31 Days of Halloween 80’s Edition Day 2 – The Howling V (1989) Wait, seriously? You go from a
31 Days of Halloween 80’s Edition Day 2 – The Howling V (1989) Wait, seriously? You go from a classic like Fright Night to the Howling Part 5??? Yuppers puppers my friend. Look, I gotta come up with 31 movies for the month AND they all have to be 80’s flicks so my options are limited. Plus to be perfectly honest, I actually like The Howling 5. It’s a BAD MOVIE let’s make that clear, but bad monster movies can still be a lot of fun if you watch them with the right mindset. It’s bad movies night baby let’s gooooooooooo! So a small group of seemingly random people get an invitation to attend the grand reopening of a castle in Budapest that’s been sealed for 500 years after all of its inhabitants were found slain under mysterious circumstances. There’s a famous author, an annoying tennis star, a couple of professors, a guy who is very Australian, a young stereotypically ditzy actress, an aging European starlet, a photographer aaaaaaand I think that’s it. They’re met at the airport by “The Count”, who whisks them away in his shuttle bus to the spooky castle. Before long they’re trapped by a blizzard and they start getting killed off one by one cause surprise – one of them is a werewolf! But who is it? Why were they summoned to the spooky castle to begin with? Why on earth would I recommend this film to anyone? This was a direct to video b-movie from 1989 so yes, the acting isn’t exactly great and it’s quite obviously low budget and lacking polish, but there’s a lot to love here. I mean, if you like fun dumb monster movies that is like I do that is. As I list the films merits, please just imagine that I keep saying, “For a b-movie.” First of all the pacing is excellent. Something is always happening and the plot doesn’t get bogged down for long to stretch out the films running time like so many other low budget movies. It appears that they shot on location so it feels like they’re actually in a big spooky ass castle, cause they ARE and it adds a great deal of credibility to the atmosphere. Lastly I wanted to mention the dialogue. It’s surprising witty and clever, especially watching it a second time and catching all the hints they drop along the way about the werewolf’s identity. The characters trade little verbal barbs back and forth effectively and I thought it was refreshingly enjoyable. As always, for a b-movie that is. So! It’s Halloween Season and we’re all hopefully staying home as much as possible and staying safe. You’ve got plenty of free time, so why not watch a silly werewolf murder mystery movie? I hope you enjoy it’s delicious cheesiness as much as I did. Thank you for reading and stay spooky! Bonus cause I too am stuck at home with nothing to do but write, for those of you who indulge in chemical inebriation activities I present you with - The Howling V Drinking (Or Smoking) Game – (Please indulge responsibly) One drink or puff every time - 1. They play that hilarious music riff every time someone dies. (You’ll know it when you hear it trust me.) 2. The dumb younger actress character completely misses the subtext of a conversation. 3. The dumb younger actress viciously insults the older actress but it too dumb to realize it. 4. The Australian dude does anything vaguly Australian. (You figure it out.) 5. Someone says, “Wait here!” 6. They reveal the twist at the end! -- source link
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