Now, this fourth movie in the "Howling" franchise is a step back in the wrong direction. You'd think that by 1988, which was seven years after the first "The Howling" movie, that moviemakers would deviate from the lets-hide-the-creature-in-the-dark-and-keep-the-audience-in-suspense formula. But no, it was still being used. And this was four movies into the franchise, where the audience are quite well aware of this being a werewolf. Come on....
The storyline told in "Howling IV: The Original Nightmare" was pretty straightforward and easy to follow. It didn't offer any surprises, nor did directors John Hough and Clive Turner lead the audience on any particular thrilling ride. The movie felt to be running on auto-pilot, and that was dragging the movie down past the mediocre limit. And the storyline also suffered from being way too generic and predictable.
The only familiar face among the actors in "Howling IV: The Original Nightmare", at least to me, was Michael T. Weiss (playing Richard). But I will say, taking the script and the characters into consideration, then the actors and actresses were actually doing fair enough jobs. They were just hindered by an improper script and underdeveloped characters.
I sat through the entire movie, but I must admit that my interest was dwindling away rapidly after the halfway marker. The movie was just lacking appeal and didn't really have that unique feel to it that the 1981 "The Howling" had. And I doubt I will be returning to "Howling IV: The Original Nightmare" for a second viewing.
The storyline told in "Howling IV: The Original Nightmare" was pretty straightforward and easy to follow. It didn't offer any surprises, nor did directors John Hough and Clive Turner lead the audience on any particular thrilling ride. The movie felt to be running on auto-pilot, and that was dragging the movie down past the mediocre limit. And the storyline also suffered from being way too generic and predictable.
The only familiar face among the actors in "Howling IV: The Original Nightmare", at least to me, was Michael T. Weiss (playing Richard). But I will say, taking the script and the characters into consideration, then the actors and actresses were actually doing fair enough jobs. They were just hindered by an improper script and underdeveloped characters.
I sat through the entire movie, but I must admit that my interest was dwindling away rapidly after the halfway marker. The movie was just lacking appeal and didn't really have that unique feel to it that the 1981 "The Howling" had. And I doubt I will be returning to "Howling IV: The Original Nightmare" for a second viewing.