Howling V

I agree that this film is probably one of the most underrated werewolf films ever made. The original was truly a masterpiece. The second was very campy and corny, but worth the watch thanks to an amazing actor you might have heard of...Christopher Lee. The next two Howling installments were terrible and gave the franchise a bad name. Then along comes Clive Turner. He takes the werewolf out of the woods and confines it within a castle. What scares most people? Isolation...no escape...the unknown. Add an enormous werewolf to the mix and throw a scooby doo mystery twist on it and you've got Howling V: The Rebirth. A group of strangers are hand picked to spend the weekend in an isolated medieval castle in the Budapest country side that hasn't been opened for 500 years. Slowly, the guests begin to notice many similarities between themselves. Then it is revealed that one of them is a werewolf. The blood that flows through their veins is the blood of the werewolf that has plagued this castle and country once before. One of the members of the bloodline must kill the werewolf and lift the curse forever. In classic who done it fashion, The Rebirth delivers a compelling story with a fairly obvious twist. The entertainment value is high enough to deserve a late night viewing with a blanket and some popcorn. Just make sure to leave at least one light on...you'll need it.

The Howling series doesn't have much of a great reputation, each one being different in style and tone with no real connection to each other. Although the second film does touch upon the original in some sort plot tie. I never been a huge fan of the original and the sequels that I've seen (2, 3 and 4) are simply inferior. So I went into the filth venture (another straight-to-video fare) expecting less, but actually came away mildly enjoying it. In some regards I enjoyed it more than the original… that's not to say it's better than that film. But I was pleasantly surprised by it.

A group of strangers selected from around the world are invited by an aristocratic count to the re-opening of a castle in Budapest that hasn't seen light for over 500 years due to its terrible past. Unknowingly to them everyone in the group bears an identical birthmark that links them to the castle's terrible past.

The low-budget, but sturdy "The Howling V: The Re-Birth" plays around with the ten little Indians murder mystery formula, but the killer is no ordinary being but actually a werewolf. The revelation might not come as a surprise, as there are certain clues scattered about pointing to the one in question, but it still remains cleverly penned (it elaborately plotted) and unpredictable in what order the guests become fresh meat. The performances are down-to-earth by the likes of Stephanie Faulkner, Mark Sivertsen and William Shockley, as there is an odd assortment of characters where a lot of time can be spent on trivial dialogue exchanges. However it stays gripping, crowned with mystery and danger where the remote Gothic castle setting (modern day Budapest) is dark and dank. The ominously gloomy and taut atmosphere works, as they keep to what its budget allows it and this means making sure the beast mostly stays in the shadows. Lurking or stalking its prey. Director Neal Sundstrom favours suggestively brooding handling. We don't get much of a real look, as there's plenty of rapid moving POV shots, minor flashes and off-screen attacks. What we did see of it didn't look the greatest, but it's acceptable. Moments do strike up some eerie spells and suspenseful build-ups before it deliver the shocks. It's helped by competently sweeping camera-work and a foreboding music score.

Entertaining superstitious whodunit b-grade hokum

Howling V: The Rebirth was better than I expected it to be, but still not a very good film. I don't know about you, but when I watch a werewolf movie I hope to actually SEE the werewolf from time to time. You DON'T SEE THE WEREWOLF in this movie. There are parts of it shown for a couple seconds here and there, but you never see the whole thing. This movie tries to be a mystery, wanting you to figure out who the wolf is. It isn't too hard to figure out, and the answer is confusing. If you want to watch a good werewolf movie, try the first Howling (stay away from parts 3 and 7 AT ALL COSTS) or Silver Bullet.

i first saw this movie about 4 years ago, and feel in love with it almost instantly. At the time i had never seen any of the Howling movies, in fact, i don't think i had even heard of the howling before this. Now that i have seen them all, i can see that Howling 5 is by far the best in the series.

The other howling movies seem to be a lot of talk and very little action, especially Howling 4 and 7. For all in this installment of the Howling, there is little Werewolf action, the fact that you do not see the werewolf, i believe, adds to the suspense. In Howling 4, the werewolves are seen in great detail, and i think this ruined it, as the wolves were overdone and slightly silly. In this, the idea of the wolf, and the three second shots of teeth etc. are more effective then a full plastic-wolf bounding about the castle after the victims.

one other thing i have to note, is the incidental music. Whenever one of the cast is butchered by the werewolf, a sinister piece of opera is played and the scene pans off, so you dont get to see the body until later. When i first saw the scenes like this, i couldn't help but laugh. For all i love it, and i think it is a brilliant effect, the first impression for someone who considers Excalibur an extension of Monty Python can find the incidental operatic slightly humorous.

This movie is by far the best of all the Howling movies, and is a movie all werewolf fans should find enjoyable.

Finally someone has the cajones to put werewolves in a castle and initiate murder mystery slasher mode. My god, how did it take till 1989 to kick this into gear? And what fun we have here!

At least in terms of a C-movie eclectic character cast and some cool castle cinematography. This is a murder mystery where you don't really care about the reveal, and you know it's a werewolf anyway so the why isn't important. It's also a slasher where there's not much bloodletting or fun. It lies somewhere flatly in-between these two genres that share so much in common and yet can't meet a happy middle ground.