Christopher Lee alone makes "Howling II" better than "IV" and Imogen Annesley and Ralph Cotterill make "Howling III" better than anything "IV" has to offer.
"Howling II" is worthwhile in a so-bad-it's-almost-good way and the inclusion of Lee trying to keep a straight face is a plus, but the movie's generally tedious, and Lee's involvement isn't significant enough to change this. "Howling III" is more of the same, just extra-offbeat, while intriguingly switching the location from Transylvania to Australia. Imogen Annesley is winsome, sure, but nothing to go ape over; meanwhile Ralph Cotterill is a relative no-name in my book, but it's cool that you esteem him. Both flicks mix goofy camp with seriousness for an odd mix, with III shooting for more gravity.
I commend "Howling IV" for being relatively faithful to Gary Brandner's original novel, which makes the story more interesting than II and III, plus it wisely discards Phillippe Mora's silly camp and idiosyncrasies. Unfortunately, the lack of funds prevented it from being anything more than an okay sequel with a hurried, gauche climax, although I like the full moon atmosphere and slow-burn story, as well as the cast. Speaking of the latter, Romy Windsor & Susanne Severeid make for an interesting feminine partnership with Romy arguably rivaling Imogen from the previous film. Meanwhile Michael T. Weiss is a great male protagonist and Lamya Derval makes for a sharp lycanthrope, not to mention the sticks of South Africa (substituting for SoCal) are an interesting change, geographically.
So, IV may not be great, like the first film, but I prefer it to II and III. I place more importance on story and ambiance as opposed to favored actors. Lee's presence didn't change the relative dullness of II for me nor does Imogen's appeal in III lift that bizarre flick out of its mediocrity.
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MeYouFools (146)
7 months ago
You basically just repeated what you'd already said and we heard you the first time, thanks. And most of it seems to boil down to "I hate fun."
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Wuchak (8104)
7 months ago
You're right, but repetition with added detail. Reiterating points can be an effective device, but maybe I overdid it here, sorry.
As far as my "hating fun" goes, I appreciate fun horror flicks just fine and could cite many examples. Howling II & III are certainly fun; they're just strapped with dull storytelling. I'm assuming director Mora is to blame because Howling I, IV, V, VI and VIII are all superior to Mora's two installments, as far as compelling storytelling goes. I'm not saying they're worthless, though; they have points of interest.
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