Howling VI: The Freaks (1991) was the last of the Howling series of movies. Starring a relatively unknown cast except for the likes of Bruce Payne, who by the time this movie was made was well into a series of villainous supporting roles for him, Howling VI begins with a young man of british ancestry walking into a small town. The town, by the odd name of Canton's Bluff, I believe, was not doing well. A farming town in the past, a long drought had all but destroyed the town's livelihood. A steady stream of families had been leaving the town for some time, but the arrival of the young british man by the name of Ian seemed to revitalize at least a small part of it. The local reverend hired Ian to help him repair the Church, which was all but closed down due to disrepair, and I assume, lack of attendance. A small miracle ensued in which the Reverend and Ian were able to restore the small church to it's original beauty in less than a couple weeks time, but the real story doesn't start until the carnival arrives. You see, Ian's hunting his prey. And his prey is the carnival's owner, a Mr. Harker.
I can't say as I was particularly fond of Howling VI. I grant you, it wasn't as bad as last night's movie, Scarecrow, but it just didn't seem to live up to the rest of the Howling series. For one, and I don't want to give anything away here if you truly want to watch this movie on Netflix, the werewolves weren't the only creatures of the night prowling around. Two, and most disappointingly, the werewolf in this story doesn't even really look like a werewolf. I don't know if you'll recall such movies as "I was a teenage werewolf" with michael landon way back in the day, but gluing a few hairs to someone's face and having them wear clawed gloves does not a werewolf make. I'm not really sure why the makeup experts decided to completely forego the established look of the werewolves from the previous movies, but I guess the makeup guys have been playing fast and loose with the effects since Howling IV, anyway. I mean, in Howling IV they weren't even werewolves, really, just wolves with glowing eyes, and wtf kind of werewolf is that? Anyway, special effects aside, this movie actually had a somewhat different story line, and a rather attractive, if completely clothed, young actress to play the love interest.
Okay, you know what, here's some new info fresh from the internet! :-o Elizabeth She, who played "Mary Lou" in Howling V, supposedly played as small part in Howling VI as well. I was unable to pick her out of the cast in Howling VI, so I tried to look up her IMDB profile. Turns out, she was also in Howling: New Moon Rising, which apparently WAS the last the last of the Howling movies, not Howling VI, as I had thought. But, Howling, New Moon Rising was so bad as to be completely unwatchable. Luckily, I won't be screening and reviewing that movie anytime soon, though to be honest, I probably DID see it at some point. lol Elizabeth She, by the way, is not to be confused with Elizabeth Shue, who is a well respected actress who has worked with many of Hollywood's A-listers. Elizabeth She, by comparison, was only in the Howling movies, and her greatest part by far was in Howling V. Her imdb profile doesn't even have a portrait of her, so she has most likely dropped out of making movies altogether. Which is a shame, because she was cute and had a nice ass.
So let's recap. If I was to recommend which movies of the Howling series to watch, I would say watch Howling for the older cast of stars and probably the best adaptation of the original books the Howling series was based on. Having never read the original books, I'm just guessing here. Watch Howling II for Christopher Lee and Sybil Danning and a host of other half-naked werewolf chicks. Skip Howling III, IV, and VI, but watch Howling V for Elizabeth She and a cunning predator at work.
Now I know what you're asking. Do we have to sit through any more horrible werewolf movies? And the answer is: probably! I still want to watch and review the Beast of Bray Road, but who knows what sort of horror flicks will catch my eye by tomorrow night, eh? Until then, enjoy this sultry october night where the daytime temps hit 85 degrees. Wtf. Crazy goddamn weather. It'll probably blizzard here next week.
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