Critique: The beginning boasts a nice rendingion of the plight of the werewolf. He's got no choice. Your feet will be unconsciously tapping to the country music as the church is rebuilt. The sultry middle of the night scene between Ian and Lizzie is also a winner. In general, the first third of the movie leads us to believe that this is an atmospheric, deftly played werewolf offering that threatens excellence. Unfortunately, Harker dominates the last two thirds of this yarn. When it turns out that he's a monster as well, your eyes will be inclined to unfocus, though as a pure visual effect, the Harker vampire is not bad. On the other hand, hard rock overweight werewolfs just don't cut it. Our werewolf is uncomfortably reminiscent of Meatloaf. The Godzilla vs. Mothra scenes at the end are just pathetic. Please, if you're making a horror film, limit yourself to one monster. The rule is broken only at great peril to inducing narcolepsy in even the most patient viewer.

Plot Summary: Harker's world of Wonder comes to Canton bluff. What with the town experiencing a drought, there's little patience for a British drifter. Dewey, however, hires him before he can be run out of town. They get to work redoing the church and Richards turns out to be a handy carpenter. The circus parade draws Ian's attention strangely, interrupting the hectic rebuilding of the church. One gets the impression it's the first work of any kind done in this town for quite a while. Soon everyone has warmed uyp to Ian, but being the lone wolf type, he turns a cold shoulder on them. Atthe circus, there's a young man, Winston, who has a corroded face. Harker offers him sanctuary. Suddenly he's the alligator boy, and not just a freak. Ian watches the circus people with an odd, concentrated interest. Ian and the pubescent Lizzie goto the carnival. The haunted house may be a bit low tech, but is just ghastly for Canton bluff. Harker's museum of humanities is something else. A geek! He bites the head off a chicken! Harker decides he has seen Ian before. That night, after the festivities, Lizzie uses the excuse that it's too hot to sleep to look in on Ian in the middle of the night. Ian, however, shows superhuman restraint and keeps the teen from disrobing, sending her back to her bed. Ian's been marking the calendar, following the phases of the moon. Very suspicious indeed in a film called the howling. Unfortunattely, his nap goesinto the night and the transformation begins. Ian manages to escape before tearing his beefactors apart. Harker's man, however, traps him. In a largely incoherent scene that is very much a harbinger of things to come, Ian has turned back into a human, and then some chanting by Harker causes him to go lupine. It appears the circus has a new attraction. Later the mayor and sheriff find a torn apart cow and begin an investigation. Ian finds himself covered with blood and is told that Lizzie was the victim. Harker sets Ian up in chains before the hole town and starts into his chant. Later on, the deputy has uncovered some things about Harker. He happens along the way to look into just the dumpster that holds a local townwoman's body. It appears there's more to Harker than meets the eye, unfortunately for the film and any stray viewers. Mayor Pruitt looks in on Harker as the townspoeple gather to lynch Ian for the death of the deputy. Harker apparently was the one who made Ian into a wereworlf. The townspeople work up some silver bullets and close in. Dewey leads the way against his former employee, but finds too late that Harker's the one with the pact with satan. Or is he satan? After that, we're onto the professional wrestling circuit.