Howling IV: The Original Nightmare (1988)

Excellent adaptation.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The three previous films had beautiful scenery, they were imaginative, unique. This one just appears dull and boring in comparison. There is almost no action, and no special effects until the very end, which makes it more like a drama than a horror film. Those who like mystery/drama may like this, but for those who enjoy horror films, there's too little out of the ordinary going on for the most of the time. The quality of the film as a whole, is more at a level you'd expect from an episode of a series, than you would from a film.

Forgive me if this review is short, but I just finished watching the movie and I hope to have this review written before the credit sequence ends. (What a terrible theme song, by the way.)'Howling IV', according to the IMDb trivia, is a more faithful depiction of the original novel than the Joe Dante's first 'Howling' film. I don't know whether this is true or not, but either way -- Who cares? Accuracy of the source material does not necessarily mean a better film. And this film isn't even close in quality (or b-movie fun) to the original movie, or even its goofy sequels. 'Howling IV' was incredibly dull and slow moving. And despite the ending picking up the pace with some pretty solid gore and special effects, the final moments of the movie - the "gotcha" moment - was just insulting. Very little of this movie worked on any level, and even worse, it wasn't so-bad-it's-good like many other films in the 'Howling' series.Just avoid it.

The only flaw I want to emphasize is that the early scenes in this film, much like the opening credits, are too quick to be effective. This one (however) is more faithful to the novel than the original, and once you get past the first 15 minutes, it doesn't seem so rushed. Romy Windsor plays the vision-bound, introverted, semi-tolerated Marie. Neither Marie, nor her husband Richard, nor their friend Tom, believe in werewolves. Janice, an ex-nun, is the only one considering a werewolf-existence possibility. Marie/Richard met her in Drago, and Janice's belief in demons is probably what paved the way for her werewolf suspicions. Along the way, some peeps have vanished, including a hitch-hiking couple and the long-dead sister Ruth. When Marie discovers that the sheriff covered-up the disappearance of the pleasant hitch-hiking couple, or attempted to do so, tempers flare. There's more than one way to skin a wolf (or cover it's tracks), and it isn't by lying to red-riding hood. You can't run a successful werewolf business without breaking a few nuns, as it turns out. The lethargic and apathetic sheriff would probably agree. The main complaint here is the scarce on-screen werewolf time. But in my opinion, this is redeemed by acceptable performances, just enough atmosphere, and a classic 80's score.

Haunted by a series of unnatural happenings, a young author, Marie Adams heads for the sanctuary of a rural hideout in a desperate bid to regain her sanity - but only to find a horror much more deadly than her own deranged imaginings. From the depths of the forest it's calling and waiting for the full moon, to hunt Marie down and to take her on a terrifying journey into the gaping jaws of death. As night descends, the howling rises again to shatter the stillness of the night.This film starred: Romy Windsor, Michael T. Weiss & Anthony Hamilton.I have seen the first 4 howling films and this is my favourite one although I still don't like it. In my opinion best to worst is like this (so far as I have not seen some of the sequels)...Howling 4 Howling Howling 3 Howling 2This film is not really recommended.**/***** Poor.