictitious husband and wife find themselves hunted down by a pack of ravenous coyotes. The plot and its comedic tone set the stage for some wild fun. However, even though the film sparks at times, it’s never scary or funny enough to make the most of its gimmick. Its stellar leads give it their all, but Coyotes ultimately falls short of its potential. It’s still enjoyable enough, just too tame to become anything more than a little popcorn movie you forget all about days later.
What Is ‘Coyotes’ About?

Coyotes is set in Los Angeles, where we are quickly told that the recent wildfires have pushed desperate coyotes into the suburbs. That’s important knowledge to have, because no matter what might happen next, the coyotes aren’t just there to be simplistic monsters. Instead, they’re a product of our real world who have been pushed out of their environment. No matter how much carnage they cause, we’ll still feel sorry for them, which makes Coyotes more than a mindless creature feature. Living in a nice home on the hillside is Scott (Long), a successful comic book writer, his wife Liv (Bosworth), and their teenage daughter Chloe (Mila Harris), a girl who is no longer a kid and doesn’t want to be on her parents’ hip all the time anymore. Thankfully, Coyotes doesn’t turn Chloe into some predictable trope who is a jerk to her parents, only to remember that she loves them when shit hits the fan. This family is not at all perfect, with Scott’s busy schedule leaving his devoted wife lonely, but these people care about each other. There are no played-out tropes with infighting, affairs, or anything of the sort. They’re a traditional family who have their issues, yet still love one another deeply. Because of this, we will cheer them on when the creatures attack. And attack the coyotes do! They come at night, causing the family, along with their over-the-top neighbors, to fight for their lives. Who will still be alive when morning comes?
‘Coyotes’ Great Effects Keep It From Being B-Level Schlock

Making a horror comedy about killer coyotes could have gone off the rails fast if the wrong choices were made with the monsters. Coyotes had the easy opportunity to make such a common animal more terrifying by portraying them as bigger or having them do things that would be impossible, thus making the plot implausible. But, thankfully, it resists that temptation. Like in the real world, the coyotes here are desperate and angry animals who hunt in packs and have targeted this house. The film’s fear comes from trying to figure out why they won’t leave these particular people alone, which is not given away until the very end in an admittedly lackluster reveal. Don’t worry, this isn’t a case of them being super coyotes with some absurd powers. There is one scene where a coyote is smart enough to open a door like it’s a velociraptor in Jurassic Park, but that’s as wild as their abilities get. They are scary in their numbers and the depths of their rage, not through some wild backstory or biological twist. Obviously, the creatures in Coyotes can’t be real animals, as they are put in many dangerous and violent situations, so the film has to rely on CGI. Fifteen to 20 years ago, this could have been a disaster with some very cartoonish furry villains, but thankfully, technology today has made them look rather lifelike. The effects don’t always hold up in day scenes, so the coyotes are mostly roaming at night, presenting them as a serious threat without being some sort of schlocky werewolf or exaggerated beast. This isn’t a purposely awful comedy in the vein of Sharknado, but a flawed horror film that really tries with its scares and puts the comedy all on its human protagonists instead of the monsters.
There Is Not Enough Fear or Laughs To Make ‘Coyotes’ a Successful Horror Comedy

The silhouette of a coyote with a house on fire behind it in ‘Coyotes’Image via Aura Entertainment

One scene has sex worker Julie (Brittany Allen) trying to compare what they’re going through to that movie about the birds that attack people out of nowhere. The joke is that she can’t recall that the movie is actually called The Birds, but it’s an apt description. No, Coyotes does not compare to Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece, yet it has the same beats. Everyday animals attack in a horde with no explanation, and residents of a town barricade themselves inside their homes as the creatures fight to get in. Coyotes immediately tells us that it’s going for a lighter tone by introducing all of its characters with animated, superhero-like name cards. This might make it easier to remember who everyone is, but that still doesn’t save the movie’s most glaring issue: there are way too many supporting characters. Name cards are given out to coyote fodder who are introduced simply to be killed two minutes later. Colin Minihnan would have been better off focusing on Scott, Liv, and Chloe, rather than jumping back and forth between them and characters we don’t care about. Julie is a funny enough character, but the next-door neighbor, Trip (Norbert Leo Butz), is so over-the-top as the rich guy with his gold gun and wild antics that he takes you out of the tension. Coyotes also introduces a rat exterminator named Devon (Keir O’Donnell), and with his sweaty hair, big glasses, and awkward mannerisms, it feels like the movie is going for a John Goodman clone from Arachnophobia. That could have been fun, then Devon disappears for the vast majority of the movie, only to show up when nothing matters. What was the point of even writing his character if he had no use in the second and third acts? Colin Minihan does do an adequate job of crafting suspense, with a few spectacular shots (the silhouettes of coyotes growling with flames behind them are astounding), and one gore shot in particular is something you haven’t seen before. Still, this movie can only bite so deep. Killer coyotes aren’t all that scary, and the comedy of the supporting characters feels forced and overly written. Kudos to the crew for coming up with a premise and refusing to send it off the rails into fantastical absurdism. Still, just because you keep the plot grounded doesn’t mean that there is enough to keep up the tension. The poster for Coyotes says “Eat the rich,” yet there is nothing political to sink your teeth into. This is a minor creature feature, one with no huge flaws, but without many riveting aspects to really recommend it either. Unlike its killer creatures, Coyotes is fairly harmless. Coyotes releases in theaters on October 3.

Release Date

October 3, 2025

Director

Colin Minihan

Writers

Daniel Meersand, Nick Simon, Tad Daggerhart

Producers

Jib Polhemus, James Harris, Nathan Klingher

Pros & Cons

The CGI effects make the coyotes look likelike, especially at night.
There are several great shots of the coyotes with fire building behind them.
The monsters are kept as realistic animals and not over-the-top villains.
The lead family is simply written as three people who care about each other without adding it dramatic subplots.

The supporting characters are thin and too unrealistic to care about.
Many of the comedic moments fall flat.
The scare factor of coyotes has a ceiling no matter what you do.