Customer Reviews

The Howling V & VI

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I recommend The Howling 5 to anyone who loves the original Howling movie. It's atmospheric alot of suspense and set in a really old castle. Also you have to work out who is the werewolf which makes it even more fun. A real who done it movie only in this case it's a werewolf killer.

The Howling 6: The freaks
Well they were real freaks especially the vampire instead of having sharp teeth like most vampires do. They had to make him a little different yes he looks like a purple deamon when he transforms. I thought the movie was pretty good only they ruined it for me with having the vampire look like a deamon who's purple and also the ending but an understanding ending as well. I liked the actors no real big actors but that's always good in horror movies because you don't know who might die. Would I watch the movie again maybe in 5 or 6 years time. The howling 5 I'll watch again and again and will always find it an enjoyable movie. Beats the hell out of The howling 3 the cheapest crapest movie in the series which had promise but didn't deliver because bad production and a lack of direction really could have been something really good but made into a comedy that wasn't even funny. The Howling 4 is a absolute classic and I don't care what anyone says about it, It's a brillant movie with a great story and loads of action and scary bits very hard to pick out of The Howling and The Howling 4 only the werewolves are better in the first howling movie. But the ones in The Howling 4 suited the movie right down to the ground, A must see movie you shouldn't be disappointed just watch it it's a classic.

The Howling V-The Rebirth is an HUGE Improvement over the last few Sequels which were all really bad. Part VI- I don't care much for but it's worth watching. The Howling V is more of a whodunit/clue type movie with not Much wolf just a creepy castle,but still worth watching.

The tradition of Howling sequels having absolutely no relation to previous entries continues in this 2 movie set.

In Part V: The Rebirth, a group of invited guests are brought to Budapest for the opening of a castle left abandoned for exactly 500 years. Chalked up as publicity for tourism by their host, it is not only revealed later on the actual reason for said reopening, but also how the unusual selection process was conducted to assemble the guests... A werewolf movie has to be pretty bad for Doc Noc not to like if it's set in a castle environment to boot. A good idea and setting, however, cannot overcome mostly stale acting, annoying background music used nearly every time another murder occurs and a pathetically short amount of werewolf screentime. 3.5/10

From Hungary to the small U.S. town of Canton Bluff we go in Part VI: The Freaks, where a newly arrived drifter with a British accent gets work as a handyman for an old church. Will the combination of a refurbished place of worship and the visiting Harker's World of Wonder carnival troupe provide enough of a boost for the drought inflicted town? Depends on their position on the subject of the supernatural... as well as their tolerance level on cattle mutilations and outright murder. At risk of sounding like a broken record, again we have a good idea and setting (Heck, we even have more than a werewolf on the monster menu! And no, I'm not referring to the Alligator Boy.) that is left lacking in the overall results. It is possibly the best Howling sequel since Part 2, but is that really saying much? 4.75/10

HOWLING 6
THE FREAKS

I may take some heat for this but I actually like this movie and actually think it is pretty good, go into this knowing that you are going to view a Howling sequel and you should agree with me. This is honestly one of those films that would have faired better as a stand alone and not being connected to a known series. I think the only benefit this movie got from being associated with "The Howling" is that fans of the series flocked to get this, that built in fan base helped this movie financially of course. But I think as far as critics and everyday people this film would have faired better as a stand alone flick, drop the Howling from the title and you have "The Freaks". Honestly think about that and I think most of you would agree with me, I am not saying it is a great movie but it is an interesting and entertaining flick.

This film is all about a young man that just walks into a small town looking for work and a place to stay. Luckily for him after a sheriff harasses him a man gives him a job and a place to stay, lucky him. It just so happens that at the same time a freak show/carnival comes into town and is run by a vampire, the youngster that came into town also happens to be a werewolf [see were this is going]. Things start to happen around town and people start to disappear and the town is on the hunt for an answer. It just so happens that R.B Harker [the vampire] knows about the boy and puts the town at ease as he forces the werewolf into his freak show. But once he escapes not only is Payne searching for him but so is the town. This leads to the final conflict between the vampire and werewolf and eventually leads to a pretty good flick.

Director Hope Perello did a pretty good job with this film I thought it was pretty entertaining, and writer Kevin Rock really brought a new twist to this series. With these two together I think the film reached a good enough level that it is worth owning, especially since it is sold with part five. I think most of the actors did decent enough job to make this watch able, but that sheriff was a little over the top [which may be a good thing]. Bruce Payne has to be credited though for turning in a really good performance as the vampire R.B Harker, although when he turns he really is a very cool yet ugly looking thing [kinda looks like a early "Underworld" type of vampire]. Of course many people don't like the ending but I think that is was actually good, he fights the vampire at first in his human form so when he finally turns into the wolf it adds to the fight even more.

I think that this was worthy addition to the series especially if you get the two pack, which is the only way I think you can get parts 5 & 6.

This disc holds two movies in the Howling series that I would rate as OK werewolf flicks. Howling V is set in a Romanian castle with the guests trying to figure out who the werewolf is and Howling VI features a werewolf tracking down the ringleader of a travelling circus in order to avenge his family's death. I would give each of these movies the same 3-star rating given that they weren't bad.
Number V was a bit boring as the suspense would be interrupted by the remaining survivors congregating once again in a room to discuss the next plan of action. It would have been much better if tension was maintained without interruption and needless banter.
Number VI did a good job with keeping things interesting and the setting was an unusual one for a werewolf film. However the werewolfry was almost unwerewolf-like in both appearance and actions and this made the movie into something else of it's own as opposed to something in the "Howling" genre.

This is a re-release of the fifth and sixth films in the Howling series. They were originally released together on DVD by Artisan with full frame transfers and Stereo audio, with no extras to speak of (not surprisingly, as I believe these were DTV releases). Nothing special, but acceptable for films of their quality.

This re-release doesn't even match the original Artisan disc quality-wise, let alone improve on it. It is a disappointing downgrade. By no stretch of the imagination does the Artisan disc have sparkling transfers, but a side-by-side comparison of the two discs shows a noticeable difference between the two - this DVD's full frame transfers are much worse than Artisan's. On top of that, the audio on this disc is presented in 2-channel Mono, not Stereo. Like Artisan, no extras to speak of.

The only thing this disc has going for it is its price. There is a neat little menu introduction, but that's hardly worth recommending it. If you've got the old Artisan disc, by all means hold on to it and don't even consider this as an upgrade. If you don't have the Artisan disc and want one then I'd definitely start looking for a copy now. It has been out of print for a little while now, and if you're lucky enough to even find a copy (at this writing it is no longer available on Amazon.com - not even from third-party sellers, or eBay), the prices are pretty high.

As far as the films go, they are okay stand-alone, but don't really fit into the Howling "series", which shouldn't really be considered a series at all. They are sequels in name only; there is no connection to the first Howling film. Bad acting aside, I really enjoy Rebirth. It's got a chilling setting, and effective atmosphere. I never really liked The Freaks, too un-werewolfy for me.

Despite the horrible cover of this DVD double feature, "Howling V: The Rebirth" and "Howling VI: The Freaks" are two of the better sequels in this werewolf non-series that currently has eight entries, all self-contained stories.

There are zero extras, but both films look fine (this refers to Timeless Media Group DVD).

HOWLING V: THE REBIRTH (1989, 96 minutes)

Shot in an actual Hungarian castle, the plot is borrowed from "The Beast Must Die" (1974) wherein a group of people spend the night in a huge European estate while one of the party, a werewolf, systematically butchers the guests. It's basically a whodunit a la Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians." It's also reminiscent of the underrated "The Devil's Nightmare" aka "The Devil Walks at Midnight" (1971), albeit nowhere as good.

Still, although the werewolf is barely seen, I found this a solid low-budget mystery flick with a werewolf. Besides, Elizabeth Shé (Marylou) has an exceptional scene. But gorehounds who want to see loads of bloody werewolf action should pass (there's a little, but not enough to appease modern gorehounds).

GRADE: B-

HOWLING VI: THE FREAKS (1991, 102 minutes)

A Brit named Ian (Brendan Hughes) drifts into a Southwestern town around the same time as a carnival freak show. He picks up work with a pastor and stays at his house where his cute daughter, Elizabeth (Michele Matheson), takes interest. Harker (Bruce Payne), the darkly man who owns the freak show, may be more than what he appears.

This one is too dramatic and slow for those with ADHD and the werewolf's face looks more like a member of Twisted Sister than a werewolf, although the way the beast walks on canine legs is notable. In any case, "Howling VI" delivers. In fact, I think it's the best of the sequels, followed by IV and V, although I haven't yet seen 1995's "New Moon Rising" (VII) or 2011's "Reborn" (VIII).

What makes "Howling VI" stand out is its focus on characters. The casting is excellent and all the characters are well fleshed-out for a 102-minute micro-budget horror flick. For instance, Ian clearly has a dark secret, but it's also obvious that he's a quality soul. Elizabeth is innocent to the ways of the world but she instinctively senses goodness in Ian, as does the "alligator boy." Harker, by contrast, possesses a sinister edge despite his great charisma. Speaking of which, Bruce Payne is outstanding here.

GRADE: B+

FINAL WORD: In view of the DVD cover, I was expecting two crappy sequels and instead got two quality low-budget werewolf flicks. If you're interested don't miss out.

This brings my libery to date with these dvd's. I haven't watched them yet but will soon and have it as a horror night with my friends starting from 1 to 6. These movies sould not have been as 1 etc, They are too different in storylines with no connections to the previous ones. But too much telling of ones own opinions and somebody elses are different. The movies are watchable there are worse but I wanted to finish my collection and that is the reason I brought them.

I really the howling V because of the setting, locating in budapest in the 80's, can not get any better than that. I knew that I was right when the movie ended. Howling VI was kinda crazy. That British guy is cute though, that movie was ok.

Howling V wasn't too bad, but that may just be because in making my way through the entire Howling series, it was just a great relief after the absolutely horrible Howling 3 and the less than stellar Howling 4.

The story's pretty stock. Bunch of people isolated in a spooky setting and one of them is an evil malaicious werewolf picking them off one by one.

Not a lot of gore or effects compared to the other films in the series, but despite the unoriginality of the premise, I was still more interested than I was in the third or fourth in the series. The characters were all written pretty well, even if none of them were jumping out of the norm.

It was a film that could have easily become boring, but somehow I remained attentive. So it stays solidly on the line of average. Not great, not awful. Which about means there's not a lot of need to see it unless you're a big werewolf film fan

Howling 6 however is complete trash. It gives us the story of a small town with two problems: a werewolf in their midst and a sinister freak show carnival.

The werewolf looked like an apeman. Seriously. They slapped extra hair on the man, gave him some quick prosthetics on the face, some fangs, and bam! Apeman--er, I mean werewolf. I guess. Really terrible.

It doesn't end there. The head of the freakshow carnival, Harker, is out to capture him to put him on display. The actor playing Harker was actually okay. He gave off a poor man's Alan Rickman vibe, which was pretty cool since who doesn't like Alan Rickman? Unfortunately, he has his own dark secret and it's much worse than it turning out that he's a werewolf too. I won't spoil it, but I will let you know I winced and my levels of disappointment in the movie dropped another handful of notches.

If you're looking for a casual horror film, go ahead and watch 5. If you need something to really tear apart with friends go for it and watch 6. If you're looking for a pair of good horror films, you should probably already know that a double feature of the fifth and six films in a series probably won't give you anything good, so skip this.
But really the only thing that should make you buy this is if you're a werewolf nut. If you think because you liked The Howling you'll like this, you're wrong. These are just one very average film and one very awful film that conveniently have THE HOWLING prefixed onto their titles. Don't be fooled!