Review of Howling VI: The Freaks

So it continues. Another cheap, unrelated straight-to-video b-grade "Howling" effort. Nonetheless something about this sixth instalment makes it a tad better than its predecessors. In a way it doesn't feel much of a werewolf movie, as it takes a good 40 mins to make an appearance and from then on gets little screen time. The main focus centres on a small rural southern community and a travelling freak show passing through where the villainous carnival owner who has his own little secret. It isn't too bad, as the story tries to build a little more background within its quirky characters. What eventuate are small town dramas, with character interactions and developments then the freak show carnival adds another interesting element along with the mysterious drifter. The theme of good vs. evil is the backbone of the freshly plotted narrative. It can be a tad slow in parts and riddled with empathy, but the raw atmosphere is sustained thanks largely to its raw remote setting with colourful distractions and Bruce Payne's dominating, but also unsettling performance as the carnival owner R.B Harker. Brendan Hughes is respectably sympathetic as the wandering drifter with kind intentions, despite trying his best to control the beast within when the full moon appears and Michele Matheson holds innocence as a local girl who falls for him. Director Hope Perello is aiming higher than its limitations allow him to, but he creates some effective thrills and edgy visuals to its old fashion story mechanics. The script is well balanced with its humour and shocks, while there's little shock value its well done by demonstrating a dark, exploitative shade under the facade. The make-up for werewolf looks pretty scrappy (hair, hair every where), but the vampire looks tremendously menacing and surrealistically impressive in its details. You can see where the money went into. I guess the costume for the werewolf was the leftovers. The transformation scenes are solid without showing all that much, as they could only do so much in the execution. An amusingly acceptable addition to the fold.