Howling VI: The Freaks (1991)

Plot Outline: Ian Richards is a drifter who arrives in a small town and takes up residence with the local preacher and his nubile daughter. His arrival coincides with the arrival of a carnival and freak show. It turns out that the owner of the freak show is actually a vampire and he placed a curse on Richards' family years ago. Whenever there is a full moon, Richards turns into a werewolf. Harker, the carnival ringmaster, decides to enslave him in his freak show but Richards doesn't want to do it.

The Review: This makes a real change to the series. Having viewed some of the previous instalments (***shudders***), I was expecting this to be the worst film ever. But what we get is a far cry from the other sequels. This isn't simply a rehash of the same tired plot about someone uncovering a group of werewolves living together. It's got new ideas and for the most part, they work. The characters are given priority in this one. They are allowed to develop so that we sympathise or hate them (Winston, the alligator boy, is very easy to sympathise and feel sorry for). Bruce Payne steals the show as Harker, the freak show master. For a start he looks downright creepy and has a very eerie voice (British bad guys are the best). Some of his lines were delivered excellently and he makes a great villain. There isn't much else to write about with the cast, the only notable thing being that Michele Matheson is very fit and very eager to shed her clothes as the nubile young daughter a little too willing to get into Richards' bed. She doesn't though so I'll take off a couple of stars for that. Hell if all chicks were as eager to get laid, send them my way. But when we get to the special effects, you can see why the characters were given so much time. The transformation scenes are very watered down and some of the make-up doesn't look great. This is particularly evident in the final battle between the vampire and werewolf. It's actually the finale that really spoils the film. The film was quite interesting for the most but it really gets bogged down in the final third. It seemed as though they ran out of ideas and decided to let the special effects do the talking. That was the trap that the previous sequels fell into and look how bad they turned out.

Final Verdict: On it's own, it would be a little gem of a horror film but it's credibility is completely destroyed with Howling in the title. Worth a look, even for people who hate the Howling sequels.

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