The Howling: Reborn Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Howling: Reborn Blu-ray Movie Review

Howl at the moon, shoot out the lights, it's another small-time Werewolf movie.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 25, 2011

The real evolution is coming.

It's amazing how things so quickly come back into style. Clothes, political movements, music delivery systems (vinyl is the old "new" king?), and movies all seem to follow some mysterious current that, over some length of time that's different for each, brings it back to the public eye. The Twilight films and novels seem to have resurrected a love of all things vampires and werewolves (good looking dudes with questionable acting skills, however, have always been and will always be here to stay, sorry; there has to be one exception!). It seems the former, however, is getting most of the play, but the latter is seeing a steady comeback, too. Werewolves dominated the early 1980s in Horror film; pictures like An American Werewolf in London and The Howling (both coincidentally products of 1981) helped shape modern Supernatural Horror. The Werewolf sub-genre has now undergone a slick Twilight-esque, uh, "rebirth," in The Howling: Reborn, a movie billed as a "re-imagining" of its namesake. How does the movie stack up? It's a surprisingly watchable little Horror flick. It's certainly not going to usher in a new era of Horror or anything like that, but genre fans will find it a serviceable good time all around.

Fighting fur with fire.

It's graduation time, and senior Will Kidman (Landon Liboiron) couldn't be happier to be getting out of dodge. He's picked on, left out, and generally disliked by the student body, and in particular by a group of hooligans who have mysteriously enrolled just a month before the end of classes. The girl he likes, the lovely Eliana Wynter (Lindsey Shaw), barely knows he exists, but when she finds he's drawn several flattering portraits of her, she pays closer attention. As their relationship grows, so too does Will's realization that he's...different. He posits that he may be a werewolf, and confirms as much with the aid of his Horror movie-obsessed best friend, Sachin (Jesse Rath). As Will deals with his new reality and sorts out his budding relationship with the girl of his dreams, he comes face-to-face with someone from his past who is out to destroy his future.

It would be a lie to say that The Howling: Reborn gets "everything right," but it wouldn't be a stretch to say it doesn't really get "anything wrong," either. The movie is incredibly slick and fast-moving, just what the modern teenage audience wants and craves. It's got good-looking leads, decent characters, a happening soundtrack, solid drama, steady direction, quality action, and fair special effects. But the movie never seems to quite gel like it should. it has its ups and downs, periods of great dramatic intensity and slowly developing action alike. None of it is ever offensive, completely dull, or downright bad, but neither is it truly the rebirth of a franchise or genre, steadily fast-paced, or the quintessential Werewolf movie. But that's all right. There's nothing wrong with the middle ground, and in fact, that's a fairly comfortable place to be. For a debut film, Director Joe Nimziki has done a bang-up job. Sure the movie has its moments where it looks and feels more like an after-school special with an edge than it does a lean and mean Horror movie, but that edginess, good characters, a fair plot, a surprisingly strong atmosphere, and a whole other host of relative pluses make this a quality movie that should satisfy, but probably not thrill, Werewolf/Supernatural Horror movie fans.

If there's one readily-evident shortcoming in The Howling: Reborn, it's the somewhat lazy and cliché-riddled script. The characters are well-developed, but developed through transparent dialogue and generic emotions. Still, Joe Nimziki's direction and the film's editing -- particularly the way the movie matches atmosphere and music -- helps tremendously in overcoming its flaws. The various plot developments and twists range from predictable to surprising, but for whatever reason the movie seems to lose a bit of steam once the primary reveal comes into focus. The movie works better as that "edgy after school special" than it does an action flick. That's a credit to the lead actors' ability to get the most out of what is entertaining but admittedly also fairly generic material; Landon Liboiron and Lindsey Shaw are both quite good as the outcast and the enigmatic looker, respectively. They produce good chemistry from the very beginning, yielding some heated and convincing "coupling" scenes in the movie that end up having a drastic affect on the narrative in the final minutes.

The Howling: Reborn Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Howling: Reborn's HD video source looks fantastic on Blu-ray. Aside from light banding and a love-it-or-hate-it glossy overlay, which are both regular occurrences with digital movies, the image is practically flawless. Fine detail excellent; facial and clothing textures are incredibly revealing and complex, as are little touches all around the frame, like brick and stone façades, fine dents and worn finishes on school lockers, and books in the library. Clarity is outstanding, which only aids in the strong detailing. Colors are superb, appearing bright and vibrant and balanced but never gaudy or unnatural. Black levels are solid, never exhibiting crush and not washing out to a shade of dark gray. Flesh tones are perhaps a touch pale, but not faulty. Noise, blocky backgrounds, and the like are non-factors. There's not much more to say; this is a wonderful digital transfer from Anchor Bay.

The Howling: Reborn Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Howling: Reborn bites into Blu-ray with a quality Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The entire presentation is energetic and crisp, never faltering in any single area. Music is naturally spaced and very clear; it plays with a noticeable surround element for a nicely engulfing experience, whether speaking of score or the many popular music tunes that play throughout. Bass is hefty and tight, not terribly strong but never shallow, either. A dance club scene early in the movie belts out some heavy beats that do a fair job of sonically recreating the atmosphere, even if the scene isn't completely immersive. The track's many wolf howls and sound effects are suitably frightening and strongly implemented, supported by a good bit of surround sound usage. Minor ambience proves adequate in areas such as a school office or hallway. Rounded out by center-focused and clear dialogue, Anchor Bay's soundtrack for The Howling: Reborn is a winner.

The Howling: Reborn Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Howling: Reborn contains three extras, chief amongst them an audio commentary track and a thirty-minute making-of feature.

• Audio Commentary: Writer/Director Joe Nimziki and Actor Lindsey Shaw discuss the movie three months before its premiere, so early in the "process" that they wonder what it might be titled by the time the film is in public hands. They discuss changes to the script along the way, the shooting process and the effort to shoot the critical parts sequentially, casting, shooting locales, the pleasures and challenges of working on the movie, and plenty more. It's an affable commentary; the two participants have plenty to say and seem happy to be sharing their thoughts.
• The Making of The Howling Reborn (1080p, 29:57): This is a quality piece that briefly takes the viewer on a journey through the making of the film. It begins with a glimpse into an initial read-through of the script and continues to feature cast and crew discussing the movie's themes, the general plot, the characters, werewolf design, the process of creating various scenes and the corresponding practical stunts and effects, the weather on the set, creating the picture's sound design and music, and more.
• Storyboard Gallery (1080p).

The Howling: Reborn Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Howling: Reborn isn't a perfect movie by any means, but it's a well made and respectable debut film and should earn a spot somewhere about halfway down -- or maybe a little higher -- the Werewolf movie canon all-time rankings. Despite a clichéd script, the movie yields solid characters, good acting, an edgy atmosphere, and quality direction. Chances are most serious and hardcore Werewolf movie fans will enjoy this one to some extent, even if the glossy "after school special" façade isn't really to their liking. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of The Howling: Reborn yields superb 1080p video, a good lossless soundtrack, and a couple of thorough extras. Recommended.