THE HOWLING REBORN (Anchor Bay, 2011) D: Joe Nimziki, w/ Landon Liboiron, Lindsey Shaw. Rating: NNN Blu-ray package: NNN Rating: NNN
This Howling is not the hard shocker and effects breakthrough of the 1981 original. In fact, it comes up a little short on werewolves, and they’re not too impressive when they do arrive. On the other hand, it isn’t the cheese-fest of previous Howling sequels, thanks to a tight story, convincing acting and script and a hotter teen romance than all the Twilights put together.
Mild-mannered Will (Landon Liboiron) finally talks to the class hottie (Lindsey Shaw) the day before high school graduation. She seems interested, but her boyfriend gets violent. The tough kids take an interest and Will begins to think he himself is something strange.
Together, Liboiron and Shaw generate lots of heat individually, they nail their characters’ dangerous and vulnerable aspects. But Ivana Milicevic as a mysterious older woman steals the show with an energetic yet bizarre mix of predatory sexuality and motherly warmth.
Some of this excellence springs from Nimziki’s approach to casting, thoroughly covered with audition footage in the half-hour making-of doc. Nimziki and Shaw’s high-spirited commentary foregrounds the problems of a perpetually shrinking budget and schedule.
EXTRAS Nimziki and Shaw commentary, making-of doc. Widescreen. English audio. English, Spanish subtitles.
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