Coyotes Blu-ray

A few years back, Justin Long seemed to disappear. The actor who made his debut at age 21 in Galaxy Quest had transitioned from teen to adult roles and was in high demand by the mid-2000s. Long evidently got along well with everyone he worked with. A deleted scene in Anchorman that resurfaced in the movie’s bonus movie Wake Up, Ron Burgundy became his entry to Judd Apatow’s rising comedy universe. From there, he followed Seth Rogen to Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno, which led to Long becoming a fixture in Smith’s work, starring in Tusk and cameoing in everything since.

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Blu-ray · DVD · Prime Video

Between Apatow and Smith, Long’s place in comedy films was secure. But Apatow has since cooled off and Smith has gone ice cold. Long’s other sources of fame and fortune also dried up. He aged out of playing the cute, dorky love interest to Noughties starlets like Britney Spears (Crossroads) and Lindsay Lohan (Herbie: Fully Loaded). Apple eventually ended the popular ad campaign that saw Long being the Mac to John Hodgman’s PC. Adult-oriented lead roles didn’t go much beyond the box office disappointment of Going the Distance with his then real-life girlfriend Drew Barrymore. And Fox even stopped making Alvin and the Chipmunks movies, where Long had, perhaps unbeknownst to many, voiced the title role.

Long pressed on, taking on weird international voiceover gigs and starring in holiday romcoms that looked like they’d premiere on Hallmark. Alas, one of Long’s first and still best remembered lead roles came in 2001’s Jeepers Creepers. Horror heads evidently have a longer memory than fans of other genres. For proof of that, attend any convention and peep the autograph and picture lines of an actress who was in a Halloween or Nightmare on Elm Street sequel decades ago. Long’s past in horror, rekindled to an extent in Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell and the aforementioned Tusk, would appear to have led to Zach Cregger casting him in 2022’s popular Barbarian and this year’s smash hit Weapons. Those two relevant movies are enough to call Long’s career revived, at least revived enough to continue to star in movies, some of which go to theaters and some of which do not.

Coyotes landed somewhere in between those two classes whose lines grow more blurred all the time. It for sure premiered at September’s Fantastic Fest, the annual genre-heavy Austin, Texas film festival. From there, it supposedly had a limited theatrical run in early October, although there is little evidence and no box office record of that.

Coyotes, as its title suggests, is a straightforward creature-based horror feature. Or is it? The opening scene both introduces and disposes of a catty and unbearably self-involved influencer (Katherine McNamara). So, a horror-comedy, then? Not the strangest mash-up in the world, but Coyotes doesn’t follow through on that all that much, instead turning our attentions to a Los Angeles family of three whose Hollywood Hills house and very existence become threatened by these perplexingly ruthless jackals. The coyotes cause a blackout, fires, and more than one savage death.

Long and his House of Darkness leading lady turned wife Kate Bosworth play Scott and Liv, a couple whose long marriage is hitting some bumps. He’s a writer who spends a lot of time working and not much time heeding his wife’s wise advice. Needless to say, the pair and their teenaged daughter Chloe (Mila Harris) will work through some of their family issues while trying to stay alive. Joining the family on this adventure is Julie (Brittany Allen), a sex worker hired by the skeezy next door neighbor.

Though its tagline is “eat the rich”, don’t expect much in the way of social commentary from Coyotes, which is directed and edited by Colin Minihan, the Canadian half of the two Vicious Brothers who made 2011’s Grave Encounters. While the “Brothers” appear to have disbanded, they’re both still making low-budget horror films on the fringes of Hollywood, a market for which there always seems to be some appetite.

Unfortunately, Coyotes doesn’t do much to deserve love from genre fans savvy enough to discover it. The comedy at the start is largely an unfulfilled promise, with only an unsettling exterminator (played by Long’s repeat collaborator Keir O’Donnell) and other insufferable minor characters designed to inspire laughs. There isn’t much logic to how the threat plays out. For one extended stretch, the coyotes are treated like the aliens from A Quiet Place rather than the scent-driven canines they are. Lightly seasoned screenwriters Tad Daggerhart, Nick Simon, and Daniel Meersand want us to take in and invest in the family’s routine issues, but have no problem setting them aside for uninspired carnage. You often figure out where the script is going shortly before it gets there, which makes the brisk sub-90-minute runtime feel much longer than it is.

The film lands above the bottom rung horror, the abyss where you’ll find inane stuff like Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey. But it never even comes close to registering as the kind of high-concept indie that might break through and attract an A24 acquisition. Less than two months after beginning its alleged Aura Entertainment theatrical release, Coyotes has now hit Blu-ray and DVD from Decal and Alliance Home Entertainment.

BLU-RAY DISC SPECIFICATIONS:
2.35:1 Widescreen
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English)
Subtitles: English for Hearing Impaired
Release Date: November 25, 2025
Single-sided, single-layered disc (BD-25)
Blue Keepcase

VIDEO and AUDIO

Coyotes has not gotten a 4K UltraHD release, news sure to disappoint dozens as well as those who still have no legal way to acquire Barbarian on physical media. The Blu-ray’s 2.35:1 widescreen presentation and lively 5.1 DTS-HD master audio soundtrack elicit no specific complaints, although I have no doubt that viewers will have some thoughts on the coyotes and CGI blood visuals.

BONUS FEATURES, MENUS, PACKAGING and DESIGN

Sorry to break your hearts, all you Kustin? Jate? Longworth? fans: the Coyotes Blu-ray holds but a single bonus feature. At least “Meet the Pack: Behind the Scenes with the Makers” runs just shy of 19 minutes (18:57) and offers a more thorough look at this Colombian (!) production than you probably expect. Hyperbole abounds; two references to Spielberg may inspire some chuckles.

The disc opens with a trailer for Rainn Wilson’s Code 3, which isn’t menu-accessible. That menu loops a kinetic montage of clips set to an excerpt of the dramatic end credits score.

No inserts or slipcovers spice up the standard blue keepcase.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Justin Long and Kate Bosworth are still landing lead roles, but their latest horror movie does little to justify that. Despite a shortage of thrills and a near void of laughs, Coyotes remains a watchable creature feature somehow. This basic Blu-ray gets the job done, but this warrants one viewing at most and even then strictly for horror heads and fans of the two leads.

Buy Coyotes from Amazon.com:
Blu-ray · DVD · Prime Video