Howling VI: The Freaks
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| Howling VI: The Freaks | |
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| Directed by | Hope Perello |
| Produced by | Robert Pringle |
| Written by | Kevin Rock |
| Starring | Brendan Hughes Bruce Payne Michele Matheson |
| Music by | Patrick Gleeson |
| Cinematography | Edward Pei |
| Editing by | Adam Wolfe |
| Release date(s) | 1991 |
| Running time | 102 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Howling V: The Rebirth |
| Followed by | Howling: New Moon Rising |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Howling VI: The Freaks is a 1991 horror film that premiered on home video. It was directed by Hope Perello, from the screenplay by Kevin Rock. As with most of The Howling films, it is very loosely based on the novels by Gary Brandner, though it is not a direct adaptation of any of them despite sharing some minor similarities with the third novel "Howling III: Echoes". The film stars Brendan Hughes, Bruce Payne, Michele Matheson, Sean Gregory Sullivan, and Carol Lynley. Artisan Home Entertainment has released this film along with Howling V: The Rebirth as a double feature on DVD.
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[edit] Plot summary
Ian, a likeable but severely solitary drifter takes a job making repairs at the local church in the barren rural town of Canton Bluff. Eschewing human contact, Ian seems unnaturally leery of the impending full moon, a fear shared by a man named R.B. Harker, the owner of a sleazy traveling carnival. Aware that Ian is a genuine werewolf, Harker is able to blackmail the young man into working for his carnival, where he is put on display with other human oddities. To further complicate matters, Harker is revealed to have a monstrous secret of his own; he is a vampire, who sees Ian's condition as a cover for preying on the blood of local folk. Ian joins forces with the other carnival freaks to destroy their evil master.
[edit] Main cast
- Brendan Hughes - Ian
- Michele Matheson - Elizabeth
- Sean Gregory Sullivan - Winston
- Antonio Fargas - Bellamey
- Carol Lynley - Miss Eddington
- Jered Barclay - Dewey
- Bruce Payne - R.B Harker (as Bruce Martyn Payne)
- Gary Cervantes - Sheriff Fuller (as Carlos Cervantes)
- Christopher Morley - Carl/Carlotta
- Deep Roy - Toones
- Randy Pelish - Pruitt
- Ben Kronen - Hank
- John A. Neris - Earl Bartlett
- Al White - Carny Worker
- Jeremy West - Lester
[edit] Reception
The reception for this film was somewhat mediocre at best. Leonard Maltin wrote in his book 2002 Movie & Video Guide that Howling VI is "Intelligentally written, especially for this series, but pretentious with vague Ray Bradburyesque undertones". The DVD & VIDEO GUIDE 2004 noted that " Special effects that leave a lot to be desired diminish this really strange entry in the long-running werewolf series"
A few reviewers, however, gave a warmer reception to Bruce Payne as R.B. Harker: "Bruce Payne is wonderful as Harker. R. B. Harker played by Bruce Payne is the one thing that makes this film watchable. His unrepentantly evil Harker is wonderful, aristocratic, neither over or underplayed. In the traditional style, he sleeps in earth of his native soil, comes out at night and is killed by a stake through the heart. Harker metamorphoses into a pointy eared blue monster hideously deformed reminiscent of the 1922 Nosferatu, with the long talons. He wields power over the freaks, but can charm normal people. Alas, he is not introduced until 20 minutes into the film, and he is never explicitly referred to as a vampire which is a shame, more vampiric activity please!"[1] However, the film is very well regarded by horror fans today.
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