I admit it, when it came to watching this movie I hesitated. See, it has been a long time since I saw the original Howling, so I assumed that there would be some plot line I didn’t remember and/or it would fall prey to the dreaded horrible “it’s crap, but let’s make it anyway for some quick dough” re-make curse. I was wrong on both counts — it’s not a re-make and you don’t need to know anything about the first film to like this one.
The film immediately has you guessing — who is that woman on the phone? Why is someone following her? Who is this teenager telling us to kill him? All questions that the movie lovingly takes it time to answer.
We follow teenager Will (Landon Liboiron aka “Josh” in Terra Nova) as he prepares to turn 18 and graduate from high school. By all accounts, Will is a normal, geeky, good kid with a loving father and crush on the cute, but dangerous girl in school. Pretty soon however, Will starts wondering (and you do too) if he might not be so normal after all. Once the movie has you firmly thinking you have figured everything out, it takes several twists and turns that the most astute horror movie fan won’t see coming — a rare treat.
What I liked about this film is that it’s a fun, thinking fans film, although it’s obviously directed at a younger audience. Yes, it’s got blood and guts and werewolves but it’s also got a neat little plot to enjoy as well — leaving the door open for a new, interesting franchise on an old classic.
So, if you were thinking of skipping this one do yourself a favor and give it a watch — you won’t regret it.
RATINGS RANT: I just don’t know what to do with IMDb these days. The user rating for this film is a 4.1, contrasted with Wrong Turn 4’s 4.4. No way these two films should even be close in ratings, much less WT4 being higher. Ugh.
U Wanted 2 C 