Howling: New Moon Rising

Howling VII cannot easily be classified into any genre, and that's what makes it so great. like the works of thomas pynchon, william gaddis, and david foster wallace, clive turner (the writer, producer, director, and star) uses a plethura of art forms and techniques and splices them together into a seemingly meaningless cacophany of pure postmodernism that, when dissected, reveals an underlying theme that examines the chaos that surrounds us in our media obsessed country.

he sarcastically makes fun of a myriad of movie forms: the werewolf flick, the rip snortin' country movie, and the comedy film, all while keeping an amazing straight face (i'm still attempting to comprehend the coyotes that jump out of trees and night line/ enigma).

clive turner is pressing his theory of modern america in our face, and we can do nothing but try and understand his points: we are constantly surrounded by all these stories, all these lifes, and all these various art cliches, and we have become them. we have become the horror flick. we have become pappy and harriet. we have become pioneer town. we have become the chili with the dirt in it and the only thing we can do to make ourselves clean is to laugh at our meaninglessness.

the werewolf is a symbol for our discontentment with commercial america, and when cheryl transforms, our anger at our worthless situation comes out of our pores like cold sweat.

this is an amazing movie. watch it and try and understand the point it is making about our pointless world. we keep our insecurities inside until they all come out in a violent rage. watch mr. turner's masterpiece today, if possible.

I recommend this to bad movie fanatics, with a word of caution: this movie is painfully dull just as often as it is funny. Parts of it are very slow, and the director/writer had to know this was bad (whereas there is something far more sacred about bad movies being born of genuine ambition).

Now and then somebody gets killed by a werewolf. There are lots of filler scenes of people sitting in a country-western bar, singing and telling the occasional dumb joke. It's all so loosely constructed that many of the extras were likely unaware that this was supposed to be about a werewolf. None of the actors are trying, except for the bearded priest. His acting is not good, but he takes his role seriously. Why? Perhaps he's just a total non-conformist. I don't know.

These are not real actors, most of them use their real names for the characters. It was all filmed in one or two towns. Since all the "actors" know each other, it's safe to assume that there are plenty of inside jokes in the script. For example, there is a farting scene where several guys run out of the bar, hands waving in front of noses. They are followed by a big guy smiling and eating a plate of chili. I'm sure it's no accident that this particular individual was chosen to play the farter. He must have a real life reputation for gas and therefore people in the neighborhood will find this more amusing than outsiders would. So if I knew these people I'm sure my familiarity with everybody would add more charm to the movie, bumping my vote up from a 1 to a 3.

As others have mentioned, it is stunning that New Line Cinemas is associated with this. Almost makes you wonder if somebody blackmailed top execs into supporting it. In short, a very bad film. Worth checking out once, but use the buddy system- don't watch it alone.

It took them seven sequels but they have finally made the worst "Howling" of all. This is a godawful mess filled with fat old drunk rednecks, and line-dancing. Noithing happens at all in this movie, don't even attempt to believe the posts here sauying this is funny---I LOVE bad movies but this is just a worthless pile of steaming excrement. No plot, no blood, no nudity, no suspense, no sense...

This movie once held a prominent position in the Bottom 100. How it ever got off the list is one of the great mysteries of the universe. Howling: New Moon Rising single-handedly redefines bad low-budget horror movies, and has all the requirements for being the worst horror sequel ever made:

1. No werewolf.

2. Old-school barroom jokes served up as original humor.

3. Small-town inhabitants playing themselves.

4. No werewolf.

5. Hopelessly outdated, overlong, and plot-halting line dance sequences.

6. Pappy sings.

7. Still no werewolf.

8. The most ridiculous 'plot twist' in the history of cinema.

9. Police chief: "Can we continue this tomorrow? This is all just too much information for me to take in all at once."

10. Red-tinted POV shots that's supposed to be a werewolf.

11. Written by, directed by, produced by, and starring Clive Turner.

12. "Hey Pappy - there's dirt in your chili!"

13. A two-line program command that produces the final CGI 'transformation' into the fakest-looking werewolf I've ever seen.

This movie was so painful to watch. No wonder they didn't make any more Howling sequels after this one. 1/10

I don't understand why they even made this film. There is no story, no scares, and nothing new to the series. The only part of this film of any value is the variety of clips they used from the previous Howling films. Why on earth they thought they could get away with using a steady-cam with a red filter to portray a werewolf is beyond me.

Only the very well rendered cover/poster art for this film gives it a reason to exist.

If you are a fan of the Howling series or werewolf movies in general, then the first four films are as far as I advise you go. The werewolf film as a genre has little to pick from as far as gems, but New Moon Rising is perhaps the worst ever conceived.