The Howling 5: The Rebirth (1989)

Here’s yet another no budget, no talent, grade Z cash in on the “Howling” name that for at least twenty minutes or so was actually fairly watchable. Hey, when it comes to the “Howling” sequels, that’s quite the compliment folks. Ten strangers from all over the globe are mysteriously invited to attend the reopening of an ancient Budapest castle that’s been locked up for over 500 years. During the opening prologue we see that during medieval times three generations of family committed suicide in the castle to stop the curse of lycanthropic tendencies that plagued it. Just as the last poor slob has impaled himself on his sword we hear the cry of a baby in the distance, signifying the continuation of the curse. Back in modern times, a blizzard has everyone stuck in the castle and our little group of ten discovers that something big and hairy is in the castle with em’, making it the perfect time to go explore that dark tunnel in the basement...alone of course. We also find out that all ten are distant descendents of the castles ancient inhabitants and, shock of all shocks, one of the group is the creature

The main plus this one had going for it was shooting the film in a castle setting. Since most of these “Howling” sequels are shot overseas due to budgetary constraints, I’m betting they filmed this in an honest to gosh European castle, and it adds greatly to the film’s atmosphere. The secret passageways and dark tunnels add a fairly creepy vibe, especially when you know the big bad wolf may be lurking around the next corner. The problem here is the characters themselves, since there are to many of them to truly let the audience get to know, and that may be just as well since they all are of the disposable variety. We get a dumb bimbo (who does show us the goods), a professor type, a tennis jock, a movie starlet, etc. You’ll also tire of everyone walking around and holding a candle to every shadowy corner saying “Mary Lou is that you?” or “I think we’re being followed”. In fact, I’d say about ninety percent of the movie is spent with people wandering around the castle with the occasional split second appearance of the werewolf to spice things up. The werewolf is shown so quickly I’m thinking it may have actually been a pissed off shaggy throw rug that was doing all the killings. The gore is also kept to a bare minimum, as all we get are the typical throat rippings etc., all shown after the fact. The filmmakers can scream, “We had no budget” as much as they want to explain the lack of gore, but c’mon, you gotta give us something to chew on! Having people wander aimlessly around a dark castle for 90 minutes just ain’t gonna cut it. It is a better effort than part four but then again, that’s really not saying a whole hell of a lot, now is it?