Clive Turner had been a strong influence on the 'Howling' sequels since 1988. He co-wrote and appeared in parts four and five (playing the same character, we discover), although he had no involvement in part six as far as I'm aware. All the same, four years after that one he decided to take the franchise entirely into his own hands and throw together a movie that he would write, direct, produce and star in, among other things. After this he was pretty much reduced to working as a sound effects editor on other movies, which was probably a smart move.

Turner reprises his role as an Australian from "The Howling V : The Rebirth", who now appears as a suspicious character with a dark secret. He has moved into a small town looking for work, and through his wit and charm he is quickly accepted by the locals, although some eventually become suspicious of the new stranger and his motives. Meanwhile, a police inspector and a priest investigate a series of gruesome murders in the area, believing a supernatural creature to be involved ...

It's a weird concept, but the editing and the pacing are the most peculiar thing about this movie -- a murder investigation interspersed with bar scenes and line dancing, with an almost-constant country music soundtrack going on. Hmm. This approach means that the film has no real atmosphere or style whatsoever. And as a werewolf movie it probably could have used more, y'know, werewolves. It isn't a real horror movie. It isn't a real drama either. It's just ... stuff. Stuff on film. If Clive Turner wanted to make a rootin' tootin' country romance, he should have just done that. You'd think that continuing 'The Howling' franchise would carry with it a responsibility to make a movie that actually fits with the genre.

But as amateur movies go, in terms of general production quality it's not too bad. If you're looking for something resembling professional quality then you'll be disappointed, but the filmmakers aren't entirely useless. Don't expect to be throughly entertained, though, unless you happen to enjoy country music and bad jokes. Some of the actors are better than others, but nobody really stands out as having any real talent. If they did, what would they be doing in this movie? Most of them even go by their real-life names in this film, probably as an attempt to recreate some genuine small-town flavour.

Surprisingly I didn't completely hate this, probably since my expectations were so low to begin with. I've seen enough bad werewolf movies to know that this one isn't quite as shitty as it reputation suggests, though I can totally understand why most 'Howling' fans are offended by its mere existence. I can't recommend it to anyone other than 'Howling' completists, but view it with low expectations, as a zero-budget amateur movie, and it should be relatively painless.

What the hell is this? This is not much of a werewolf movie. Did that woman put on a werewolf costume. Shame on whoever made this movie.

Andrew's Review

I've seen worse. (Coughs)The Howling 2. It had its moments, but it was bad.

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The Wolf This film features characters from earlier sequels, and attempts to tie them together in some way. It is a rather futile exercise -- the films will never tie together entirely, especially since one is a remake of another. Instead, it ties together the three films that Clive Turner was involved in. For instance, it features Romy Windsor in a cameo reprising her role from "The Howling IV". Why not a cameo from Dee Wallace-Stone, the actress who originally played that character? The Inspector investigating the murders for some inexplicable reason decides to interview a priest at length, who declares the culprit is "Our adversary the devil - in a lycanthropic manifestation ... the killer is a werewolf." He then recounts the story of "The Howling V : The Rebirth", complete with flashbacks. He explains that all this happened three years ago, and it takes three years for a werewolf to grow to full strength. Only then can it pass on its lycanthropy. How does a priest know this? Who knows. Anyway, this is what Ted is doing in town -- he wants to make everyone like him, to start a new pack. The Inspector doesn't seem to have much trouble buying into all this. They manage to avoid showing the werewolf too much by using red POV shots, kind of like "Wolfen". They do show it in a few shots towards the end, and the effects are pretty cheap and awful, as you'd expect. The best werewolf effects are in the flashbacks to The Howling IV & V. It all unravels into a complex kind of werewolf mystery that isn't nearly as clever as it thinks it is.

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