Ben’s sister Karen has died, and while at her funeral, he meets a mysterious man named Stefan Crosscoe, who tells him a wild story about his sibling being a werewolf. Of course, Ben does not believe him, but he is faced with video evidence and the fact that his sister still seems to be alive in her grave. That does not last long; soon after, now that werewolves are part of his life, he agrees to head to Transylvania with Stefan and a young woman named Jenny to find and kill Stirba, the queen of the werewolves. Stirba is no idiot though, and sets a trap for them leading to a confrontation between werewolves and those who want to kill them.

Christopher Lee makes everything better. He is life’s living antidote to everything. Sadly, his appearance in Howling II could not save this movie from being as poor as it turned out to be. Lee was not as bad as all that. He still carried himself like he was at the height of Hammer Studios, and he seemed like royalty among the commoners, but even his talent, as immense as it is, could not stop the movie from feeling so cheesy. His co-stars, Annie McEnroe and Reb Brown, cannot live up to his shadow, and while you could blame the script for a lot of things, the talent simply was not there to even try to elevate any of the material. On the other hand, Sybil Danning was perfect in her role as the rejuvenated Queen. Beautiful, attractive and even funny, she brought a lot to the role, not to mention stripping herself bare for that very memorable scene, which is always referenced when talking about this movie. It is also somewhat comedic that the writers of this affair could not have come up with a better name than Stirba, though on the one hand, it does sound like it could come from the old world and it does properly age her.

When it comes to horror, there is little despite being a horror movie, despite featuring werewolves and despite having blood and the like within. There are no scares; it is ridiculous at times, and you have to wonder how this film turned out the way it did. The wolves still look decent enough, but the transformations are not as good, and the special effects are not up to par, especially given that the first movie came out nearly five years earlier. Calling to mind that original feature, this second outing should have been an easy go, yet the one thing that should have been the ace in the hole, the werewolves, were as much of a letdown as everything else. There is a scene where a dwarf’s eyes explode, which was quite good, and yet aside from that, almost everything in this film could have used a little extra attention.

From the story to the script, the music, and the direction by Philippe Mora, nearly everything in Howling II could have used a little more thought and care than it got. If there is one thing a person can see in this film, it is promise, as it permeates every frame. The promise of something more lingers throughout the movie; it simply failed to become reality, and what the audience got was a jumbled, campy affair that was funnier and sillier than it should have been, when horror could have, and should have, reigned supreme. The only takeaway is Danning and the scene where she rips her clothes off. As mentioned, it is the only thing that is ever talked about when mention of this film comes up. When the credits roll, the makers of this film know where the money is, and that is why they repeatedly showed that scene with Danning numerous times over. It is not a complete waste of time, but neither is it worthwhile and should be looked at as more of a lost opportunity than anything else.

2.5 out of 5