Full Moon Renaissance

On the eve of his high school graduation, unremarkable Will Kidman (Landon Liboiron) finally bonds with the girl he has long yearned for, reclusive Eliana Wynter. But he also discovers a dark secret from his past... that he is about to become a werewolf.

The biggest criticism one can give this film, and I have seen others do this, is that it has that MTV style, and focuses on awkward high school kids (not to mention the main character being played by a regular from "Degrassi"). I am torn between believing this is the new format we have to accept and trying to reject it as an unfortunate trend.

Allow me to quote fellow reviewer Staci Layne Wilson: "There's a little more to it than its inherent wafer thinness. Yeah, it's a corn ball flick without a whit of sense nor much suspense, but The Howling Reborn is surprisingly well-shot, has some good action sequences, the acting is fine, and the spooky bits are augmented by better-than-usual cg and practical effects." Usually I use these quotations to jump off from and disagree, but I think Staci pretty much summed it all up.

I have to call attention to the soundtrack. Some of it I do not know (probably new bands an old fogey like me never heard of) but the ones I do -- like Echo and the Bunnymen -- really set a great tone. I could have used more 80s throwbacks, like the Smiths or the Cure.

The wolf suits are impressive, though it is hard to top the creative force that is Rob Bottin from the original film. Bottin is a god. But, again, these suits are good. The camera moves fast so we cannot see any seams or flaws, which might be mildly annoying but serves the film well and adds a level of realism to the wolves.

There is also a definite sex factor. While I did not personally find the women of this film attractive, the intent was clearly to make them so and others may enjoy that. There is something feral about sex, and the director is well aware of this, throwing in not one but two sexually oriented scenes.

Is this worth seeing? Perhaps. It is not as great as some other werewolf films (e.g., "Ginger Snaps" or "Dog Soldiers") but it has the high school mentality without being as bland or mushy as "Twilight". So I guess it could have been worse.

'THE HOWLING: REBORN': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

This reboot to the 1981 Joe Dante cult classic is sort of like 'TWILIGHT' with werewolves. It's not quite that horrifying but it is definitely aimed at the teen youth market with a lot of the same styled gimmicks. It's full of attractive young actors and the star (Landon Liboiron) looks a lot like 'Harry Potter' (Daniele Randcliffe) actually. There are some cool visuals and effects (the werewolves actually don't look half bad) but it's still got all that cheesy teen angst and melodrama. Not quite as poorly done as the 'TWILIGHT' films but it's still pretty bad.

Liboiron plays Will Kidman, an insecure nerd crushing on a popular hot girl at school, Eliana Wynter (Lindsey Shaw). He lives with his father Jack (Frank Schorpion) and has been brought up under the impression that his mom died giving birth to him. Oddly Eliana is impressed by his stalker like obsession with her and invites him to a party one night. Once there Will is drugged by a popular clique of creepy guys and believes he's being pursued by a monster he thinks is a werewolf. Will goes to his friend Sachin (Jesse Rath), a media school nerd working on a horror project, the next day at school and asks him what he knows about werewolves. He soon believes he is becoming a 'teen wolf' himself and also learns that his mother may not be dead after all.

The story has nothing to do with the other films in the 'HOWLING' franchise and is a reboot by all senses of the word. It's credited as being based on 'The Howling II' novel and was written and directed by first time filmmaker Joe Nimziki. I haven't seen any other chapters in the 'HOWLING' series except this and the first one so I can't say how it compares to the entire franchise but it definitely doesn't live up to the beloved original. The production values are impressive for such a low budget film it's just a shame they're all spent trying to cash in on the 'TWILIGHT' craze. Fans of that series will probably be more than pleased with this but I doubt die-hard fans of the werewolf franchise it's attached itself to will be happy. Overall I'd say it pretty much matched my pretty low expectations (maybe even exceeded them). I found it mildly amusing and definitely would say this is one time when the rip-off is better than the material it's knocking off (I'm referring to the popular teen vampire series of course).

Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd0S1srQ9T8

The Howling series has gotten a lot of flack over the years, and rightly so. Following the Joe Dante's original werewolf classic, a whole slurry of sequels were made, none of which even remotely living up to anything half as good as the original - and they were getting progressivly worse. Now after 15+ years since the last sequel a new Howling has come out. When I first heard this news, I did what every horror fan did, rolled their eyes and expected the worst - another sequel! BUT after watching it I actually really really enjoyed it! It takes a whole new approach to the series (so there's no need to have seen any of the previous installments). A mix between SCREAM and THE HOWLING, this is without doubt the second best film in the franchise, just second to the undeniable classic. Whilst it's comparison to TWILIGHT may put some of the more gore-hungry horror fans off, don't let it! Although there are TWILIGHT elements present such as werewolves, romance and a topless guy (the very fetching Landon Liboiron) to satisfy those fans, there's much much more on offer here. From the werewolf-know-it-all a la SCREAM, sexy werewolf women and a fresh new story that really draws you in and keeps you captivated right up to the action-packed ending, it's got lots here to please hardcore horror fans as well as those just getting into horror.

If you like horror films with plenty of teens running around, fearing for their lives like URBAN LEGEND, SCREAM, HALLOWEEN and countless others with a werewolf twist, then I would highly recommend this film! It's surprisingly the best werewolf film of recent years with some rather nice touches. The werewolves look incredible in this and there's plenty of them especially in the second half.

I'd give it a 7/10. A must see for all werewolf fans, HOWLING fans and horror fans (both old and new).

I was a little excited to see this one, as I am with every new instalment to a franchise that has either faltered in recent years or has not produced a sequel in decades. But after watching this one, I kind of wish they'd have left the series dead and buried.

The plot is about an eighteen year old teenager Will (Landon Liboiron) who is beginning to turn into a werewolf all while vying for the love of his classmate Eliana (Lindsey Shaw). Together the two have to try and stop other werewolves from killing them or something, blah, blah, blah. It is just so ridiculous, there's really no need to go further about the "plot". While I was watching this, all I could think of was that this was a cheap rip off of the Twilight series. Now I have nothing against Twilight, I haven't seen it personally. But to fans of the original films, this was a kick in the gut. Sure some of the sequels made after the first Howling were pretty awful, but this one is catering to a different audience than the other films did.

The acting was fine in Howling Reborn, I had no problem there. The movie did look a little cheaply made though. I don't know if I'd recommend it to horror fans or not. Most fans of the original Howling films will probably be disappointed in this one. My low rating for this isn't because it's a terrible movie, but more because it isn't a true Howling sequel in my eyes. Therefore it was very disappointing and something that I probably won't watch again.

3/10

A below average werewolf film, nothing noteworthy about it. The story is bland, the acting is poor, the script is worse.

It's looks like a film from 30+ years ago, like the actual film reel has deteriorated.

Not worth watching unless you're a die-hard werewolf fan, even then it's meh.