The later entries of THE HOWLING franchise have poor reputations, and Umbrella Entertainment's four-disc THE HOWLING COLLECTION DVD set is unlikely to elevate any of them.

HOWLING III: When the National Intelligence Agency picks up Russian communications about a certain "Operation: Lyncanth," the President (Michael Pate, THE MAZE) to bring in anthropologist Dr. Howard Beckmeyer (Barry Otto, BLISS), an expert in "weird shit." Although he has always professed that the footage shot in 1905 by his father – who mysteriously vanished in the Outback – of Aboriginals hunting and executing a werewolf is just a ritual with a woman in a very realistic mask, he does indeed believe in werewolves and that the report of a man killed by a werewolf in Siberia is indeed the subject of the Russian operation and not a code word. Traveling to Australia and meeting up with scientist Professor Sharp (Ralph Cotterill, THE CHAIN REACTION), Beckmeyer tries to find the spot where his father vanished. Meanwhile in an Outback town called Flow, young Jerboa (Imogen Annesley) flees the family-approved attentions of her stepfather Thylo (Max Fairchild, MAD MAX) and winds up in Sydney where she is recruited by young production assistant Donny (Lee Biolos, LES PATTERSON SAVES THE WORLD) to star in horror film SHAPE SHIFTERS PART 8 by pretentiously-Hitchockian director Jack Citron (Frank Thring, BEN HUR). Donny and Jerboa fall in love, but sex (and strobing lights) brings out the animal in her and she comes to the attention of Sharp and Beckmeyer when she runs in front of a car. Upon discovering that she possesses a marsupial pouch and is pregnant, Beckmeyer is thrilled to discover a new species of human while Sharp shares the government's belief that she is a freak of nature and potentially dangerous; especially after three of her sisters track her down by scent and kill anyone that gets in between them and their mission to return her to Thylo. Although he is skeptical of Sharp's intentions, Donny tells Beckmeyer everything he knows about Jerboa (which is very little). Beckmeyer stumbles upon a new lead while he and sharp are watching a rehearsal of a ballet at the Sydney Opera House and defecting Russian diva Olga Gorki (Dagmar Bláhová, THE APPLE GAME) turns into a werewolf on stage. Psychically drawn to mate with Thylo, she escapes from the hospital and is trailed by Beckmeyer and Sharp – along with Donny who has secretly followed them – to Flow. With the army on their heels determined to destroy the werewolves, Beckmeyer may have to commit treason to help Olga, Jerboa, Donny (and their newborn hybrid human/werewolf) find safety with the help of Aboriginal magician Kendi (Burnham Burnham, DARK AGE) and the spirit of the Phantom Wolf.

French expatriate Australian director Philippe Mora's follow-up to wonderfully trashy train-wreck HOWLING II: YOUR SISTER IS A WEREWOLF is the only PG-13 entry in the series, but it is no less excessive in its oddity due to the greater creative freedom Mora was able to exert on the story – reportedly with the approval of novel series author Gary Brandner who was apparently dissatisfied with Joe Dante's take on the first novel and contributed to the script for the second – and its execution. Everything about the film is so ludicrously earnest that it is difficult to take seriously its dramatic elements or its ecological concerns, particularly when there is also a clashing amount of intentional comedy and attempted satire. The effects of Australia's go-to prosthetics man Bob McCarron – whose resume encompasses everything from the likes of DEAD ALIVE, RAZORBACK, and BODY MELT to the likes of THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY, CRUSH, and Jane Campion's THE PIANO – and higher on rubbery appliances than onscreen bloodshed, with the "highlight" being the birth of the cooing werewolf pup that crawls up into Jerboa's pouch. The film was produced by HOWLING II's Robert Pringle (PHANTOMS) and Steven Lane (LAWNMOWER MAN) who teamed up with Edward Simons (EDGE OF SANITY) whose Allied Entertainment would produce the subsequent HOWLING entries along with Mora's oddball take on Whitley Streiber's novel COMMUNION.

HOWLING IV: THE ORIGINAL NIGHTMARE: Marie (Romy Windsor, THE HOUSE OF USHER) is a successful horror writer who is under strain with a looming deadline for her latest book. When she winds up in the hospital after suffering a nervous breakdown during a meeting with publisher Tom (Antony Hamilton, NOCTURNA), her doctor recommends that her husband Richard (DAYS OF OUR LIVES' Michael T. Weiss) get her away from Los Angeles to somewhere too peaceful to stimulate her imagination. He finds a remote cabin outside the small town of Drago, but Marie is quickly unsettled by little thinks like claw marks on the front door, howling in the foggy woods at night, the disappearance of her poodle Pierre, and sightings of a mysterious mute nun. The sheriff (Norman Anstey, SPACE MUTINY) is unfriendly, kindly shopkeepers Mr. and Mrs. Ormstead (ALIEN FROM L.A.'s Denis Smith and Kate Edwards) dismiss her concerns, as does local Dr. Coombes (Dennis Folbigge, KILL AND KILL AGAIN), while predatory artist Eleanor (Lamya Derval, HELLHOLE) wants to sink her teeth into Richard. She finds a confidante in Janice (Susanne Severeid, DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE!), a supposed fan of her works who is actually investigating what happened to her friend Sister Ruth (Megan Kruskal, CITY OF BLOOD) who was found catatonic in the area and ranted about finding the devil in Drago. Richard thinks that Marie is letting her imagination run away with her and that Janice is a bad influence, but the disappearance of a hiking couple (THE STAY AWAKE's Maxine John and KILLER INSTINCT's Greg Latter) and Richard's change in behavior after getting attacked by a wolf one night have Marie certain that her nightmares are about to come true.

Subtitled "The Original Nightmare," HOWLING IV does indeed return to Brandner's original source novel which the Dante film diverted from at the start. Like the Dante film, HOWLING IV does skirt the bad taste of the novel's opening rape/miscarriage motivation to get the heroine to the countryside; however, a lot of what made the novel a nifty little horror paperback of the era drags here, compounded further by clumsy scripting, places where the film draws comparison to the Dante original (Derval is sexy but she's no Elisabeth Brooks), special make-up effects that are conceptually interesting but hampered by the budget, as well as the "nightmare logic" scenario of premonitions and apparitions. The film was produced during the period of the late eighties and early nineties when tax breaks in South Africa made it attractive to shoot there, with producer Harry Alan Towers (99 WOMEN) pairing up with Israeli producer Avi Lerner whose moved to the country in 1969 where he owned a chain of theaters and got into production with Towers and Cannon Films. Director John Hough (THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE) – who was called in to replace the original director, presumably credited second unit director Cedric Sundstrom who had previously helmed the once-banned South African horror film THE SHADOWED MIND, and whose brother Neal would helm HOWLING V: THE REBIRTH – and he tries his best with his trademark wide angle lensing and high angle shots dwarfing terrified characters, but the plot mechanics and the realizations of its horrific elements feel old-fashioned. Windsor, who also appeared in the South Africa-lensed THE HOUSE OF USHER produced by Towers and Menahem Golan's Cannon severance company 21st Century Film Corporation – makes a fetching heroine but she, Severeid, Weiss, and Hamilton are hampered by the production circumstances that required all of the performances to be post-dubbed (the four leads dub themselves while the local supporting cast is dubbed to sound American). The South African locations generally stand in nicely for areas of California apart from a couple locations that have popped up in other films from the period. The film was also features the first appearance of actor/producer Clive Turner who plays a tow truck driver here and also has a small role in the sixth film, but parlayed his bigger role in the fifth film into the vanity project that was the disastrous seventh film THE HOWLING: NEW MOON RISING which also featured a blink and you'll miss it appearance from Windsor. The effects were produced by Steve Johnson (NIGHT OF THE DEMONS) who had worked on HOWLING II: YOUR SISTER IS A WEREWOLF, but supervised on location by Lennie MacDonald (CABIN IN THE WOODS) and Bruce Zahlava (NIGHT OF THE CREEPS). Effects technician Scott Wheeler (THE MANGLER) would subsequently work on the trio of South African-lensed Edgar Allen Poe slashers including the aforementioned THE HOUSE OF USHER, BURIED ALIVE, and MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH.

HOWLING V: THE REBIRTH: A group of tourists who have come to Budapest, Hungary – bubble-headed waitress Marylou (Elizabeth Shé), tennis player Jonathan (Mark Sivertsen, VAMPIRES), glamorous Scandinavian actress Anna (Mary Stavin, OPEN HOUSE), a bookish professor (production designer Nigel Triffitt), British photographer David (Ben Cole, EDGE OF SANITY), journalist Gail (Stephanie Faulkner, DEATH JOURNEY), Aussie yobbo Ray (Clive Turner), ill-tempered doctor Catherine (TWIN PEAKS' Victoria Catlin), and her ex-lover Richard (William Shockley, SHOWGIRLS) – have been handpicked to be the first people in five hundred years to tour a medieval castle. Their tour guide, Count Istvan (Phil Davis, THE BOUNTY), reveals that the castle had been sealed off for five hundred years after persons unknown slaughtered the entire family and their servants. Gail becomes curious when the bus leaves them at the castle and the Count announces that an unexpected blizzard means that they are stranded there for the night. When the Professor goes off exploring on his own and does not come back, the Count warns against the others getting lost as well, but it soon becomes apparent that they are not alone and that they have all been brought to the castle for a reason.

A horror variation of TEN LITTLE INDIANS with werewolves – actually, the impressive-looking beast that appears on the poster never shows up in the film – HOWLING V: THE REBIRTH boasts some great atmospheric Hungarian locations, some cramped but stylish sound stage castle interiors sets, a good lead performance by Davis, and an effective score by The Factory. The problem is that it is never as clever as it believes itself to be: from casual conversation during the setup involving variations on the deceptive nature of first impressions and interpersonal drama as padding, to the groaner of a twist ending (the film actually played much better on late night television with commercial breaks making the film feel less episodic). Performances vary from effective turns by Davis and Stavin, likably earnest ones from bimbo Shé, Cole, and Sivertsen, to various degrees of awfulness from Faulkner, Shockley, Catlin, and Turner. The werewolf is never glimpsed for more than a few frames (despite a still of an awesome werewolf design used in the advertising) apart from a silhouetted full body suit while the gore includes a couple ripped throats and a contrived decapitation, but this entry does offer up more nudity with a bit of hot spa skinny-dipping and a view spied through a two-way mirror of Swedish Miss World 1977 Stavin. The film's greatest asset is the photography of music video cinematographer Arledge Armenaki (DEATH SPA).

HOWLING VI – THE FREAKS: The California town of Canton Bluff is slowly dying, with farmers pulling up stakes and disappearing by the week. The first breath of fresh air it gets is British nomad Ian (Brendan Hughes, TO DIE FOR) who comes into town on foot looking for work. While Sheriff Fuller (Carlos Cervantes, COMMANDO) would like to see him on his way, preacher Dewey (Jared Barclay, WAR OF THE SATELLITES) hires Ian to help restore the town church. His daughter Elizabeth (Michele Matheson, MR. BELVEDERE's dim bulb Angela) takes a liking to Ian who resists her advances. The town's next diversion comes in the form of Harker's Carnival of Oddities showcasing fake freaks – most recently "Alligator Man" Winston (Sean Sullivan, CLASS OF 1999) – that is until the next full moon where geek Bellamy (Antonio Fargas, SHAFT) witnesses Ian turning into a werewolf. Ian is captured by circus owner Harker (Bruce Payne, PASSENGER 57) to be showcased as a genuine freak of nature. Believing Ian to be the devil in human form, he urges Elizabeth to let things be; however, Fuller becomes suspicious of the number of deaths and disappearances in the area. The locals organize a posse to kill the werewolf, but Ian has his own score to settle with Harker.

Regarded as one of the better sequels in the HOWLING franchise, HOWLING VI appears to be more healthily budgeted than the prior two films although still low budget, and the plot – which actually does draw some material from Brandner's novel HOWLING III novel with a young werewolf captured by a carnival – is a bit more diverting and complex compared to the previous two entries; however, it is not as outrageous as the second and third films. While the Steve Johnson (NIGHT OF THE DEMONS) effects for HOWLING IV were rubbery and the creature effects for HOWLING V were almost non-existent, HOWLING VI gives us freaks and werewolves designed by Todd Masters (THE RESURRECTED) with the film's vampire effects farmed out to Johnson. The effects are of a higher technical standard but the werewolf design is a letdown and the vampire make-up is downright odd. The small-town atmosphere and approach to its yokel locals versus the wandering stranger was carried over to HOWLING: NEW MOON RISING to lesser effect. Carol Lynley (THE SHUTTERED ROOM) is given an unfortunate throwaway (literally) role as the town banker. Director Hope Perello got her start as US production coordinator on some of the Italian-lensed eighties Empire Pictures productions for Charles Band before moving up to associate producer in the late eighties and producing PUPPET MASTER for Full Moon Entertainment; and one wonders if the traveling carnival troupe element did not also influence one of Full Moon's other early productions MERIDIAN.

All four of the HOWLING films in the set were released stateside on VHS by International Video Enertainment and successor company Live Home Video, and on laserdisc by Image Entertainment. While HOWLING III was remastered for DVD stateside for Elite Entertainment's 2001 DVD and subsequently in a 4K remaster for Scream Factory's American Blu-ray and Umbrella's Australian one, the other three films made it to DVD in the form of repurposed tape masters: the fourth film from Platinum Disc Corporation, and the fifth and six on double feature DVDs from Live successor Artisan Entertainment and then Shout! Factory-acquired Timeless Media. Umbrella Entertainment has not improved on matters with their four-disc set. The first disc with HOWLING III is a single-layer disc utilizing an NTSC encode of the new 4K master with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. It looks great but all of the extras from the concurrently-released Blu-ray have not been carried over.