The Howling: Reborn Blu-ray Review

The video presentation of "The Howling: Reborn" on Blu-ray garners mixed reviews, highlighting both strengths and shortcomings. On the technical front, the HD transfer is visually impressive, delivering excellent fine detail. Textures in facial expressions, clothing, and environmental elements like brick and stone facades are exceptionally well-rendered. The picture showcases remarkable clarity, and colors are vibrant yet balanced, avoiding any unnatural saturation. Black levels are generally solid, maintaining depth without succumbing to crush or washing out to gray. Minimal issues like light banding are noted but do not significantly detract from the overall viewing experience.

However, the transfer also suffers from notable drawbacks. Despite the pristine and clean visuals expected from the digital Red One cameras used for filming, viewers report considerable noise that distracts from the viewing experience. Contrasts are inconsistently managed; foreground objects in dimly lit scenes can appear washed out and gray while properly focused and lit elements retain rich and detailed blacks. Additionally, while edge enhancement and banding issues are minimal, aliasing appears briefly in wide cityscape shots. Some critics even liken certain visual effects to outdated home video footage, further diminishing the overall video quality perception.

In summary, "The Howling: Reborn" on Blu-ray offers a visually engaging experience with high-quality detail and balanced colors but falters due to inconsistent contrast management and noticeable noise, which detracts from its potential as a standout HD transfer.

The audio presentation of "The Howling: Reborn" on Blu-ray offers a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack that aims to deliver an energetic and immersive experience. The soundstage offers well-spaced, clear music with a noticeable surround element, particularly effective in both the score and the included popular music tracks. Bass management is tight, though not overly dominant, providing a satisfactory heft during scenes like the early dance club sequence. The use of ambient sounds such as wolf howls and various sound effects are effectively frightening and contribute to a solid surround sound experience. Center-focused dialogue is generally clear, ensuring vocal clarity.

However, the overall mix has its drawbacks. Certain elements, such as the 'Kick-Ass' style narration, present issues with volume inconsistency, often too quiet and overshadowed by louder musical and sound effect components. This can occasionally lead to dialogue being lost in the mix. Surround and rear channels are under-utilized during much of the film, making the audio experience less dynamic during quieter scenes. Although some action sequences demonstrate good channel utilization, the overall effect is uneven and fails to fully capitalize on the capabilities of a 5.1 setup.

In summary, while the soundtrack of "The Howling: Reborn" provides some highlights with its music clarity and effective use of bass and sound effects, it falls short in consistently delivering a robust and fully immersive audio experience. Dialogue clarity is satisfactory but marred by uneven volume levels, thus delivering an audio presentation that offers moments of brilliance but remains fundamentally flawed in execution.

The Blu-ray release of "The Howling: Reborn" includes a concise but informative selection of extras that enhances the viewer's understanding and appreciation of the film. The commentary track by Writer/Director Joe Nimziki and Actor Lindsey Shaw is an engaging listen, providing insights into the movie's development, script changes, and production challenges. Despite being recorded months before the film's premiere, the commentary remains relevant and cohesive. The making-of feature, though somewhat flawed by out-of-sync audio at times, offers a comprehensive look into the various aspects of the film’s production, from initial script readings to practical effects and sound design. Additionally, a storyboard gallery provides a visual complement to the discussions presented. Collectively, these extras offer substantial depth to fans and first-time viewers alike.

Extras included in this disc:

• Audio Commentary: Writer/Director Joe Nimziki and Actor Lindsey Shaw discuss production insights.
• The Making of The Howling Reborn: A detailed walkthrough of the film’s production process.
• Storyboard Gallery: Visual presentation of film storyboards.

The Howling: Reborn continues the legacy of werewolf films but in a slick, modernized package reminiscent of the Twilight era. The film explores the travails of high school senior Will Kidman (Landon Liboiron), who discovers his werewolf heritage right before graduation. Balancing his emerging powers and newfound romance with Eliana Wynter (Lindsey Shaw), Will faces off against a group of mysterious students and a deadly figure from his past. Despite its predictable script and clichéd plot elements, the direction by Joe Nimziki and strong performances by Liboiron and Shaw elevate the film to a moderately enjoyable viewing experience characterized by decent drama, action, and a visually appealing atmosphere.

Although labeled R for horror violence, minimal sexuality, and drug use, The Howling: Reborn would barely justify a PG-13 rating. The movie features limited werewolf violence, as the first appearance occurs deep into the runtime. The transformation scenes echo those in Spider-Man, combined with a hybrid mythology reminiscent of Blade, resulting in a product suited for teenage audiences. Unfortunately, the film's narrative lacks originality, recycling familiar tropes from genre movies like grungy underground raves and the geeky best friend who assists in navigating werewolf lore.

The technical aspects are polished, featuring solid direction and editing that match the film's atmospheric score. While not groundbreaking or quintessential, The Howling: Reborn is competent and engaging enough to satisfy fans of werewolf or supernatural horror movies. Functioning more as an edgy after-school special than a robust horror film, it ultimately finds comfort in the middle ground, offering a fair but not thrilling take on lycanthropy for a modern audience.

"The Howling: Reborn" presents a mixed bag of experiences that will likely split its audience. As a reboot within the iconic werewolf franchise, the film leans heavily on teen drama tropes, which can detract from the horror elements expected by genre purists. The screenplay suffers from clichés and predictability, yet it manages to deliver an edgy atmosphere bolstered by solid character performances and competent direction. The narrative may not break new creative ground, but it positions itself favorably in the werewolf movie hierarchy, ranking comfortably in the mid-tier.

Visually, the Blu-ray release of "The Howling: Reborn" is a double-edged sword. While ostensibly shot in high definition, the transfer quality fluctuates, featuring moments of sharp clarity marred by inconsistency and occasional laziness in detail presentation. This variability can be distracting for viewers expecting a seamless visual experience. However, the 1080p resolution does provide a visually clean and generally sharp picture that enhances the viewing experience to some extent.

On the audio front, the Anchor Bay Blu-ray features a lossless 5.1 mix that, unfortunately, doesn't significantly surpass standard DVD audio performance. Although passable, it lacks the depth and immersion one might hope for in a modern Blu-ray release. The inclusion of supplementary materials provides added value, rounding out a package that, while not exceptional, is sufficiently comprehensive for fans and collectors.

In conclusion, "The Howling: Reborn" isn't a perfect movie by any means, but it's a well-made and respectable debut film and should earn a spot somewhere about halfway down—or maybe a little higher—in the werewolf movie canon all-time rankings. Despite a clichéd script, the movie yields solid characters, good acting, an edgy atmosphere, and quality direction. Chances are most serious and hardcore werewolf movie fans will enjoy this one to some extent, even if the glossy after-school special façade isn't really to their liking. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of "The Howling: Reborn" yields superb 1080p video, a good lossless soundtrack, and a couple of thorough extras. Recommended.