Not as bad as 'Howling V', but still weak

The Howling VI: The Freaks (1991)
Starring: Brendan Hughes, Bruce Martyn Payne, Jered Barclay, Michele Matheson, Gary Cerventes, and Sean Gregoy Sullivan
Director: Hope Perello
Rating: Four of Ten Stars

Ian (Hughes), a drifter with a mysterious past settles in a small desert community, living peacefully until the arrival of a traveling carnival led by the sinister ringmaster Harker (Payne) comes to town. When Harker discovers Ian secret--that he's a werewolf--he captures him and forces him to become part of the carnival's sideshow. As Ian's new friends try to free him, they discover that Harker has secrets of his own, triggering a night of violence and terror.


"Howling VI: The Freaks" is a surprisingly good little movie, partly because "Howling V" was such a steaming pile of werewolf droppings (review here) and partly because this is a fast-paced, enjoyable movie that hits all the notes of a classic werewolf film (and I mean "classic" as in the Universal Pictures wolfman monster-mashes like "House of Dracula" and "House of Frankenstein") while giving us sympathetic heroes and bystanders and villains of the most evil and petty kind. It's not high art, but it is great fun if you like a little melodrama with your horror.

The performances by Bruce Payne (as the smarmy, blackhearted carnival master) and Brendan Hughes (as the reluctant werewolf) are both major contributors to making this movie as much fun as it is. A decent supporting cast with meaty roles to perform also help... in fact, it wouldn't be overstating things to say that this film has one of the best scripts I've seen in films at this budget level. There are several points when the script allows a character to break the standard B-movie mold--with the town sheriff being the best and most unexpected example of this--and although I knew Harker was bound to have a secret and perhaps even be a monster himself, I didn't expect the Big Reveal to be what it was. Even when we were offered hints, I was taken by surprise, first by the revelation and then by how deftly it was handled. (It was the biggest of two "I didn't see that coming!" moments "Howling VI" has to offer.)

For its good parts, the film also has some bad parts. It's got lame transformation scenes that end up at some of the worst werewolf make-up to ever be featured in a supposedly professional productions. As awful as "Howling V: The Rebirth" was, it at least had a decent-looking werewolf. An off-the-shelf Halloween mask with some some tufts of insulation glued on would have been preferable to what we get here. There's also a meaningless denouement that ends up wrecking an otherwise thrilling ending and subsequently manages to undermine what is otherwise a pretty decent film.

"Howling VI" may not be a classic. but it's also not a film that those involved in should be ashamed of. It's one of the best entries in this series.

Shows how to kill a werewolf movie series quicker than using silver bullets

Howling V: The Rebirth (1989)
Starring: Philip Davis, Victoria Catlin, Elizabeth Shé, Ben Cole
William Shockley, Stephanie Faulkner and Mark Sivertsen
Director: Neal Sundstrom
Rating: Three of Ten Stars

A group of idiots wander around a Romanian castle as a werewolf kills them, one by one.

"Howling V: The Rebirth" isn't Ed Wood level bad, but it is bad. Its basic story is like "The Beast Must Die!" (review here) where a group of people are invited to an isolated location because one of their humber is secretly werewolf and another among them wants to kill the werewolf, but doesn't know which of them it is. Unfortunately, in this instance, the storyline is badly executed in just about every conceivable way, starting with the fact that the werewolf hunter wasn't prepared in any way, shape, or form to actually hunt and kill the werewolf, despite the fact he presents himself as a member of a global secret society created for just purpose.


To make matters even worse, It features terrible set design and a badly thought-out environment in which it takes place (supposedly, it happens in a castle that's been "sealed" for 500 years, yet the entire structure is in perfect shape, right down to the bearskin runs, wooden breezeways, and lit torches in secret tunnel), an utterly predictable script that only works because of a heavy use of Stupid Character Syndrome throughout, and a werewolf elimination game that ultimately makes no sense because, again, the werewolf hunter just guesses randomly at who the monster is and overlooks the most obvious of all suspects like everyone else in the film. (And I can't even figure out why he picks that particular person.)

And the ultimate flaw is that the film is never truly scary. There are a few suspenseful moments, but they are too brief and too few to make up for all the other weaknesses.

I'm not sure where the writers (of the script, or of the novel upon which it is based got their inspiration, but I think they would have done well to watch some Scoobie-Doo cartoons. At least the conspirators in those cartoons are always well prepared, foiled only by those meddling kids. If The Martyrs, the secret society of werewolf hunters in this film, had bothered to put up some cameras or motion detectors or maybe even bring some real weapons, the proceedings might have been more interesting. (Of course, maybe the fact they call themselves The Martyrs is a clue to why they go about their werewolf hunting business is such a stupid fashion.)

Props just for being titled 'Werewolf Bitch'

The Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf (aka "Howling II: Stirba, Werewolf Bitch")(1986)
Starring: Annie McEnroe, Reb Brown, Christopher Lee, Marsha Hunt, Sybil Danning, Judd Omen and Ladislav Krecmer
Director: Philippe Mora
Rating: Three of Ten Stars

Occultist Stefan Crosscoe (Lee) convinces Jenny (McEnroe) that her newscaster sister's mysterious death was caused by werewolves. Together with Jenny's fiance Ben (Brown), they travel to Transylvania to avenge her sister and take advantage of a once-in-a-millenia chance to destroy the immortal Stirba, Mother of Werewolves (Danning).


"The Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewof" (released in GB with the subtitle "Stirba, Werewolf Bitch", one of my all-time favorite movie titles) is not a good movie by any standard. The script is muddled to the point of near-incomprehensibility and the film is edited in such a way that scenes seem like they're out of place--Is the underground club at the start of the movie a werewolf hangout or not? Is the new wave/punk band performing there also performing at Stirba's Transylvanian werewolf sex party, or is reusing the performance some weird attempt at padding the run-time? Why does Jenny decide to take a bath in the middle of the day, especially when she knows Stefan may call her to head out to werewolf castle any time? Why do the number of werewolves seem to increase and descrease at random and/or according to the needs of the plot? Why do the heroes wait until nightfall to raid the castle?-- and the acting is barely passable by everyone involved, including that offered by the great Christopher Lee.

And then there's the werewolf make-up and transformation scenes. It's not the worst I've ever seen, but, although this was clearly a low-budget quickie, the budget stil was such that it could have allowed for something better than werewolf costuming that looks like it was created with a make-up kit bought off the shelf in a Halloween costume shop along with fake fur harvested from coats at the thrift shop. The take-away lesson here is that if you're going to make a werewolf movie, put the money into hiriing a decent make-up artist and make-up effects designer.

For all that's wrong with this movie, it's still got a touch of that "so bad it's good" charm to it. There are few movies you;ll see that will have you wondering "Did I just see what I think I saw? Did I just hear them say what I think they said?"

I hesitate to recommend this film--too many of you reading this know how to email me and some of you even know where I live--but it might be a worthwhile addition to a werewolf-themed Bad Movie Night, or perhaps something to have running in a screening room at a large Halloween party. (Just be aware, there is subject matter in the film that's not appropriate for the kiddies. The players of "Ricky Shore Sings the Blues" called attention to that fact when they featured a clip from "Howling II" in their Werewolves in Heat skit. And a great skit that was, too. I would have loved to have imbedded it here, but it seems to have vanished from the web. A shame really.)