Ah, where to begin? 1981 was a good year for Lycanthropy. John Landis gave us An American Werewolf in London, and, more pertinent to this story, Joe Dante presented The Howling. It was well-liked and became a bit of a classic. There were many sequels, which weren't and didn't. Fast forward thirty years, and here's the trailer for **The Howling: Reborn. It is Twilight.
Many indignities have been heaped on the Howling franchise over the years, not least of which was Howling I****I (aka Stirba Werewolf Bitch in some territories) even though Christopher Lee was in it.* But being reborn as a teen paranormal romance is a new one. Admittedly there's also a bit of a Lost Boys vibe in there, but we suspect it's by way of The Tribe rather than the original.
The plot, as you'll gather, sees high-schooler Landon Liboiron finally getting his hands on girl-of-his-dreams Lindsey Shaw, only to immediately find that he's the victim of a wolf-bite and the target of a pack that's out to kill everyone. Hate when that happens.
The film was shot in Canada last year, and written and directed by newcomer Joe Nimziki. Whether its chances have already been scuppered by MTV's Teen Wolf, which has just been picked up for a second season, remains to be seen. Anchor Bay are releasing it, but thus far they haven't said when.
*Although Joe Hill, author of Heart-Shaped Box and Horns, and son of Stephen King, recently told Empire that he loves Howling II: "It's a gas! They show the shot where Sybil Danning takes off her leather bustier 32 times. I counted!"