LITERAL REMAINS

After The Howling II, me and the series parted ways.  I didn’t visit those hairy little darlings again for a long time.  The original, love it.  The second one, forget about it–I don’t call and we walk down opposite sides of the street to avoid meeting.

Smash-Cut to about five years ago.  I was convinced to watch The Howling V:  The Rebirth, and, I would confess this under oath of truth lest my eyes and tongue be forcibly removed–I liked it.

The Rebirth begins in the Middle Ages at a castle.  Everyone is gathered for a good time until a mass murder/suicide erupts and the bloodline is ended.  See, they be lycanthropes, and a select few think their reign must stop.  Their reign, their murderous, savage, ways, what have you, they put the brakes on it.  But not everyone is killed, a baby survives….

In the present day, that same Hungarian castle is opening for business.  It seems someone thinks tourists may find the history of it interesting enough to shell out some bucks and spend a few nights in the creepy old place.  The guests that arrive, though, have been invited; they were chosen for mysterious reasons which will be revealed later in the movie, so try to catch a copy of this one.  I don’t think I have to clue anyone to the fact that these guests start dying, one by one, in violent attacks.  The killer that stalks the halls of the castle may not even be human…but you probably knew that already.

The Howling V has distinct echoes of And Then There Were None…, and a bunch of other movies.  I have a friend who often suggests movies should be remade with a werewolf twist to them:  “Hey, dude, The Hound of the Baskervilles, but with a werewolf!”  That might could work…but somehow, it does here, oddly enough.

Of course, The Howling V:  The Rebirth (use a creepy voice to say it) ain’t no big budget affair.  It was released straight to video in the golden era of VHS (every time I type those letters, I get chills).  What it lacks in, shall we say, quality talent, it makes up for with some camp and fun at guessing who’s next and who’s the toothy one.  The castle is pretty cool, too.

the_novacula