Snark, Critic and Pop!

Yea, this wonderfully lame franchise is being brought back to low-budget sequel world!

Last weekend I was lucky enough to watch the wonderfully terrible Howling II: My Sister is a Werewolf and I even have a copy at my house now that fellow cinematic masochist Daniel Roos was unwilling to take it home with him.  Never heard of it?  Well, maybe you heard of it by it’s other title: Howling II: Stirba – Werewolf Bitch.  Terrible joke you say?  Well, I counter with I wasn’t joking, that was actually the title upon release. 

The film which was directed by Phillipe Mora begins with the funeral of journalist Karen White (the heroine from the first Howling film) which is attended by her brother Ben and her colleague Jenny as well as creepy Stefan played by the great Christopher Lee.  Spoiler alert – she sleeps with the young good looking guy who can’t act, not the creepy old guy who can!  Anyway, Stephan hasn’t come to bring flowers or offer condolences or even stand in the background looking uninterested like the rest of the extras, he has come to tell Ben that… wait for it… his sister is a werewolf!  (continue reading…)

Those tasked with creating a fourth entry in the Howling franchise had a daunting challenge. 

The original Howling is widely considered one of the “good” Werewolf movies, along with the original Universal classic the Wolf Man as well as Ernest Gets Eaten By A Werewolf.  I would not argue that the Howling is a good flick, although it has been many full moons since I saw it. 

Howling II is noteworthy for having the subtitle: “Your Sister Is A Werewolf” and the venerable Christopher Lee in the cast.  Incidentally, “Your Sister Is A Werewolf” was voted the least effective playground taunt of 1985.

Howling III: The Marsupials, reviewed by my colleague Brian Alterman here, took the groundbreaking step of giving werewolves pouches.  Sure, they’ll devour you just the same as any other demonic hellbeast, but that’s only the beginning!  They’ll do it while having pouches!  Is your spine-tingling yet? (continue reading…)