I guess when you get to a certain number of sequels you have to omit the number and add something new...like reborn. As a fan of the original THE HOWLING, I was always disappointed in the sequels. While the original had a limited budget, it was filled with something original, a new take on the whole werewolf story. But the rest lacked even the small budget of the first and the only thing worthwhile in any was the laugh inducing marsupial werewolf in the third one. Or would that be were-kangaroo?
Well it's been a few years and the series died down a bit. Chances are the newest group of horror film lovers aren't old enough to remember the original or haven't seen it. So it was time to dust off the old and make it new. Or at least give it a shot.
Will Kidman is a troubled teen. He's about to graduate and has the hots for the new girl in school, Eliana, who also happens to be dating the school tough guy. Which isn't a good thing for will since he's the designated school geek. But opposites attract and sparks fly between them.
When they meet at a secretive party together, weird things begin to happen. Like Will noticing several new kids from the school hanging around in a sort of...pack? When it seems he's been drugged, Will ends up seeing all sorts of things.
As the days progress Will senses something else is different. He never had the chance to know his mother, an artist we saw killed while she was pregnant with him during the films opening sequence. But some link between his mother and what's going on with him now will turn up and explain why he's changing. You got it, somewhere along the line Will has werewolf blood in his veins.
Will's attraction to Eliana grows and with it the viewer begins to wonder if she isn't tied into the whole thing. Could it be that she's the member of a clan of werewolves sent to recruit Will? Or perhaps it was her group that saw to the demise of Will's mother? Only time will tell.
This movie is perhaps not the worst film in this series but it works at it. It offers few scares and fewer fresh and original scenes than most. And the werewolf costumes seem like costumes. I'm not quite certain yet if that's the fault of the make up man at work here or the cinematographer who allowed them to appear like suits. In any event it ruins the effect of a real live werewolf captured on screen.
The story is weak and rarely finds a reason for the viewer to care about anyone from the hero to the villain. Instead we get the usual back story and a twist that seems unoriginal. I'll say it again, while this isn't the worst of the series or the worst werewolf movie, it does leave you wanting to watch one that is done better like perhaps the first in the series. But if the rest of the series have been checked out when you go looking and this is left? It might be worth giving it a look.
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