The Howling Reborn

            The werewolves are not even seen for a majority of this film, and that may have been the wisest choice that the script makes in reviving this 80s werewolf franchise. It isn’t that the werewolf effects aren’t good, because they seem better to me than anything in the Twilight series, but there is simply more effect in showing less in a horror movie. At the end there is plenty of action involving the wolves, but earlier on in the film we are given mystery instead. If only the dialogue and acting matched this, The Howling Reborn may have been an averagely memorable horror film.

            Will Kidman (Landon Liboiron) is a high school senior spending a majority of his time pining over a beautiful classmate (Lindsey Shaw). He is a little too dorky for her to notice, but suddenly a change in his body makes him more appealing to her. Suddenly he doesn’t need his glasses and has a physical strength that was never there before. This also comes with a dangerous ability to change, and Will discovers that he is actually a werewolf. There is a bloodline in his past which has to do with the death of his mother (Ivana Milicevic) and his subsequent birth.

            The mystery is not all that profound or intricate. This is another high school fantasy film which uses creatures as a tool. Vampires are played out for the themes of high school life, as are superheroes, but werewolves have not been used as much. The idea is all the same, however, and part of me feels as though I’ve already seen this film.