Hello, and welcome to Castle of Horror, the show dedicated to horror movies an awesomeness. This week we have a look at the nineteen eighty nine horror film Howling five The Rebirth. This is episode four hundred and fifty six. Bear in mind if you haven't seen today's movie, we're going to be talking about it from the perspective of horror fans who have seen it, So warning spoilers ahead. From Denver, Colorado, I'm your host, Jason Henderson, publisher at
Castlebridge Media, home of the Castle of Horror anthology. With me from Austin is Tony Sabaggio, lead singer and bassist of the band Deserts of Mars and lead guitarist of the band Rise from Fire. Salo Tony Howdy Howdy, also in Austin. Mister Drew Edwards is the writer creator of the long running underground comic Halloween Man, which you can find at Global Comics. He is a Best Writer Ringo nominee, Austin Chronicle Best of Austin Award winner and a member of the Pen America Fellowship.
Salo Drew, It's hard to play it is it is.
I feel for that girl, and finally, also in Denver color commentary from the one and only Julia Guzman Guzman Immigration of Denvers.
Hello, no, this can't be happening.
Speaking of Julia was a talking head recently on Telemundo, which was so neat? How cool is that our TV? And there's Julia on Telemundo answering questions in Spanish? No less, So she's a talking head in Spanish. I felt, yeah, well sure, but I'm just saying, just to get the complete picture of it. There was your lovely face and your your You've got the firm brand behind you, and you're rattling off Spanish language stuff, answering questions from the anchor.
It was so awesome, It was it was. It was really cool anyway.
So what you're saying is not a bimbo? Very smart.
She was. If she were a character in this movie, she would be the professor, the professor woman who So okay Howling five Rebirth This is a nineteen eighty nine movie that I cannot believe. I did not see this movie directed by Neil Sunstrom from a screenplay by Freddie Rowe and Clive Turner, and it was filmed in Budapest. Even though looking at it and looking at the hotel, I really thought that it might have been filmed on some of the same locations as Transylvania six five thousand. No,
it was filmed in Budapest. This is the fifth Howling movie. I don't know what that means, Drew. You will probably have to explain the Howling series continuity to us, or maybe it's just eight standalone films. Who knows. But before we get into that, because Howling continuity, that context I will want from you, Drew. But to start, you got it. Let's get our opening thoughts. We'll go Tony Julia Drew,
and I'll go so Tony Howling five Rebirth. I don't know if you've ever seen this before, but what are your opening thoughts? Have not?
I think maybe I stopped at Howling three. It's possible maybe I saw four, but I kind of I don't know. It felt like diminishing returns in some ways. And I'm
not disparaging. I love good cheese, you know, and I love good b movies, and everybody's doing the best they can, so you know it just it didn't grab me to get to five, I think, and I think I wanted to, like this more than I did, because I think it's got a lot of really interesting things that it's trying to do and I think they made some cool choices here and there. But it didn't grab me as much
as I might have wanted to. I don't know. It's it's fun to discuss, but as far as rewatchability, I know this is gonna be in my top But I did.
I did.
I mean, I do like I like the setup, and I think the characters that they bring together are interesting and it's a neat it's kind of a neat premise too, And I totally understand why Drew brought it to us, uh, you know, follow up our last movie, because the Werewolf mystery part of it. I mean, it's a perfect double feature for that part, right, Like, I couldn't ask for much more than than Werewolf Mystery double feature. Like this
totally makes sense, but it's not. It's definitely not my favorite Werewolf movie.
Wonderful, Thank you very much, Julia. Did you have a good time with this?
Oh? Yeah, this movie is fun. It's not good, but it is fun. I agree with Tony, there's a lot of potential that was kind of lost. I feel like there were some storyline stuff that I was like, wait, what what's happening with the with the family and why do they all have the mark? And so so what like what's gonna happen with you know? There was like a lot of things where you're just kind of going, wait, how did that baby get saved? And why did they
all kill themselves? There's a lot of stuff like that where you're but then you're like, you know what, repeat yourself. It's just a dumb movie. I should really just relax. It's yeah, it's not h it's not the you know, most intellectual, but it is very very I had a good time. It was entertaining.
It's fantastic, Thank you very much, Drew. I don't have any opening opening thoughts. I'd rather just start with your opening thought and then why don't you segue into explaining the howling howling verse? If there is, and so so give it to us, and also, you know, yeah, why you chose this film, et cetera.
Well as far as the why you know Tony hit the nail on the head, it pairs very well with the bet must die because it's it's another who instead of who done it? It's it's who the werewolf. And so you know, I anytime I watch The Beasts Must Die, I I inevitably go around and I watch this one. This is kind I actually probably have seen this movie more than The beet Smuts Must Die. It's kind of a comfort food movie for me, which isn't to say
that I think it's amazing or anything. I don't. You know, like there's some definitely some flat acting in it, and you know, it's it's got a certain late eighties cheesiness to it. And I understand when you know, people's mile edge may vary. You know, I like that kind of vibe, but you know it might not. But I like that it is essentially, you know, an old dark house movie but with a wolf. You know. I like the Eastern European setting. You know, it gives it a certain atmosphere
that I think is cool. And you know it it's it is, you know, a fun kind of spam and collect you know, spam in a can, collection of characters that are you know, international in nature, which makes it makes it even a little bit more interesting. But yeah, I don't know, I just think this is a fun movie. As far as the Howling franchise go, goes it's one of the better sequels, which isn't saying a whole lot, but the kind of dive into your question really right, Yeah,
which we did the Bonified Classic. Yeah, and and that is a great movie and I don't think anybody too many people would argue against that. But the sequels really, only the second one even attempts to be a true see, like the sense of continuity is pretty loose. They're mostly unrelated werewolf movies. And in fact, you know, when I watched this with Jamie earlier today, she was like, well, I haven't seen any any but the first two Howlings
do I need to have seen Howling three? And I was like, no, no, you don't need you know, Heling three, Heling four, Heling Fight. You know, like they're they're like that, I said, one of them, you know, the third ones in Australia, the second ones or the fourth ones kind of a remake of the first one. And this one is you know, weird late eighties gothic murder mystery thing. And then then the next one you have a freak
show where where wolf fight's a vampire. And then actually the Howling New Moon Rising does attempt continuity because it is a clip show movie. So yeah, and that one's probably the worst one. That or Howling Reborn, which was their attempt to cash in on the popularity of Twilight. So the less said about that the better. But you know, I have a soft spot for this franchise. Really the
only the first one is a particularly good movie. But there's a certain batshit craziness about a lot of the sequels that I find entertaining, even if they're not great movies, you know, and you know, it's it's a franchise that's about were wolves, and I like watching werewolf movies.
So yeah, but information, I think, I think the idea, I mean, I like the idea though, yes, it's nice if sequels have continuity, but I like the idea that they decided to just use it as a framing like, Hey, you guys want to watch a werewolf movie, You're gonna get one.
You're in a Howling movie, You're gonna get a werewolf movie. And you know there's something cool about that, right, Like yeah, like here you go, you're gonna get here's a werewolf movie. You got you want to wear wolf movie this weekend? Well, here's the hell and that's great, I think, I mean, I don't know, in theory at least, that's pretty awesome.
So what sort of like what they tried to do with with Halloween, you know, right, but yeah, but they actually exactly but they actually did it. And you know, I Poween Halloween, Yeah.
Polloween because it's like Halloween.
I mean, and I will say that the overall quality of Howling movies. You know, there's other franchise like you get like which Wichboard and that there's like a kabillion of them and they're they vary wildly. So you know, there's something I don't think you need to defend your love of, you know, this of this being a comfort film, because I think it's for that. It's actually you know, pretty good.
Well, and I you know, it's it's the simplicity of the setup is why it's comforting. It's very it's so funny. Yeah, it's very watchable, you know, it really is. It's a it's a breeze.
So I was laughing from the pretty much, not the beginning, because the beginning's terrible, I mean, like so sad. But but after that, after the the five hundred years ago, people commit suicide and leave a maybe alive that when we meet the lack of a better term, the bimbo character, I'm not a bimbo character, the bimbo by night and the and the tennis player guy, and he's like, I'm a tennis player and she's like, oh, it's nice to have a hobby there.
Actually, you know, there's a lot of that. There's a lot of yeah, that's actually a really I you know, it ebbs and flows, but that scene is actually written really well. Good character like character introduction. Yeah, character introduction.
That was great.
I I hands down, that's probably that's probably one of the best scenes in the movie. Interesting enough, because when you get to characters interacting, they actually do a pretty good job.
I agree about that. And you know, she actually has some good interactions also because she also meets with the she meets the the older quote unquote, although I think the actors.
Are they about the same age.
At the same age. But in the dialogue she keeps saying things like I grew up watching you. You were so wonderful. I can learn so much.
Used to be so beautiful.
But the thing is the character is such a dimwit that you don't get the impression she's actually intending to be insulting. Insulting.
She's well and and and layers upon layers. Maybe she isn't a dim with yeah, because she like she says the she says the line early on in the movie that oh, it's hard to play a bimbo because she's an actress, and she keeps getting played, you know, the jobs playing bimbos because she appears to be a bimbo. And then what we later find out is she's the fucking warbol.
Yeah, that's true.
And the look she gives at the very end is like fully like, oh, you guys thought I was a nitty, but I am actually not at all.
I actually, so what is her?
What is that character's name? Mary Lou Mary Lulu okay so Mary Lou so so Anne. I was born in nineteen fifty seven, Mary Steven and Elizabeth Shay was born in when let's see, isn't that gonna tell me when she was born? That would be satif. Yeah, they're not giving us an age on on the IMDb, but anyway, I'll keep looking.
She she looks the be around the same age.
Yeah, they're not, they're not separated by much. The but I just wanted to say. I love and Tony always makes fun of me because the stuff that I enjoy is so predictable. I love the look of this movie. I love it like there's there's just something about it.
It is so like this. Although the styles of the movie are like embedded like deeply in the eighties, you know, with the big belts and the big shoulders and all that stuff, but the look of it, the film and everything and what the inside of this looks like, it feels very very nineties to me, you know. And I I really loved this. I mean it's a.
Great time capsule of what what a B movie looked like at this point.
In time in nineteen eighty nine, right around there. Yes, you know, because it's you know, it's on film, so it looks nice, you know, but it was apparently a directed video film at the time. I'm shocked that I didn't see it, you know.
And both the the you know, quote unquote older actress and the guy plays Richard like they're they're all of all the styles. Actually, all of the styles are firmly of this era, like the haircuts that look like it is definitely time capsule. I mean, it's done in ninety but it fulfills that like we're still in the eighties when we're filming it, like very like it, and so none of the styles have moved on. We haven't reached that tipping point where now we're into a nineties fashion, right, it's.
Like free, it's it's it's like that look that's like in between hair metal and grunge, you.
Know, it's exactly. It's exactly like.
We haven't we haven't figured out what the nineties are going to be. In the eighties are in the midst of you know, in a way, you know, tying this back into the original Howling, like you know, the original Howling has that same sort of transitional feel to it because it's early early eighties and you know, so it still has that that feel of the seventies to it, and this is late eighties, and so it's like the eighties becoming the nineties, but we don't know what the nineties are yet.
It's I it definitely felt like a time capsule to me. So that was that's I think if you're the listener, I mean, I cannot imagine for all the world that you listened to this conversation without actually having seen Howling five. But if you haven't, you like to listen to these beforehand, you know, to give you then definitely put this movie on. I mean, you can do other stuff, you know, like mag nachos or whatever it is one does with one's time, but this.
Is a great movie to eat.
My point is you don't have to like stare at the film, but definitely put it up there as some because well, it just looks great.
It's the guy plays like the Duke character, and William Shockley plays Richard would definitely like could easily shift into like a Bloodstone movie or or what's the other one with Gillian Stands, Oh, Warlock, Warlock movie like that. You know, they're all all these characters could easily like you could do a hammer thing where they flow into two full moon movies like it all. It all feels like that the other things of the best ways though, you know, in my opinion.
But the other thing that's kind of cool about it is, even though it is this time capsule thing, because the bulk of the action is contained to this castle, it's also kind of timeless. Like you know, like this this story, you could take the same script and you know, the only thing you would really maybe have to add is is cell phones if you wanted to. But you could pretty much do the same script now and have pretty much the same story, which is interesting to me.
No, you're exactly well. And in a sense, this is yet another you said old dark house. It's thinking house on hunted Hills. Since they've all been gathered together for a reason, because because they're all connected, the and and by the way, I'm gonna say this and I when I ask a question of everybody, So the concept is everybody here has been invited to come and check out
this castle that has been reopened. This is kind of a publicity press opening of a castle that is been closed after mysterious violent offenses happened hundreds of years ago. Castle has been reopened, five hundred years ago. Castle has been reopened. And it turns out that not only is
there a werewolf among them who is killing people. And I want to get into some of the cool werewolf effects, but everybody is connected because they all bear this this sort of birthmark that that connects them to the curse of this werewolf.
But well, they're all descendants of the baby that survived this This family basically kill everybody in this family decided to commit a mass suicide and this were wolf bloodline, and they one baby was left alive.
So my my only question is why is Mary Lou? You know spoilers by the way, Mary Lou? But why uh? Why is she killing all of the others? Like why like why is.
She the one that inherited the curse?
I guess, like why is she from nobody else's? So how comes she? There's just the one? There's so many questions. It's not just a question any questions.
I feel like it loses I feel like it kind of drops the whole question in fact of of the tattoo and sticks with the who's the werewolf thing?
Yeah, I mean, isn't it?
Isn't it kind of the same as I mean Drew brought it to us because of you know, the beast must thigh? But isn't the Hey, if we get everybody here, we can figure out who's the wealth and in this I mean.
I guess generally the thought the count who organized all of this that seems to be thought process is that I don't know.
Maybe, I mean, yes, it's not like like Julia, You're not wrong, but I was under the impression that once we once, once we get the twist, we're kind of again, we're kind of ahead of that, but like once we get the twist of like by the way, you're all you all could be cursed. One or one or all of us could be were wolves. But the intent is to end it here, right, Like I've collected everybody who has that mark, and I want to end it now.
And what though, see, the thing is what I don't understand and maybe I'm forgetting something. Five hundred years ago, a bunch of people killed themselves. They left a baby alive, and as the guy was dying, he's like, oh no, we've all died in vain, meaning I guess shit, we forgot to kill the baby. And so the family curse is going to continue? Sure right, yeah, okay, So now five hundre years later, we've got this count who goes, hey, everybody, come check out this awesome castle that we opened up
after five hundre years. But what I mean, who has been getting Did I miss something or did I forget something where some were wolf has been killing people? Like I don't remember that being a story.
Well, I mean they don't.
They talk a lot about were wolves and how like they still blame were wolves for the death's deaths in the area, and that kind.
Of why was she that this girl has not been there as as I can tell you Americans, why would they? Why? Why? Why? Why?
Mouldey, Well, the count is trying. The Count is trying to wipe out the bloodline. He's trying to finish the job that they did back and started back in the Middle Ages.
I would have just loved to have a line of dialogue about something with were wolves that you could later find out she was there for some reason, like, man.
That that was a weird thing in New York that happened that seemed to be like a were wolf. Don't need to I mean there's.
Even there's even the animal that they hit and they dropped that and that exactly.
Run over something. I know, it's well, it's not a great movie.
But it's not. It's not it's not I'm not I'm not trying to defend it more more than than it is.
You know, like once again, why I say it's a nacho movie. You know, it's it's it's cheese.
But you know, because you know, there is a lot of stuff that happens that just is is dropped. But the the sinse I get, at least as far the way that this were Wolf curse works is maybe it's like a buffy situation, like maybe it's like one were wolf per generation. But you know, yeah, you're right, absolutely there should have been a line in there to maybe
clarify it. But I mean this movie is much more interested in exploring this castle and secret tunnels and people walking around with candles and that stuff is kind of what makes me forgive it.
That's fair, that's fair.
Agree with that. Yeah, that once you get into that where they're just all all these people are around and somebody and they immediately start dying. We got this movie wastes no time killing people off.
There's a lot of people they have to kill.
Yeah, Jason's like this is a huge cast and like they got to kill a lot of they gotta have a lot of people to kill.
The little it down to two.
Yeah, that's that's totally true. I love it.
That's the sneak there, like it can sneak like no problem, like nobody's business and where people and.
Like yeah, like the count, the count says or the press whoever was says that the that it has to be the most Yeah, the count. I guess that has to be the most innocent person. And so he immediately decides that it's this guy instead of her, because I guess you can't imagine it's her. Uh and it is because she does, do you know, make the the the blonde the blonde thing work for her? Nobody figures it out.
Now that she mentioned, I wonder if he's more like, well, surely you're you're a virgin loser in his mind. I think that you can't possibly be because she's a bimbo.
I think I think that's the idea.
Oh my god, that's a terrible wow.
What a new stupid detailed sweater wearing loser.
What a what a dig?
And you can't possibly she's not that innocent, you sir, However, I don't know that's quite the assumption.
And dig there.
I love all of these Europeans, by the way. I mean, these guys all look like like they're they're, you know, the bad guys in die Hard, and with their with their their their wang chung hair and there and there dotted ties and everything.
The worst, the worst actor is the best hair. I loved his hair.
I was like, my god, that's really yes, well he's you gotta be talking about Richard right like, but he's a regular like event up on uh doctor Quinn Medicine woman like a long time yeah, like one hundred and twenty episodes. I was looking no kidding, Wow, Yeah, he was a regular. He's also a musician and from Texas Tech.
No less, it could just be that he he did not believe in, uh, what was happening in this.
It's possible also, you know, I'll be fair that they're you know, we've seen a lot of when you watch somebody who's really good in a movie where they're not as good and then you gotta go, I think that director may not be an actor's director or a character director, and that's okay, it can work. But him and this, it's it's it's pretty, it's rough, it's it's a tough watch sometimes, and I because it's not. It's not you know, regardless of what people think, it's not an easy job.
And every every set is different. And I really don't like like cooking fun of people, but man it he has some tough where you're like, I don't know if that's the motion for that, but okay, what I am.
I am not as willing to give him a pass because the woman that's playing the doctor, who has a lot of scenes with him, she's.
Yeah, I'm with you, I'm okay, I got Yeah, that's fair.
You know, like she's she's taking the material and she's doing her her her best with it. So like he phoned it in and you know, whatever.
You have believed in the material.
I'm sure he did.
And there's that movie The Avengers from before, you know, before Marvel Avengers with Uma Thurman and Ray Fine, and if I just saw them in that movie, I would think they were terrible actors. And they're some of the best actress we have. So you can definitely have those movies where you're just like, no, I'm not, I'm not well.
You know.
This is also early on in his career too, because role is creepy in Rebocop. So you know, do what you gotta do, man, make it work. Eventually he gets eventually, he gets into all kinds of stuff.
So the best actor in the movie for me is is Phil Davis, the guy playing the count, because he seems to know exactly what kind of movie I'm with you he's he's got is the he is the right kind of over the top like he he's like walking around. He lets his his his trench coat do some of his acting for him.
You know, I love all the women. All the women are great.
The women all do really good work.
Totally there.
Yeah, but I think the best of them probably is the woman playing the older quote unquote older actress. You know, she looks like she might be at most thirty, well.
In nineteen fifty seven, So what would be the math there? Thirty two? No, yeah, yeah, thirty two, because it's that nineteen eighty nine. Yeah, she's thirty two. She's definitely not older quote unquote Yeah, yeah, older than the girl maybe, but not by much.
I mean you can kind of buy that there is an age difference just in the way that they play.
It, because right exactly, and.
That's yeah, they you know, like the one girl is so wide eyed and naive and the other girl seems the other woman seems so much more worldly. But you know it's it's uh, it's they don't really look that different in age. The other thing I think, well, while we're talking about the cast, that is interesting here the Australian guy, Clive Turner, you know, is is actually heavily involved with the Howling franchise. He is one of the writers. He also shows up in a bit part in in
the previous movie. He screen wrote the two sequels after this, and he was one of the caterers on Howling three of the Marsuper marsupials. So he has a long, long history with this franchise. And when when they do Howling New Moon's New Moon Rising and they attempt to sort of graft everything in to give the series more continuity, this is the guy that they use. They use that rationale of this Australian guy as their through line. So that's kind of funny bit of trivia there.
I did want to bring up though, that uh you know, our quote unquote older actress also uh you know, a known for being an actress of beauty, but also she was in Bond movies. She was in Octopussy and of You Two Kill So and highly highly regarded by Roger Moore if you read if you read Wikipedia, he's you know, says Roger Moore things. But yes, it was kind of
a perfect you know, it's kind of a perfect fit. Like, hey, I am this beautiful actress, let me play a beautiful actress in this like that's that's cool.
She absolutely does look like a like a Bond girl? Are there? Before we get to the ending, which I regard as rather abrupt because I feel like it's just sort of suddenly suddenly done. There's a couple of things
that I wanted to bring to mind. First of all, I kind of love even though all of these characters have just met one another, the movie sort of pretends that they've all become fast friends, so that the so that you know, the ladies are hanging out in their bedroom gossiping about all the guys as though they know all these men and have had time to like draw opinions about this. Yeah, I thought was wonderfully charming. You know, well, I mean, I don't know, Julia, you can tell me.
Maybe no, they know, they did. They seem to have have history with all these people, and I don't know how they could, but I think.
They're just supposed to have just met them and formed opinions about about all these dudes. And I thought that was great. Uh, what about the kills? Anything interesting that that that might be? It might be worth making note of. I have one that I want to throw out, I said, I said, the wolf was like, rambo, I know it's a she, so I try to remember to use the
right proneons. But she. There's one point where one of the characters is outside in the snow and the werewolf leaps from under the snow from the wall in the snow, like out of nowhere to kill this guy.
And it was just like I really thought there might be too because the wolf gets around a lot.
Yes, yeah, well also again, like I said, the one thing that it's the movie so whatever, but it sneaks up on people. It's because they also have this effect of it breathing and stuff, which seems like they're like normally you might use that to build some tension where everybody's like, oh I hear breathing, where's it coming from? But usually it's just like it starts and then it jumps out of shadows snow. I do like that snow kill though, I'm with you, And it slashes everybody's throats.
It doesn't, yes, mall them in like rip them to shreds. Possibly budget, but you know that's interesting.
I think I I you know, having watched this movie probably too many times, I have always thought that maybe what she was planning on doing is killing all these people, and then once you know, now that she snowed in, she can just kind of eat them at her leisure, you know, like she's got like a big store of food to hang out in this castle during the winter.
I mean, but their whole, I mean, there isn't their whole their whole premise is like, hey, she doesn't seem to kill for food, or it doesn't seem to kill for food. It's like doing this against them, you know, Like, I don't know.
How does she get cleaned up so quickly? Like she's never covered in blood, she always has her same clothes.
That's a really good question. I don't have it. I don't have an answer for.
Obviously, obviously she's a strip tease artist, so.
She's maybe has one of those like magic outfits that you could just like like a book row type of outfit that she can take off and put on quick.
Very very possible since she's an expert actress, you know, yeah, yeah, that artist. Yeah.
That being said, I do think the way the werewolf is done in this movie for a low budget movie is kind of cool because they they only show it enough, you know, and they show it enough for you to get a sense of scale. They they obscure a lot of times when it is on screen, it's obscure through things,
so you know, it makes the suit fairly effective. And there is some stuff they do with camera that I think is interesting too, because there's, you know, the one thing that all of the other Howling movies have is a transformation scene. This movie doesn't have that that's on camera. It's an implied one. And there's one in particular that
I I that I love. There is the journalist character who is actually initially initially seems like she's going to be the main character of the movie, is as yeah, yeah,
I I I kind of love it. But there's the scene where presumably Mary Lou walks into her room and she starts talking to her, and they slowly start raising the camera up to because it's a POV shot over of whoever is the werewolf, and they slowly start raising it up to imply that the person who's POV you're seeing it from is changing height, you know, like she's going you know, she's going over yeah, yeah, yeah, she's going from this this you know, diminutive woman to a
seven foot tall werewolf. And that's cool. Like that's cool low budget movie making, you know. Like, so for this movie's faults, there is some cool stuff in here, and that is one of them. Like I really really like that bit, you know. I think it's incredibly clever, an incredibly clever way to imply a change in size when they probably didn't have the budget to actually show it
on screen. And I like that kind of thing. I like seeing movies that work within you know, what they're able to do, instead of you know, maybe you know, you know, overreach and and come up with something that's kind of corny. Look like this movie never it never gets too ambitious, you know, like it always kind of keeps within what is working for it, which is one of the reasons why it's again very watchable.
Yeah, I'm with you, and it's again why I was a little sad that I didn't perhaps enjoy it more. That doesn't mean if I watched it again, I might kind of get a little bit more into it because
it's kind of get into the vibe. But because they do a lot of stuff like that scene, you're right, And I was also struck by the way that they reveal like they're really smart about the way they handle the werewolf and you know when you see things in the parts where they're they're in blackness and they kind of, you know, shift, it comes out of the darkness and that stuff, and like all those all those kills are actually really cool and they do a really good job.
I think that my main faults are kind of the cyclical nature, like we go back to the cave and we go out and then we come back, and it felt it felt like we were kind of treading on the same stuff the way that and the way people discover some of the bodies, Like you see that same kind of shocking, like it recurred. It's recurring enough you can only do that so many times before it kind of loses some of the impact.
I like that that the people are going off just shooting their guns wherever, and they accidentally kill one like each other. I mean, like somebody kills.
Oh yeah, yeah. I mean it's like, you know, it's super.
Responsible because it's like, exactly, if you're just shooting wherever, you're gonna kill your more of your own people.
Although it does beg the question that if the Count is part of the secret werewolf hunting society, why were they not better prepared and have more. It's like him a butler and a maid, and they think that there is going to be a werewolf in this castle. Like, why did instead of having an old guy and a maid, why not have like commandos pretending to be you know, staff that are like armed to the teeth with silver bullets, just.
Saying gues that those are his trusted people. Also, maybe since he account maybe Hubris, he was trying to I mean, he was trying to keep it, you know. The other part is it's implied he's trying to keep it contained. So bring this commandos into it might break that containment, if you will, like the main.
I like, but yeah, I like your idea that it's it's it's the the the arrogance of the aristocracy. I'm going to just go with that.
It kind of feels that, I mean, it kind of feels that way. And also like those are two people who have been there forever. So he like his whole his whole thing is to bring this bloodline together, and
so you want as few people as possible. Uh And and I think, you know, bringing the commando thing would be a not something like I could take care of this for I am the aristocracy and then by that's another factor that you have to deal with and explain eventually possibly if your intent is to kill everyone else, like like maybe maybe you can't like, hey, I want you to be bodyguards. Hey, I'll say, but can you kill everybody but me?
And then maybe kill.
Me because I'm the last of the blood lines? I mean, because if he really wants to get rid of the bloodline, he has to be assured that and kill himself, right, Like that's a possibility. So that's that's my no prize version of this. Anyway, I can go with all that.
I actually like that a lot because it's like the terminator chip. There's one more chip, cry all right, I do, so we should we should wrap up the The ending reveal is only because there's only two people left and we find out we find out who it is. But it feels like so tony. I was trying to figure out why it felt so abrupt, and I think the reason is because of that visually, I mean also in the story, but visually it feels like we're just treading
the same ground and then it comes to an end. Yeah, I mean, well, if you're taking one of these these practical sets, like the like the tunnel set or whatever it is, and held it for the last half hour. Then you would feel physically like you'd moved into a new section of the movie.
In a more actiony movie, they would have had you running through the tunnels from the Werewolf for the last for the third act, right right, everybody's trying to escape for some reason with a plan, probably.
Something new that you're trying to do.
But here we go, We go into the tunnels, and kills happen, they come back. And also, since since they are trying to be smart about it, we get a lot of offscreen kills and then people stumbling over bodies, yeah, and accidentally, and then we have an accidental shooting, but then we also have an accidental spear stabbing. Yeah, And so you're that's I think at the reason, it feels like the ramp up, we just kind of people get rid of people, and then we kind of just keep
coming across the bodies. And it's to me, it was harder. It felt like there wasn't as much established stakes, you know. Yeah, like it like people just kind of get lopped off and we have to and it feels like, well we have to because we have to end up with two people. You know, there's oh there's a body down there. Oh I stumbled across, and we're back to the you know, and even like we're the ending, does it is it? I remember correctly, is the ending in the catacombs or not?
No, it's in like uh like they have Yeah, that's what I thought.
So like again, we go to the catacombs and then we're back and.
No, it's not in the catacombs. It's in a it's like on a balcony.
No, I That's what I'm saying. Like the back and forth and the kind of the way the way that it plays out feels it's neat that they're willing to tread places. But we watched as a whole. It feels more scattershot to me personally than than I would have expected. And that's not to say that, you know, you have to you have to have this third act kind of you know, traditional narrative by any stretch like that's that's definitely that gets boring as well.
Well.
Just the way it goes back and forth. I'm kind of it just some of the steaks didn't feel as high to me, and I wanted I wanted to, like this so much more like because there's so many like really interesting bits.
The low stakesness and abruptness of the ending to me kind of feel in line with this sort of old fashioned nature of the script.
Like that's fair. Yeah, I am.
Like it's like once they reveal who the were wolf actually is, the movie's over, you know, and sure, yeah, you know that's that's and I'm okay with it.
I'm fine with that. It's just the lead up to it just kind of it just sort of happens. But again, we you know, we watch a lot of b movies, a lot of European movies that have similar like and and some and some of those French films we watched, like there's almost it's just very dream like the whole way through. So well, yeah, I don't think we should behold and be beholden to this, like I said, the traditional third act that has action and stuff.
Like this, but that genre rollan picture that we watched. I love it from beginning to end, but I cannot I cannot describe to what happens in it, like and.
That happened that like again, we you know, there's there's tons of there's there's tons of ways to do this, and I'm not saying that it's necessarily bad, and I agree with you, Drew, there's a there's a certain I think they were going for a certain way that a lot of mystery movies and horror movies, like there's an old schooled kind of nature to it and old that that it is in line with. And I think that that is definitely where they're going. I think you nailed it.
Yeah, uh, all right, let's get our final thoughts.
Oh, by the way, I like we said the actress who's playing you know, kind of a bimbo and like, oh like the you know, she really does shine when they tell her like I want you to give us your best evil look?
Yes, no, shoot, like.
They like nails it, perfect way to go. All the women are totally solid in this movie. Like that, you know, that's a good that's a good closing look like it's effected. Works.
It was Michael Jackson.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah that works. Yeah yeah, absolutely, but uh, you know, wrapping it up that way, everybody everybody was on on point on that totally.
Okay, Tony, you're actually the first final thoughts. So if you have anything to add to that to go for it and come around again for endorsements.
I liked that we watched this. I hadn't seen it just because it you know, it's hard to tell that era was Also, there were so many sequels coming out, and there's so much you know, do you watch again, like any any number of like Full Moon was cranking
out sequel after sequel of varying degrees of quality. Uh, you know, crossovers, and so by the time, like I said, I may have seen four, I was like, I don't know, and so and you know, but if you have that, that goes to show if you have that attitude, you may miss a jim because every director is bringing every act director in cast is bringing something new. So maybe maybe I'm wrong in that thinking. Sometimes I still wanted to like it more than I actually did. But it
is a perfect follow up to uh Beast Musty. You know, more monster you know, more monster movies. I mean, you could do you could do the same, You could do a similar thing if you wanted to, were like, who created the Frankenstein monster in this castle? And is it sneaking around and clump and you know, choking people out, and like you could you could do something like that, like who is the one who brought it to life? And why if you want you could do you can
do it? And who's the vampire, who's the you know, perhaps maybe not who's the gill man because that's gonna seem pretty obvious. But if you made it, you know, when they touch water mermaid kind of thing, so, uh, you know, monsters and and mystery, there's a lot of room for that, So I do dig on that. Yeah, I'm glad, I'm glad we watched it overall.
Yeah, it's cool, wonderful, Thank you very much, Julia, what about you?
Yeah? Same. I think it's the perfect double feature with the beastmas Eye and you know, it's just super entertaining. Actually, I think it's more memorable than a lot of the better quote unquote movies that we've seen. I think there's a lot of really memorable parts to it. And like I said, I think the performances, especially of the women, a few of the men were super solid, especially our
our werewolf Bimbo. I hate to keep calling her that, but it's it is what she kind of introduced herself as, Like I keep getting catt and bimbos are in.
Didn't you didn't you?
Didn't you hear?
So you know, but yeah, I enjoyed it. So I also I am glad that was our movie of the week.
Wonderful. Thank you, Drew, what about you?
I do think that this is ahead in Jim do. I I don't think it's a perfect movie or amazing filmmaking, but I think it's it. It hits above its weight class and it's incredibly entertaining, which is again it's it's usually especially around winter time, it's usually a movie I throw on and it's just and and for my part, I watched this movie twice this week and I was thoroughly engrossed both times because I just I don't know,
I find it to be a fine movie. And you know, thank you for indulging me on watching this incredibly silly werewolf movie, because this was this was a balm for my soul tonight because I needed this. So I really appreciate everybody taking their time to talk about the the fifth Howling.
Movie with me.
You know, I like your I like your Winter. It's got lots of fireplaces and snow, so that's right, Yeah, totally makes sense. Like I'm like, oh, yeah, there you go, that's that. That works that works. Well, I that solidifies it.
Man, wonderful, thank you, thank you, Drew, really neat experience. I'm so glad we watched this. I it was a directive video film, so even in nineteen eighty nine, it's not like this would have been playing at the at the AMC or anything. But I wish I could have seen this on a big screen, not because it's just amazing, but because I would love to just sort of luxuriate in the in in in the color and the flickering
torches and all. This is an ideal kind of movie to watch, to watch in a darkened movie theater and so you know, but but really great on the TV screens that we have now.
So another that's another. If I had scree McDuck money, like just make a theater and you just show everything, like just you know, at that point, do you work much? I mean, I'm we might have shown this, but yes, but but as a as a you have to get rights and stuff like that, you have to pay people.
But imagine imagine a theater as if it was your own personal plex uh store, like plex account and you just go all right, anybody shows up, like you might catch Howling five you might catch picture of Little China, you might catch a kunk Fu movie, you might catch a thriller or a documentary, and you just that would be one of the goals. And this is probably also why I'm not a billionaire. It's because I would be ridiculous,
like how much does that cost? Who cares? That's the kind of stuff I would do, if you could imagine.
But most of the billionaires we have are about that responsible, if not less.
Well, yeah, but I think this is a net benefit for weirdo.
Better go ahead. Yeah, you don't have to be Batman.
You can just have theater like you know, the random random o theater and people come in and this.
This film is a little too new and and and easily traceable. But I've always kind of wanted to have a cafe with large screens on the walls that did nothing but show public domain horror all the time, Like.
That was as always he has been talking about that for thirty five years.
Yes, it's true.
I think I think we merged these things with our screen and the cafe in the front. Is that yeah, yeah.
Any time that, Yeah, Devil's Wedding Night could just be playing on the wall, you know, like, yeah, absolutely.
Sounds like a great name for a cafe that does this.
Man, You're right, Holy mackerel.
You bring that up and I'm like, that's the name of the thing.
My cockrel. I love that word. That's hilarious.
That's a good word too. We're discovering a lot of things.
It sounds like a very curious Irish name, like Internet, like an play Mary Catherine mcacrel.
Happens.
It happens to be a secret fish woman.
All right. Endorsements. This is where we tell the world what we've been watching or listening to. And it is that they partaken. I are good friends at the Monster movie Happy Hour. Uh stipulate that it must be genre related, but we have never had such discipline, So you can it can be about whatever you like. So Tony, starting with you, what do you have for us this week?
I did go to two concerts this week. It was sought by Southwest and sadly, you know, what started as a music festival is no longer strictly a music festival, and for better or worse, so all the off off by Southwest things have been better. So I went to an all day one called Stoner jam My producer on our Last Visits of Mars album. Actually, the last three albums I worked on, Ryse from Fire and Returned from the Void and the newest Dead Planet Exodus were done
by Jeff Henson. He has a new band called We've Become Monsters. It was his debut of that band, and that was really cool. It was an all day. There were so many good bands, Weird bluemout of Italy. I talked about talk to them about Italy. I mean there were so many there's there's tons of bands.
There that day.
But that was really cool. And then there's a new bar here in town called the Crowbar Co run by the lead Aaron. It wasn't another there was a Crowbar that burned down, which is unfortunate. But Erin has since Aaron a Scorpion Child, which I think I had talked about Scorpion Child's new album had and they debuted the album this past week, and Boy talked like see them
live on the like if you get a chance. Like Scorpion Child made a you know, pretty big splash in at least our genre at the time, and like pretty you know, did a bunch of stuff in Europe and all over. But Boy did they have a full sound, so I'm gonna get endorse the Scorpion Child album. I've also been really enjoying the new kineky Man Muscleman season two. As far as Animal and Daredevil. The new Daredevil series is really just I just caught a chunk of episode four,
and there's some really great stuff going on. I've been really happy with that. Oh. On a strange nostalgia trip, I watched a movie I hadn't seen in forever, The Park Is Mine, which was on Cable a decent amount and while not a perfect movie, was a pretty amazing Another time capsule movie is I It's eighty six. Tommy Lee Jones takes over Central Park. It's eighty five eighty six, you know, And I was just thinking about the number.
I think we talked about it a bunch, the number of vets coming back from Vietnam and then sometimes you know, Korea depending on how old they are, but Vietnam definitely, and kind of the treatment of vets and and all this stuff. I had this, like, you know what, I haven't seen The Park is Mine forever, and it's an interesting it's it's kind of it's it's a pretty interesting movie. There's a you know, pretty pretty awesome cast and not a perfect movie. That would be one that would make
a really good remake. But if you haven't seen a while, I think I caught it. I think I caught it on an Amazon I can't remember, but I just had. I just remembered it be on a cable off and on and was like, you know what, I'm gonna watch this movie I haven't seen a while. The whole idea is Tommy the Jenes takes over Central Park to raise the awareness of how the veterans are treated cool, which is, you know, not that's not definitely not great. He you know,
he has a friend, he's a vet. He's like, hey, man, do this for me, take over Central Park. And of course a bunch of people think that that's probably not like it's it's it's worth it's worth checking I I think it's worth checking out, even though it's it's definitely not you know, Whatt's and all kind of movie.
No.
I love anything that is severely dated that is about the time, you know, people say, oh that movies, I want more dated. I want movies that are like marked by the time they're in so that you can point at it, so it's palpable. So that sounds great choice.
Tommy Lee Jones, of course, you know great.
Who was also in Rolling Thunder, which is about a very similar topic, Tommy Lee. We're talking about Tommy ly Jones as if those are the only but yeah, right, anyway, that.
Was my you know, kind of random. That's my random assortment. I think fantastically. What do you have for us? And I know you watched an entire Netflix series last night?
Yeah, I have my my two Netflix. Netflix is knocking out of the park this this month. Adolescence is not the one I watched last night, but it's many limited series Netflix has that is about a kid, a thirteen year old who's accused of murdering a classmate, and it follows the family and we's grand But what's amazing is it's super well acted. This kid is amazing and the parents everybody. But also each episode is shot sing in h what is it continuously like there's no cuts. They
don't even have hidden cuts. They just do the whole episode with one and they then we've watched it behind the scenes thing on YouTube. It's amazing they do like they did each week they filmed one of the episodes and they shot it. They basically did two takes each day for five days, so it's like there's ten takes of this one hour episode. It's crazy. It's like basically it's like a play, except that it's it's not contained. It's all they're they're in the car, they're in different
build things. They even at one point attached the camera to a drone so that they get a drone shot. But like they show on the Netflix, I mean on the YouTube thing when they attack, it's like, it's crazy, but that's not like you kind of at first are like, is this all one take? Like it's kind of but also the performances are amazing everything, so it's really really good.
And then last night I took in the entire six episode yesterday, I should say it was kind of playing all day as I was working the entire six episodes of Zero Day during Robert de Niro, But it's it's quite a cast in that in that one, and that's really cool kind of thriller where he's the former president and then he's charged to become it becomes the the head of this commission to figure out what happened with this uh, this cyber attack. So anyway, it's really good
to really thrilling. So yeah, both great too. I was like Netflix man knocking out of the Park.
Oh that's cool, Thank you, Drew. Do you have any recommendations for us? Yeah?
So well, I have had a lot of doses of high strangeness in my entertainment lately via the married couple of Greg and Dana Newkirk. Who are They are a charming married couple that also involves themselves in paranormal investigation. I first encountered them through their podcast that it was recommended to me on Spotify. It's called The Haunted Objects Plotted Cast, and it's exactly what it sounds like. They they analyze quite humorously the history of a alleged allegedly
haunted object. And yeah, and the the subjects are as wide as the Bermuda Triangle to They actually just put out an episode on and God blinking and blinking on their name, The the the the couple that the the Conjuring movies. Oh yeah, what what is their name?
Uh? I actually can't remember, but but I know I know.
The Warrens. The Warrens. They did a whole episode The Warrens. They did a whole episode on the Warrens, which was really interesting. They also have two seasons of a TV show called Hellier, which is dealing with a particular uh I guess cryptozoology legend of the Kentucky Goblins, which is
also really interesting. And I honestly, I just I find them as a couple fascinating how they've They've I really enjoy watching self actualized, self actualized people where you know, like the these these two have taken their interest and they've made their whole life about it.
It's awesome, and.
You know, they they found a way to make their
career about it, and I so like, that's fascinating. But then and then in of themselves, they're very charming in the way that they approach the material because it's you know, a lot of I love watching stuff about the paranormal, but a lot of it is very extremely serious in tone, whereas they very clearly have a sense of humor, Like they're they're not completely you know, irreverent to the subject, but they do it with enough humor that it just makes it more relatable to me.
I did watch bust Up. Other than that, I've been sort of heads down the Marilyn row movie Yes, which I which I loved, although somebody somebody asked me, I've never seen it. Should I see it? And I said, uh, you should see it as though you were watching it in a lecture hall. It's I said, you know, it's interesting, the performances are interesting, but it's uh, it's unforgivable, even in nineteen fifty six, like Consent is a foreign country
to these people. There's no there's there's you know people who are always saying, hey, there's screening bus stop on TCM. Got to check that out. There's never any notion that Marilyn Monroe's character is treated like a woman with this guy sets out to kidnap her and is eventually rewarded for kidnapping her. There's a million ways around it that we could say, well, you know they grow blah blah blah blah blah. It's but it it's it's a very very old fashioned in all the wrong ways kind of movie,
but good and you should see it. But it's it is. It is only understandable if you watch it as.
As an artifact of its time.
They keep we keep showing our kids stuff that we liked and realizing how terribly, how terribly it holds up. You know, you just think about like all these old tings, you like, I loved this movie, you know, I love I love sixteen Candles, I love Airplane or whatever, and then you're just like, oh our.
Mom and dad okay, yeah, yeah, exactly is it that?
Like?
Oh now I see set Okay, yeah, now.
I forgot how rape this was? Yikes? Yeah, wish so strange.
Well, this has been a lot of fun, and I encourage the listeners to come to the Facebook page and engage in all of these conversations with us. It's it's and will definitely be back very soon with whatever the heck is next. I have. I have no idea, so thank you all. Thank you everybody, and uh and everybody be kind to one another, right Audios night