The Howling 4: The Original Nightmare (1988)

While the second and third sequels could hardly be called terrific films, they at least had a smidgen of entertainment value to em’ unlike this turkey. Be it Sybil Danning’s tits in the second or the hilarious concept of wereroo’s for the third film, you at least were entertained enough to stay awake. Hilariously called “The Original Nightmare” as it completely rips off the original “Howling”, I can almost guarantee to anyone suffering from insomnia that watching this will have you off to dreamland quicker than any sleeping pill.

Cute little Marie, a well-known author, seems to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She’s seeing phantom nuns in the elevator at work and having strange visions of a secluded cottage. Thinking she may be overworked, her doctor orders Marie and her husband to take a vacation, which they do, renting a cottage in the small town of Drago. Hey, at least it’s not called “Flow” right? Soon Marie is hearing strange howling noises at night while her peculiar visions seem to be getting worse and worse. And say, don’t the townsfolk of Drago act a little peculiar, especially when Marie asks about the weird howling she hears at night? Hmmm.

“Howling 4” is basically a reworking of the first film. Everything from the traumatized woman retreating to the country, the straying husband who screws a gypsy werewolf, and a seemingly odd bunch of townsfolk who are, surprise surprise, werewolves, is here. The only unique thing here is a slight supernatural angle that really is nothing more than filler. The first eighty minutes of the film consist of nothing more than Marie hearing weird howling sounds at night, while her and her husband stroll around the dusty shops of Drago by day. Doesn’t that sound exciting? It also suffers from some simply atrocious audio problems; I had to crank the T.V. all the way up to make out any of the dialogue, though of course I wasn’t missing too much. The acting is pure basement level, though actress Romy Windsor did semi decent as Marie and was sorta cute as well. Steve Johnson’s werewolves looked fairly good, especially the suit for the head werewolf. And, unless you’ve slipped into a near comatose state, there is also a fairly nifty meltdown/transformation sequence that just might wake you up. A couple of decent werewolves and a gooey meltdown however, simply isn’t enough to erase eighty minutes of boredom. Maybe if early on they had Marie stroll around nude in the cottage (or woods) in addition to some bloody werewolf attacks we may have had something here, but alas, we don’t. Piss on it.