The next entry in the Howling franchise sees the action shifted to a Hungarian castle, where a group of tourists discovers that each of them is of the bloodline of the castle’s original family, and that one of them is a werewolf. This reworking of The Beast Must Die! has its moments, but there’s too much padding, and far, far too much darkness.
On the other hand, there are also boobies.
#1 by supersonic on December 26, 2008 - 9:37 pm
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gasp think of the children!
#2 by lyzard on December 26, 2008 - 11:58 pm
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Never, if I can help it.
#3 by Joshua on December 27, 2008 - 3:44 am
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Wow. I’m glad I didn’t read this one at work…
#4 by Scott David Hamilton on December 27, 2008 - 7:19 am
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I think you’ve been a b-movie reviewer too long when you promote boobies in a movie, even though you’re a heterosexual female.
#5 by lyzard on December 27, 2008 - 7:23 am
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Hey, you gotta go with what you’ve got. (Uh, ‘got’, that is, not ‘got’.)
Personally I’m partial to the blue-footed booby:
#6 by Chad on December 27, 2008 - 11:29 am
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Good points, all, and yet it’s still one of the few installments in the series I’d watch again (along with I, III, and VI, the last just to catch more glimpses of the male lead).
The funny thing about V is how the plot kind of collapses under its own weight. I don’t think we ever do get an explanation as to why all the descendants happen to be orphans or if the true werewolf is driven to kill the others (which seems to be implied at several points) or why they aren’t all werewolves in the first place.
I know, I know, thinking too much about hastily written scripts…
#7 by supersonic on December 27, 2008 - 2:05 pm
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Gasp think of the office drones!
…yeah, what does being an orphan have to do with anything?
#8 by lyzard on December 27, 2008 - 3:08 pm
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Yes, it’s one of those films that manages to be overly convoluted and terribly insubstantial at the same time. The Count *does* say that the werewolf will be driven to kill all others of its bloodline (so why reproduce?) so perhaps we’re supposed to infer that it already killed their parents?
Ah, Ken And Andrew’s Rule Of Plot Holes! – what would we do without you?
#9 by Chad on December 27, 2008 - 10:01 pm
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the Count *does* say that the werewolf will be driven to kill all others of its bloodline
Oh, I totally forgot about that, although it leaves the even more embarrassing question of if there’s been 500 years straight of people being ruthlessly efficient in their slaughter except they always forget to pull a Herod. I can just imagine generation after generation of werewolves muttering to themselves, “You know, I have the funny feeling I forgot something…”
#10 by The Rev. D.D. on December 30, 2008 - 9:54 pm
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I have to say, your review has made me consider going back and watching this again. I saw it many many moons ago (see what I did there?)* and recall finding it boring and not worth watching again (although still better than the 4th one). Maybe I’ll be in a more forgiving state of mind these days, having since seen films that were so much worse.
*Stolen blatantly from Mr. Begg. I’m sorry.
#11 by lyzard on December 31, 2008 - 12:04 am
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My review made it sound NOT boring!? 🙂 Nah, it’s an okay time-passer.
#12 by The Rev. D.D. on December 31, 2008 - 9:36 am
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See, “okay” is better than I remember it, which was basically “Bleh!”
Good point on the “boring” thing though. You did indeed reiterate that.
I prefer red-footed boobies but I don’t know how to imbed a pic in here. I’m a bit computer illiterate…
#13 by lyzard on December 31, 2008 - 4:23 pm
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🙂
#14 by The Rev. D.D. on December 31, 2008 - 8:19 pm
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And a big “Yay! Thank you!” for Ms. Kingsley.
*is now struck with the urge to yet again watch “The Life of Birds” with Sir Richard Attenborough*