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

Movie Info

Ok…let’s settle in for a nice movie about werewolves…or magicians?

Karen White has been killed, and her brother Ben White (Reb Brown) still has questions. When Ben and a fellow reporter named Jenny Templeton (Annie McEnroe) are approached by a man named Stefan Crosscoe (Christopher Lee) at Karen’s funeral, Ben and Jenny learn that Stefan believes werewolves are involved in Karen’s death. Stefan must convince Ben and Jenny that he’s telling the truth, but he finds a trip to Transylvania to confront his old enemy Stirba (Sybil Danning) could be even more difficult.

Directed by Philippe Mora, Howling II: …Your Sister Is a Werewolf also goes by the title Howling II and Howling II: Stirba—Werewolf Bitch. A sequel to The Howling from 1981, the story is cowritten by Gary Brandner who originally created The Howling. It was released to negative reviews.

I really liked The Howling. It modernized the werewolf movie and did it with fun and scares. Howling II feels like a betrayal of the spirit of the first film and is a miserable film to watch.

…uh…ok

The Howling was creative with its story and played with the stereotypes of werewolves and the myths surrounding them. While Howling II still plays as a comedy, the movie largely comes off as funny due to the poor plotting. The decision to largely have the threat be magical takes away from the werewolves and it becomes a weird wizards and warriors type of story with bat creatures and mystic flames…which isn’t why you watch a werewolf movie.

The cast is also awful. Christopher Lee keeps his horror roots by playing the over-the-top dramatic Stefan who is almost infallible in his actions (he doesn’t feel like he’s ever in danger). Reb Brown is shiny, and plastic and Annie McEnroe is also rather generic as the female lead. Schlock horror star Sybil Danning eats up her scenes as Stirba, but the plot is so poor that she doesn’t have much to eat. I also do like Marsha Hunt as a werewolf, but like Danning, she’s trapped in a bad script that keeps her from a nice breakout like Elisabeth Brooks in the original Howling.

What I’ve demanded for a werewolf movie…less werewolves and more magic?

The film also goes back on the great werewolves of the first film. The Howling was really innovative with bladder special effects and one of the best on-camera transformation scenes in a werewolf movie (second to An American Werewolf in London). In Howling II, you barely see the werewolves and don’t really get any transformation scenes (though you do get some weird werewolf transformation sex).

Howling II is a real disappointment. It is flat, lifeless movie with little werewolves and a dull plot. It was going to be hard to follow up The Howling, but Howling II fell so hard that it was even a bigger shock. It is the only true sequel to The Howling with the other sequels being unrelated stories, but you’re better off watching some of the later sequels which at least involved more werewolves. Howling II: …Your Sister Is a Werewolf is followed by Howling III: The Marsupials in 1987.

Related Links:

The Howling (1980)

Howling III:  The Marsupials (1987)

Howling IV:  The Original Nightmare (1998)