10 Great Horror Movies That Fell Victim To Franchise Fatigue
4. The Howling V: The Rebirth (1989)
Joe Dante's 1981 film The Howling is one of the quintessential werewolf movies of all time. Aside from that, the name The Howling is known for one other thing: bad sequels.
Be it The Howling II - which Christopher Lee apologised for appearing in - or the horror movie-turned-werewolf family drama of The Marsupials, the franchise's reputation for sequels isn't great. 1988's The Howling IV continued this trend with a direct-to-video remake of the original film which paled in comparison to its source material. Sounds like an awful franchise, eh?
But hold the phone! 1989's The Howling V: The Rebirth is a completely different entity. Filmed on location in Budapest, Hungary, the picture makes the smart move of being much more of a whodunit rather than a convoluted story about a community of werewolves.
A group of strangers are called to a snowbound castle in Hungary, only to begin dying one by one. It soon becomes apparent that one amongst the group is a werewolf, and from there we have the mystery of just who is the lycanthrope within this ensemble.
The Howling V: The Rebirth is dripping with atmosphere, with the howling winds and constantly falling snow giving an incredible sense of isolation and doom. The Hungarian castle and its never-ending maze of tunnels and passages is an inspired setting, and the threat of a werewolf lurking around any corner keeps viewers interested. If one can forgive a little bit of stiff acting, The Howling V is definitely worth seeking out for its atmosphere and excellent choral score.