Howling VI: The Freaks

A young girl runs through the woods being chased by a creature which corners and kills her, leaving nothing behind but the teddy bear she was holding. Later, a young man named Ian Richards (Brendan Hughes) is walking along a desert road holding a satchel and the teddy bear. He finds himself in the town of Canton Bluff, where he befriends the local church owner Dewey and gets a job helping him to repair the church. Whilst living with Dewey (Jered Barclay), Ian meets Dewey's daughter Elizabeth (Michele Matheson). A few weeks later after the repairs are done, Ian and Elizabeth go to the fair and Ian wins her a teddy bear, similar to the one we see at the beginning of the film. Soon after, they encounter R.B. Harker (Bruce Payne), owner of the local circus, and Winston (Sean Gregory Sullivan), who goes by the stage name of 'alligator boy'. Harker behaves suspiciously around them both and, feeling nervous, Ian and Elizabeth leave the circus and return home. The next day is the full moon and Ian plans to leave town before it appears, but whilst waiting for Elizabeth so he can say goodbye, he falls asleep in his bedroom. Later that night, Ian awakens to find it is too late and he immediately begins to transform into a werewolf and then jumps out the window of the bedroom. Harker's assistant Bellamey (Antonio Fargas), who was sent to spy on Ian, sees the werewolf walking away from the church and returns to the circus to inform Harker. When Ian returns back to the church later that night in human form, Harker captures Ian and reveals to Dewey and Elizabeth that Ian is a werewolf by forcing Ian to transform again by using a crystal he wears around his neck and reciting an ancient spell.

Ian wakes the next day to find he has been caged by Harker at the circus. Harker then tells Ian he killed Elizabeth the night before, leaving Ian distraught. Meanwhile, Dewey and Elizabeth, revealed to be totally fine, argue over if Ian is the devil's work. The local sheriff, Fuller (Gary Cervantes), visits Ian, but Ian refuses to leave, believing he is better off caged in case he hurts anyone else. Fuller reveals that Elizabeth is actually alive and well and Ian still decides to stay in the cage to protect everyone. Harker then adds Ian in his circus show as a dangerous werewolf with an uncontrollable urge for human blood along with the other 'freaks'; Bellamey, Winston, Toones (Deep Roy), and Toones's lover Carl/Carlotta (Christopher Morley). Harker forces Ian to transform again, using the crystal and the spell. Once Ian has transformed, Harker throws a cat towards him, expecting Ian to kill it, but instead Ian holds the cat briefly and then sees Winston in the crowd and throws the cat to him for safety. Harker is annoyed and immediately cancels the show. Dewey and Fuller are in the audience also and are conflicted over what they have witnessed.

Later that evening after the circus has closed, Sheriff Fuller believes there is something suspicious happening with the circus and investigates. He finds evidence Harker is up to no good and goes to arrest him, but Harker reveals he himself is a vampire and chases and kills Fuller. His corpse is found the next morning and the townspeople believe Ian was responsible. Meanwhile, Ian escapes the circus and runs away with Elizabeth. That night, Ian reveals to Elizabeth that it was actually Harker who killed his family and placed the werewolf curse on him. After Ian and Elizabeth make love, Ian leaves Elizabeth to confront Harker once and for all. He returns to the circus and enters Harker's RV, but finds no-one. As Ian opens the door to leave, he finds he is surrounded by Harker and the local townspeople, all armed with guns. Harker orders them to shoot Ian, but they refuse, seeing just a man and not a monster standing in front of them. Fed up, Harker transforms into his vampire self and the townspeople attach him with their guns, but they have no effect. As the townspeople flee, Ian runs deeper into the circus and Harker pursues him. Elizabeth has awakened and goes to the circus to look for Ian and is attacked by Toones. He drops his gun and in a struggle with Elizabeth, she picks it up and shoots him. Carol/Carlotta witnesses this and attacks Elizabeth, but gets shot and killed by an arrow fired by Dewey, who reveals he has followed Elizabeth to the circus. Ian and Harker then face off, with Harker easily overpowering Ian. During their fight, Harker drops his crystal and Winston grabs it and runs off. As Harker continues to attack Ian, Winston stands close by and uses the crystal and the spell to help Ian transform and gain the upper hand on Harker. Seeing Winston help Ian, Harker mortally wounds Winston by biting him in the neck. Ian rushes to assist Winston but, in the scuffle, also ends up biting Winston in the neck. Ian eventually is able to stab Harker in the heart and whilst he writhes in pain on the ground, Ian jumps up and rips the tent to allow the dawn sun through to shine on Harker, which kills him. Ian returns to his human form and looks at the pile of dust that was Harker. Ian then lifts the injured Winston and walks out of the circus towards the countryside, whilst Dewey and Elizabeth remain behind and watch them leave.

• Brendan Hughes as Ian Richards
• Michele Matheson as Elizabeth
• Sean Gregory Sullivan as Winston
• Antonio Fargas as Bellamey
• Carol Lynley as Miss Anna Eddington
• Jered Barclay as Dewey
• Bruce Payne as R.B. Harker (as Bruce Martyn Payne)
• Gary Cervantes as Sheriff Fuller (as Carlos Cervantes)
• Christopher Morley as Carl/Carlotta
• Deep Roy as Toones
• Randy Pelish as Pruitt
• Ben Kronen as Hank
• John A. Neris as Earl Bartlett
• Al White as Carny Worker
• Jeremy West as Lester
• Christian Roerig as Werewolf

The reception for this film was somewhat mediocre at best. Leonard Maltin wrote in his book 2015 Movie & Video Guide that Howling VI is "intelligently written, especially for this series, but pretentious with vague Ray Bradburyesque undertones".[1] 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".[2] The film critic Wheeler Winston Dixon stated that the film 'presents an interesting series of premises' and was a 'neatly original entry in the long running series'.[3] He also stated that Bruce Payne gave a "delicious" performance as Harker and that, in his vampiric state, he looked 'somewhat like Max Schreck in Murnau's Nosferatu, but in his humanoid state he exudes nothing but charm'.[3] Kim Newman stated that the film perked up the saga by pitting a nice-guy werewolf (Brendan Hughes) against a "nasty vampire" (Bruce Payne).[4] Frederick Clarke described Payne as an "elegant and suave" vampire and also noted the Nosferatu allusions.[5] John Ferguson stated that 'Hope Perello's take on the familiar tale, in which a sort of good werewolf battles against an even more hideous band of freaks, actually holds up better than most'.[6] Andrew Pragasm stated that 'by far the strongest of the The Howling sequels, film number six takes the time to explore its quirky characters and deepen relationships before getting down to the werewolf versus vampire stuff'.[7] Felix Vasquez stated that the film sought to 'channel Tod Browning’s Freaks mixed with a tacked on werewolf vs. vampire battle, than actually trying to delve in to the werewolf mythos like the former movies'.[8] In Vasquez's view 'in the end, it’s just a middling gimmicky sequel, with Bruce Payne giving a charismatic turn as a villain, making up for the forgettable turn by the entire cast, including Brendan Hughes'.[8] Seth Miller stated that 'this sequel has probably some of the most likable characters in the series, as has as some decent make-up effects work, particularly on Harker in vampire form, as well as a character named Winston (Sean Gregory Sullivan), a sympathetic man held against his will in the circus and displayed as the Alligator Boy due to a rare skin decease'.[9] Lawrence Cohn described the film as a tasteless but effective shocker.[10]

• Howling VI: The Freaks at IMDb
• Howling VI: The Freaks at AllMovie
• Howling VI: The Freaks at Rotten Tomatoes