THE HOWLING: NEW MOON RISING
(1994)
Directed by Clive Turner
New Line Home Video VHS
THE FILM
Location: Pioneertown, CA. A western
town in the desert. An Australian
gentleman named Ted arrives at Harriet
and Pappy's Pioneertown Palace (a
real place) looking for work. The
members of the town are the members
of the cast. The werewolf comes
in from Central Casting. In between
endless in-joke shenanigans, a priest
and a policeman mull over an extremely
complicated plotline that ties together
The Howling IV and V and
passes by VI. In the end, it doesn't
make that much sense although it
makes enough sense. The werewolf
from V is in Pioneertown and is
trying to frame Ted (who was in
IV and V). Trying to explain the
back-story (which is spread throughout
the film) is the way that madness
lays.
Because, Clive Turner (Writer, Director,
Producer, Supervising Editor, Supervising
Accountant and actor (Ted)) doesn't
care about the werewolf. He cares
about the people in Pioneertown,
especially the folks at the Palace.
And, that's why I love the film.
It's a home movie. It's pointing
the camera at your friends and having
them do that wacky thing they do.
You can show it to friends the next
day and they'll say "Oh, there
he is doing that funny thing."
And, you can watch it in ten years
and say, "Gosh. You remember
when he used to do that thing."
Or "I miss him. Remember that?"
The joy of the home movie. Forever
enshrining friends and family on
film/ tape.
The movie is lathered with all sorts
of gags and jokes that everyone
on screen laughs at (yes, occasionally
it is like a laugh track) and has
a good time being a part of. If
we were good friends with these
people, I'm pretty sure this would
be a perfect snapshot of their lives
at that time. And, of course, they
get to wave guns around and shoot
at a werewolf. So, you get that
extra bit of cool added in.
Of course, this forgets the fact
that this is The Howling
7. It forgets the fact that New
Line's logo is at the start of it.
It leaves out the cop and the priest
and their story. It leaves out the
fact that this is supposed to be
a werewolf movie. And, it's not,
not really. Or, as I said, the director's
heart is more in the Pioneertown
antics than in the werewolf stuff.
In the last half hour, the werewolf
stuff picks up but it never quite
takes off. It feels very pieced
together. There are very confusing
moments when characters have flashbacks
to scenes that occurred within the
timeline of the movie itself but
that we didn't actually see. For
example, Ted is caught by the cop
and the priest and they interrogate
him. But, we don't see the interrogation.
We see flashbacks to the interrogation
as the cop and priest talk about
what they just did, which was interrogating
Ted.
Another example: We learn that the
main reason they grabbed Ted at
this time is because one of the
Pioneertown folks was killed by
the werewolf. They think it's Ted.
However, we find out about the killing
in a flashback. "When they
found Jaro's body..." is a
big "What?" moment in
a film that has about twenty of
them in it. In my mind, here's what
happened...
Clive Turner had a connection to
earlier Howling Films.
So, he pitched 7 to New Line as
"a werewolf in the desert"
with the perfect location. New Line
said "Sure. Make it 90 minutes."
Mr. Turner went to the Palace and
shot lots of footage of his friends.
He also created this intricate story
to link previous Howling films.
When all this was done, the film
was at 60 minutes and he only had
a half hour to include all the present-day
werewolf drama. But, he didn't want
to lose the back-story and he didn't
want to lose the footage of his
friends. So, he took all the scenes
of killing and interrogation and
such from the last third and edited
around it to fit the time slot.
Unfortunately, it means that nothing
much happens (but it's pretty wonderful)
in the first 60 minutes and the
last half hour has 45 minutes worth
of stuff going on it, all confusingly
crammed together.
Suffice it to say, this might be
one of the oddest films you'll ever
watch. But, there's something so
disarmingly charming about all of
it. Maybe, like most home movies,
we need the person who shot it sitting
next to us explaining who is who
and where the jokes come from.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Looks and sounds great. It's shot
on film (although the red-tinted
werewolf attacks look kind of like
video) and the desert locations
look wonderful. It looks so good
that you actually have to focus
on it to realize how nuts it is.
EXTRAS
I wish there was some more Pioneertown
footage. There is nothing.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you want a werewolf film, The
Howling: New Moon Rising will
frustrate you to an astronomical
degree. If you forget that and let
it roll over you, it's a weird,
weird film. Personally, I think
it's wonderful.
Addendum: The movie that this film
most resembles is The
Curse Of The Headless Horseman.
A lot of folks who seem to be friends
go to the desert and hang around.
There are lots of in-jokes that
the average viewer just won't laugh
at. There is a plot but it doesn't
seem to be as important as the recording
of the antics. One hell of a double
feature. Give it a try.
— Dan Budnik, 01.10.08 |
"And I suppose you think God
is on a coffee break?"
Pioneering
Guy talk
15 seconds of fame
|
