It’s been sixteen years since the last installment when “The Howling VIII: Reborn” (2011) finally arrived. From a purely technical standpoint, this is the strongest of the sequels, though I still like the stories and characters better in “VI: The Freaks” (1991), “V: The Rebirth” (1989), and possibly even “IV: The Original Nightmare” (1988)—which, to be fair, suffered from a hurried and uncomfortable conclusion. Moving the story to a high school setting was smart, and the idea of a teenager finding out he’s a werewolf—something that hadn't been done before in this series—is similar to “Teen Wolf” (1985), but without all the fun visuals. You can also see bits and pieces of “The Lost Boys” (1987), “Twilight” (2008), and “An American Werewolf in Paris” (1997). Plus, the main character bears a resemblance to an older Harry Potter during the first part of the movie. Lindsey Shaw does well as the possible love interest, and she looks pretty good in her school uniform. Ivana Milicevic is interesting but also a little frightening as a woman with secrets. The script shows some real effort and has some unexpected observations about what it means to be human and growing up. The music and soundtrack are quite good too, including Gus’s version of “Don’t Fear the Reaper.” They had to cut the budget just before filming started, which explains some of the movie's shortcomings—like a few werewolves that look like gargoyles and the limited locations, which really hold it back. Still, there’s enough good stuff here to suggest checking it out if you enjoy the lower-tier Howling sequels. At least “Reborn” feels distinct from the others and manages to be its own thing. The film has a running time of 1 hour and 28 minutes and was filmed in Quebec, with shots of the Atlanta skyline and establishing shots of Manhattan. GRADE: B/B-

Source on TMDB