The Howling: Reborn

Horror

Anchor Bay Entertainment

R4 DVD

There was probably no good reason to make this film after The Howling franchise had run its course of sequels, so what does it have that makes it worth redoing? Mainly it is now aimed at the sort of market that the Twilight series went for – outing horror genres into a more teenaged context. So how did it turn out?

Our hero is Will Kidman, a slightly Harry Potterish nerd who is the target for one of the school bullies. The girl he is interested in is Eliana, who is currently the bully’s girlfriend. So far it sounds like one of those interminable American High School nerd-makes-good films, but it soon turns dark. Will discovers he is part werewolf on his mother’s side and the werewolf in him is now awakening. He deals with the bully, then finds a mutual attraction with Eliana.

There is a clan of werewolves operating in the school basements, where they keep their victims for the great rising and conquest when werewolves will take their place in society – at the top of the food chain. Will is astounded to find his mother is leading the pack. Mother is not pleased, especially when Will tells her “Your boy likes his girlfriend better than his Mummy” and Will has to release his suppressed werewolf urges to protect Eliana. Can he do it? How can he stop werewolves taking over the world?

The film is far better than I had expected. The rise of the horror element is carefully developed, the plot is plausible (as far as a story about werewolves goes, anyway) and by the end of the film it is full-fledged horror rather than high school fluff. The CGI is mostly quite good, especially the few full shots of the werewolves. Will it appeal to teenagers? I’m not sure, since in many ways it is a parody of teenager films. As an example we have the girl delivering the address at the graduation ceremony. She talks in vacuous clichés and makes a mockery of the event. Meanwhile Will and his girlfriend are fighting for their lives inside the school. And none of the students have the sense to get in out of the rain.

It is not really a remake of The Howling, since it is considerably more lightweight and has less horror, but it’s good entertainment in its own right.

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