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Released by: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Released on: October 18, 2011.
Director: Joe Nimziki
Cast: Landon Liboiron, Ivana Milicevic, Lindsey Shaw
Year: 2011
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The Movie:
The first movie to be made in the franchise in over fifteen years, The Howling: Reborn, written and directed by Joe Nimziki, begins when a pregnant woman goes to some sort of art gallery where she's attacked, scratched up even, by some unseen assailant. Eighteen years later, we meet Will Kidman (Landon Liboiron), a meek and mild high school student keen on graduating and getting out of school for a bit who is crushing hard on curvy dark haired hottie Eliana Wynter (Lindsey Shaw). Unfortunately for him, she's got a boyfriend - a big boyfriend - who smashes poor will into a locker and scratches his neck with his ring for so much as looking at the lady. Eliana, however, takes a liking to Will when she gets a gander at all of the lovely sketches he's been making of her when he should have been paying attention in class.
Once Eliana ups Will's social status, he gets invited to an underground party of sorts where he's given some hallucinatory drugs and eventually thinks he saw a werewolf. Soon enough, he and Eliana are telling one another that they can't live without each other and Will is discovering the truth about his past. A visit from his mother (blonde Bond bombshell Ivana Milicevic) puts his head in a whirl when he learns he's actually the last in a line of werewolves and that they want him to join them - but Will isn't going out like that, oh now. He's going to build himself a giant flamethrower and fight the bad werewolves to save Eliana and hopefully himself so they can live happily ever after.
Although the MPAA, in their infinite wisdom, slapped this turkey with an R rating for 'horror violence, some sexuality and drug use' the fact of the matter is that while the picture is a bit violent, it's almost entirely bloodless and what sexuality does manage to creep its way into the film is strictly PG-13 material, so those hoping for some racy nudity are going to be disappointed. So we wind up with a film that barely earns its R rating and that delivers neither sex nor gore - what does it offer? Well, it does have some werewolves in it but these werewolves can apparently change at will (no full moon required) and are just as easily taken out with flamethrowers as silver bullets. There are a couple of okay fight scenes here and the film is certainly glossy and slick looking, so it's got that going for it too.
Sadly, however, the storyline is so heavily bogged down with the teen romance angle, that undying love that can only be experienced by two people who have been involved with one another for a mere afternoon, that it overshadows everything else - even the werewolves. Will and Eliana fall so hard and so fast that the film is not so much romantic as it is completely unrealistic and corny - and on top of that, it's painfully obvious that all of this has been crammed into the film to cash in on the ridiculously popular Twilight series (if you think it's a coincidence that the two teen stars in this movie look strikingly similar to Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattison think again). Take all this and throw in some poorly rendered CGI transformation scenes, rapid fire editing during the werewolf battles, a werewolf who actually does a flying kick through the air in an attempt to get into an elevator and a horrible acoustic cover of Blue Oyster Cult's 'Don't Fear The Reaper' and you can start to see how this one goes downhill fast. That's not to mention the fact that the 'mom's not dead' angle adds almost nothing to the story as it's never really fleshed out to the point where it matters, nor to mention the fact that Will, whose voice randomly narrates certain scenes with no rhyme or reason, shows no sympathy or sadness when certain characters he should be close with are killed right in front of him - it's all just inconsistent and poorly written, a lame cash in on a trendy series that adds nothing to the films which bore its name and came before it.
Video/Audio/Extras:
As bad as the movie may be, it's hard to find fault with Anchor Bay's DVD release. The anamorphic 1.78.1 widescreen transfer is sharp and colorful with good detail and strong black levels. Some minor shimmering shows up in a few scenes but there are no problems with print damage, dirt or debris to note. Black levels are generally pretty good if not quite reference quality but skin tones look nice and natural. No complaints here, really.
The English language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix is also strong, with some nice directional effects in the action scenes and crisp well balanced dialogue. There are no problems with hiss or distortion, the performers are always easy to hear and to understand and the audio quality of the score is quite good.
Extras start off with a commentary track with director Joe Nimziki and actress Lindsey Shaw. The track is about what you'd expect, fairly light but covering all of the requisite bases such as casting and effects work. Both parties are quite pleased with the end result, and evidently believe this is a much better film than it actually is.
Aside from that, Anchor Bay have also supplied a half hour long behind the scenes featurette that includes a wealth of behind the scenes footage, interviews with the cast and crew (everyone from the main actors to Joe Nimziki to some of the special effects guys to the guy who did the score are interviewed here) and some interesting effects footage. We also get a look at how computers were used to alter what was shot in camera and how some of the make-up was done.
A collection of storyboards and previews for some unrelated Anchor Bay properties are included, as are animated menus and chapter selection. No trailer for the feature is anywhere to be found on the disc, which is housed inside a standard keepcase that in turns fits nicely inside a slipcover featuring identical cover art (for those who keep track of these things).
The Final Word:
The Howling: Reborn is a seriously wasted opportunity. What could have rebooted a franchise instead cashes in on a trend and the end result is a movie that is neither interesting nor scary, a half assed nonsensical romance with little regard for logic, suspense or good storytelling. To Anchor Bay's credit the DVD looks and sounds great and it's got some decent extras on it, but the movie stinks.
The storyline sounds uncannily similar to elements of Brandner's Howling III novel and...hey, isn't that the chick from Severin's Devolved?
This took me three sittings to get through this thing. Yeesh.