Howling: New Moon Rising | |
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Directed by | Clive Turner |
Screenplay by | Clive Turner |
Produced by | Clive Turner |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Andreas Kossak |
Edited by | Clive Turner |
Music by | Guy Moon |
Production company | Allied Entertainment |
Distributed by | New Line Home Video |
Release date |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Howling: New Moon Rising (also released as Howling VII: Mystery Woman or simply Howling VII) is a 1995 British [1] direct-to-video comedy horror film, directed, produced, and written by Clive Turner, the seventh film in The Howling film series. The film reuses footage from the previous three sequels in the Howling series, and features characters from each film. The plot has a detective in the film uncover several clues that connect events of the latter part of the series. [2] It was followed by The Howling: Reborn in 2011.
In Pioneertown, California, a number of livestock and people have been killed mysteriously, and this appears to be the work of a large animal. A woman's decayed corpse is found in the desert, and the detective (John Ramsden) investigating the case, determines that the body is that of a woman, called Marylou Summers, who had attended a circus in the area four weeks prior. Seeking assistance with the matter, the detective speaks to a Catholic priest, Father John (John Huff). Father John believes werewolves are a result of demonic possession, and is certain the recent killings are the work of a werewolf.
Around the time the killings began, a mysterious Australian drifter named Ted Smith (Clive Turner) had recently arrived in town and began working at the local bar. Father John attempts to convince the detective that a werewolf is the culprit. Father John claims that his information goes back 500 years and is all true, telling him of a castle in Hungary that was the site of a mass murder-suicide. After the first massacre in 1489, the Spanish Inquisition declared the castle to be under the control of Satan, and attempted to burn it down, however this failed. The castle was then boarded up for 500 years until the communist government of Hungary decided to reopen it in 1987. In 1989, a group of tourists arrived and were subsequently killed before the castle burned to the ground. The Hungarian government then covered up the incident.
Meanwhile, Ted begins to mingle with the local townsfolk, secretly recording his own enigmatic agendas into a tape recorder in his hotel room, and the townsfolk begin to suspect Ted is the one behind these sudden killings. Father John and the detective interview a local woman, Marie Adams, who had, years earlier, narrowly survived a werewolf attack in the town of Drago. Marie is later killed by the werewolf. Father John and the detective learn that, three years ago, a castle in Budapest, Hungary, had burned down. This came directly after an entire group of people was killed there. Father John claims that three years is how long it takes for a werewolf to fully mature and develop new abilities.
The town is now fully against Ted. Ted attempts to flee town when a local woman, Cheryl, gives him a ride. That night, at her home, "Cheryl" reveals herself to be the real werewolf, and that her real name is Marylou Summers, and the body in the desert was the real Cheryl. She reveals that she was the one behind the castle massacre three years prior. Marylou announces her intent to kill Ted and frame him as the werewolf, then leave town to start over. She attempts to kill Ted with a shotgun, only to realize it has been loaded with blanks. Ted and the detective had set her up. Marylou transforms into her werewolf form and attempts to escape, only to be shot to death by a mob of the townsfolk who were outside waiting. With the whole situation behind them, Ted returns to the bar with the rest of the townsfolk and they have a dance as a way to apologize for accusing him of being the werewolf. Ted takes the mic and sings a song for everybody, ad-libbing some lines about werewolves into the song.
Initially Howling VII was intended to be shot back-to-back with Howling VI: The Freaks with Kevin Rock returning as screenwriter that would see the film as a direct sequel following the characters of Ian and Winston to Budapest, Hungary. [3] [4] This idea was scrapped by the producers for budgetary reasons. [3] LIVE Entertainment then became interested in reviving The Howling deciding to make a new film by taking several scenes from previous installments and shooting new footage to link the scenes together. [3]
Clive Turner had worked on the "Howling" franchise since The Marsupials in 1987, where he was an uncredited location manager. He went on to write The Original Nightmare and The Rebirth . Turner was determined to make a seventh film that connected all of the unrelated Howling films together into one timeline. His original plan was to make a film that was mostly footage from the other films that would accomplish this task for little money, but he ultimately decided against this, though footage from the other movies still was used to a limited extent in the film. New Moon Rising is notable as it is the first Howling sequel since Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf to make an attempt at continuity with other films. Romy Walthall reprised her role as Marie Adams, the protagonist of The Original Nightmare.
Clive Turner claimed Pioneertown was "one of his favorite towns", and wanted to shoot the film there as a tribute to the town and its eclectic residents. As such, all of the townsfolk act in the film and use their real names for their characters. The production was a disaster. Clive Turner and Roger Nall differed on the look of the werewolf. Turner wanted the werewolf to resemble the one from The Original Nightmare that Steve Johnson designed, while Nall wanted it to look completely different. [3] The FX team headed by Jerry Macaluso tried to please both by going for the middle ground which ended up pleasing neither before making a completely original design on their own which tried to retain the style of Rob Bottin's werewolves from the original The Howling . [3] Turner ultimately directed the film himself, taking over duties from the original director, Roger Nall, who walked off the production because of conflicts with Turner. [3] Nall wanted to make a werewolf movie set in a small town, but Turner wanted to make a character driven story which focused more on the hillbilly community in the small town and less on the werewolf. [3] Like what he had done with The Original Nightmare, after Nall walked off the production, Turner reshot nearly 50% of the film over a three-day period after filming had initially wrapped. [3]
Horror television personality Joe Bob Briggs received letters from Pioneertown residents after showing the film on MonsterVision. This inspired him to travel to Pioneertown to learn more about the film's bizarre production. Briggs claims that Pioneertown was originally built as a film set for westerns, but was later completely abandoned after the western genre declined in the 1960s. Pioneertown was later settled by bikers and a bar was established, as the only real business in the town. Briggs claimed that Howling 7 was "the first movie to be shot in Pioneertown in, probably, twenty years". Briggs also claimed that "Stand Up", the song performed by Claude "Pappy" Allen in the film, was a "one-hit wonder" from decades prior. [5]
Howling: New Moon Rising is almost universally regarded as the worst film in the "Howling" series due to its storyline, overuse of jokes and line dancing and reusing footage from prior films. Both Screen Rant and WhatCulture ranked the film last on their rankings of the "Howling" films. The Screen Rant article said: "This direct-to-video movie is terrible in about every possible way, and one of the main reasons is that the story is nearly nonexistent". [6] The WhatCulture article said: "The picture also features extended sequences of said locals line dancing, resorts to fart humor and baked bean jokes and has what just might be the worst on screen werewolf transformation in history. So little of the plot is dedicated to werewolves, it all seems to play like a strange Public Service Announcement for this tiny hick town". [7] TV Guide remarked that the film was "a new low for the franchise". [8] [9] Dread Central gave the film a negative review, likening it to Mystery Science Theater 3000 fare. [10] Cinema-Crazed reviewed the film, and their review begins with: "Asking anyone to watch The Howling: New Moon Rising should be punishable by jail time and some kind of psychological examination". [11]
However, in spite of the near universal hatred the film has received, it's something of a cult film among some "so bad it's good" film fans. Bloody Disgusting panned the film but said it was enjoyable nonetheless: "This movie is for B lovers only! On my list this ranks right up there with Troll 2 as the most hilarious bad movie ever made. ... If you are in the mood to watch some real trash, get a six pack, a buddy, and sit back and prepare yourself for the comedy of the century which is Howling: New Moon Rising". [12] Film critic Alison Pregler AKA "Obscurus Lupa" cited New Moon Rising as her favorite in the "Howling" franchise. Pregler claimed that, despite being "hysterically awful", she appreciated the film for trying to tie the films together and thought the film was "endearing" and a "labor of love". [13] Mutant-Reviewers said: "This is a movie designed for a group viewing, quip making, and if alcohol should be involved I won't judge. ... This is an awful movie. The kind of awful that sails through unwatchable, passes amusing, and lands comfortably in comedic gold". [14]
In 2022, Antonio Piluso from Hack The Movies did a lengthy review with special guest, Joe Bob Briggs, who had famously presented the film on TNT MonsterVision . Briggs claimed that Howling 7 was "one of the most mind-numbingly confusing accumulations of bad acting and incomprehensible plotting that I've ever seen in my life", and Piluso referred to it as "the strangest sequel ever made". However, Briggs showing the film on MonsterVision resulted in high ratings and he showed the film repeatedly after its original airing. New Moon Rising is the only "Howling" film to never get a DVD release in the United States, only being released on VHS. According to Joe Bob Briggs, he asked New Line Cinema to release a remastered Blu-ray of the film, offering to even do a commentary track himself. However, Briggs was informed that a complete 35mm master cut had never been created from the original negatives, so they would need to completely re-edit the film in order for a re-release to even be possible. Briggs claimed that the producers have the 35mm negatives "in a box" and acknowledged that a new release is unlikely, but expressed hope that one day a re-release could happen because of the film's cult status. Briggs also stated that he had attempted to track Clive Turner down for an interview about the film, but was unable to locate him. Briggs was only able to learn that Turner had apparently moved back to Australia. [5]
Werewolf fiction denotes the portrayal of werewolves and other shapeshifting therianthropes, in the media of literature, drama, film, games and music. Werewolf literature includes folklore, legend, saga, fairy tales, Gothic and horror fiction, fantasy fiction and poetry. Such stories may be supernatural, symbolic or allegorical. A classic cinematic example of the theme is The Wolf Man (1941) which in later films joins with the Frankenstein Monster and Count Dracula as one of the three famous icons of modern day horror. However, werewolf fiction is an exceptionally diverse genre, with ancient folkloric roots and manifold modern re-interpretations.
The Howling is a 1981 American horror film directed and edited by Joe Dante. Written by John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless, based on the novel of the same name by Gary Brandner, the film follows a news anchor who, following a traumatic encounter with a serial killer, visits a resort secretly inhabited by werewolves. The cast includes Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, Christopher Stone, Belinda Balaski, Kevin McCarthy, John Carradine, Slim Pickens, and Elisabeth Brooks.
The Werewolf by Night is the name of two werewolves appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first incarnation of Werewolf by Night, Jack Russell, first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #2. The second incarnation, Jake Gomez, first appeared in Werewolf by Night #1.
Werewolf is an American horror series, and one of the original shows in the Fox network's broadcast line-up during its inaugural season of 1987–1988.
Howling III is a 1987 Australian comedy-horror film and the sequel to The Howling, directed by Philippe Mora and filmed on location in and around Sydney, Australia. Starring Barry Otto, Imogen Annesley and Max Fairchild, Howling III is the only PG-13 rated entry in the Howling film series and also the last film in the series to be released theatrically. In this sequel, werewolves have evolved, with females having marsupial-like pouches to nurse their young. Scientists attempt to study them, while soldiers try to track and kill them in the Australian Outback.
Bad Moon is a 1996 Canadian-American horror film written and directed by Eric Red, and produced by James G. Robinson. The film is about a mother and son who are threatened by her brother, who struggles to overcome the curse of lycanthropy. It stars Michael Paré, Mariel Hemingway and Mason Gamble.
Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf is a 1985 American horror film directed by Philippe Mora and direct sequel to the 1981 film The Howling. The film stars horror film veteran Christopher Lee along with Reb Brown and Annie McEnroe as they try to defeat Sybil Danning's werewolf queen Stirba and stop a werewolf group's plans to conquer the world. Although Gary Brandner, author of The Howling novels, co-wrote the screenplay, the Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf is largely unrelated to his 1979 novel The Howling II.
Howling V: The Rebirth is a 1989 direct-to-video horror film directed by Neal Sundstrom from the screenplay by Freddie Rowe and Clive Turner, and filmed in Budapest, Hungary. Starring Philip Davis, Victoria Catlin, Elizabeth She, Ben Cole, and William Shockley, The Rebirth is the fifth entry in the series of eight stand-alone films with loose continuity.
Howling IV: The Original Nightmare is a 1988 British direct-to-video horror film directed by John Hough from a screenplay by Freddie Rowe and Clive Turner. Starring Romy Windsor, Michael T. Weiss, Antony Hamilton, Susanne Severeid and Lamya Derval, The Original Nightmare is the fourth entry in the series of seven standalone films with loose continuity and is not so much a sequel but rather a more faithful adaptation of Gary Brandner's source novel The Howling (1977).
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The Howling is a 1977 horror novel by Gary Brandner, first published by Fawcett as a paperback original. It was the inspiration for the film The Howling (1981), although the plot of the film was only vaguely similar to that of the book.
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The Howling II is a 1979 horror novel by Gary Brandner. It is the first of two sequels to his 1977 werewolf novel, The Howling. The novel was later republished under the alternative titles The Howling II: The Return and Return of the Howling.
The Howling III: Echoes is a 1985 horror novel by the American author Gary Brandner. It is the third and final entry in his Howling series of novels. Like its predecessor, The Howling II, the book has not been adapted for the screen and bears virtually no similarity to the Howling III film or any of the other films in The Howling series. Minor elements of the novel were used in the film Howling VI: The Freaks, though this idea was actually first seen in the 1975 British horror film Legend of the Werewolf.
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