Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf (1985) Review

"And upon her forehead was written: 'Behold I am the great mother of harlots and all abominations of  the Earth.'"

-Stefan Crosscoe

After the mysterious death of his sister in the previous movie, Ben White (Reb Brown) is approached by a werewolf hunter, Setfan Crosscoe (Christopher Lee), and told the truth about the werewolf world.  They, along with a journalist, Jenny (Annie McEnroe), team up and travel to Transylvania to take down the leader of the werewolves, Stirba (Sybil Danning).

What Works:

I wasn't a big fan of the The Howling, as I mostly found it boring.  That isn't the case here.  Howling II has a ton of problems, which I'll get to, but it isn't boring.  The movie has a manic energy and flies by in the blink of an eye.

Christopher Lee is amazing without even trying.  I read that he was very frustrating with some of his co-stars in this film, but that doesn't stop him from delivering with his incredible screen presence.

The are a handful of really wild kills in this movie.  One involves a man's eyes being blown out of his head in a gush of blood, before he is later tossed out a window and onto some spikes.  Another guy is killed by a demonic bat-creature.  It's some cool stuff.

Finally, the werewolf transformations look great, even if they are on the disgusting side.

What Sucks, But Doesn't Actually.

This movie has a ton of problem, but I have to say, I kinda like the movie more because of all these problems.  It's part of the film's charm.  Like Troll 2, Fateful Findings, and The Room, this is a movie that is so bad it's good.  It's like a puzzle trying to figure out how the hell this movie ended up the way it is.  It's not in the same league as the aforementioned legends, but it's in the same vein.  So everything that sucks about this movie also makes it extremely entertaining.

First off, Reb Brown and Annie McEnroe are just terrible.  Their line deliveries are bizarre and a lot of the actions they take don't make any sense.  They frequently have to act with Christopher Lee and it's just pathetic, but really funny.

The editing is some of the most bats**t insane editing I have ever seen. The transitions between scenes put the wipes from Star Wars to shame.  They have a spiral scene transition at one point.  It's absurd.  There are lots of quick cuts in the middle of scenes to other locations.  Sometimes it makes sense, where we see a quick flashback to someone being killed by a werewolf, but sometimes it has nothing to do with anything and it's baffling.  

There's a point where Ben says he's going to go buy Annie a present and leaves a scene.  The next time we see him he is raiding the werewolves' castle.  It's like they forgot to film a scene.  How did Ben get here and why is he at the castle?

Really, there are so many little things in the film that don't make any sense that I couldn't even begin to describe them all.  Like I said, this film is a puzzle.

There are multiple werewolf sex scenes, one of which contains several actors just covered in fake body hair getting it on.  It's disgusting and hard to watch...but memorable.

Finally, the end credits play over a montage sequence of the events of the film edited in time to the music.  It's a pretty wild way to end the film, especially because it has a shot of Sybil Danning taking off her dress played 17 times in the credits!  Who does that!?

Verdict:

Is Howling II a good movie?  No, but it is very entertaining.  Christopher Lee does a great job and there are some cools kills, but this movie is mostly a bizarre mess.  It's a so bad it's good film and I had a blast trying to figure it out.  If you like bad movies, this is one worth checking out.  It's not boring and it's got plenty of wild and bizarre fun.

 6/10: So Bad It's Good