Howling IV: The Original Nightmare

"Marie, it was probably a coyote."

- Richard Adams

The Howling IV: The Original Nightmare is a 1988 werewolf movie and the fourth installment in The Howling franchise. It was released direct-to-video in November of 1988. The film is loosely based on the original Gary Brandner novel The Howling and is closer to the source material than the original The Howling film. The plot of the movie revolves around Marie Adams and her husband Richard who take some time away from their troubles at an isolated southern California cabin called Wilderness Cottage in the secluded town of Drago. Marie, already suffering from a near nervous breakdown grows increasingly frightened as she begins hearing a baleful howling coming from deep in the woods. As she spends more time in Drago, she learns more about the community's dark ties to the occult and the terrible truth behind the howling.

Plot
Marie Adams is a writer who suffers from strange delusions, the most prominent of which involves the image of a nun named Sister Ruth who spontaneously appears before her eyes, then disappears just as quickly. Both her friend Tom Billings and her husband Richard recommend that she should see a doctor. The doctor believes that Marie is over-stressed and should take a vacation in the country. Richard finds a quaint southern California town known as Drago. While Richard takes care of business in Los Angeles, Tom agrees to drive Marie to Drago. Along the way, they are stopped by an ill-tempered sheriff named Carson who gives them directions. Dismissing the cranky man's attitude, they follow the directions to a wooded cabin known as Wilderness Cottage. Marie steps up to the door and sees strange claw marks across the door. When they enter, they find Richard waiting for them. He is there to surprise Marie, but is even more surprised to see that it is Tom who agreed to drive her. An uneasy tension develops between the two men. Tom politely takes his leave and drives off in his car.

Richard and Marie spend some quality time making love and later go into town to see the sights. They stop by a crafts store owned by a mysterious woman named Eleanor. While Marie admires Eleanor's paintings, the shop keeper flirts with Richard. Marie doesn't seem to mind however. Afterward, they visit a general store owned by an elderly couple named Mister and Mrs. Ormstead. The couple welcomes them to Drago and already seems to know a great deal about them. Mrs. Ormstead confesses that there is little that goes on in Drago that they don't know about.

Richard and Marie return to Wilderness Cottage. That night when they make love, Marie hears a loud howling noise coming from deep within the woods. Richard grows frustration with her distraction and the mood is ruined. The following day, Marie goes out looking for her dog, Pierre, who appears to be missing. She whistles for him, but the dog doesn't respond. Concerned, she goes to Sheriff Carson and tells him about her missing pet, but the sheriff shows little interest in Marie's problem. Later, Marie visits Mrs. Ormstead. She tells her about the strange howling noises that she has been hearing late at night and is worried for Pierre's safety.

Marie goes for a walk in the woods. She believes she sees the spectral image of Sister Ruth again, but it turns out to be Eleanor taking a walk. Marie is slightly lost and asks Eleanor the way back to the cottage. She points her in a direction that leads towards a cave. When she arrives at the cave, she finds the eviscerated remains of Pierre. Terrified, she turns and runs. A snarling noise erupts all about her and she feels that something is following her. She gets back to Wilderness Cottage and tells Richard what has happened. Richard calms her down and goes out to look for any animals that might be approaching the cottage. While Richard is outside, Marie sees an image of an unidentifiable elderly couple, warning her to get away from the cabin while there's still time.

Moments later, a woman named Janice Hatch arrives at the cottage. Janice tells Marie that she is a big fan of her books and when she learned that she was staying in Drago, she decided to drive out to meet her. Marie invites Janice inside. They talk about Marie's work and she eventually tells Janice about the howling noises that have been keeping her up at night. Janice then reveals that she was formerly a nun and that a close friend of hers, Sister Ruth, had once lived in Drago and had made mention of hearing eerie howling noises similar to the ones that Marie has been hearing. In addition to the howling sounds, Sister Ruth believed that the entire town had been possessed by the devil. Sheriff Carson found her wandering in the woods raving incoherently. She was taken back to the convent where she died a month later. Marie doesn't reveal how she has been seeing images of Sister Ruth, but agrees to help Janice unravel the mystery that ultimately led to her friend's breakdown.

Meanwhile, Richard walks down to the cave trail where Marie said she had found Pierre's body. The only thing he finds is a battered, ruined doll. He brings it back to the cottage, but Marie insists that what she saw was not a doll, but a dog's head. Richard tries to calm her by suggesting that it might have been a trick of the light that convinced her she saw the ruined carcass of Pierre. Afterward, Richard leaves for one of his numerous business trips back to Los Angeles.

Later, two hikers named John Simmons and Paula Johnson come to Wilderness Cottage. Paula has an injured leg and Marie invites them inside where she mends it. They tell her that they have come from New York to Drago to see the town Bell Tower. According to John, the bell itself was made in the 16th century and brought over from Europe. After Paula is patched up, the two continue on their hiking trip. While walking through the woods, they hear an eerie noise. They follow the sound towards a bog when something leaps out and attacks John, raking him across the throat. Paula screams and begins running, but the beast catches up to her, killing her as well. That evening, Richard returns from L.A. with a rifle. He presents it to Marie and says that it should make her feel safer. After Richard goes upstairs, Marie sees another image of Sister Ruth. The nun begins reacting in terror to some unseen menace and falls against the wall. Marie tries to convince herself that what she is seeing isn't real.

The following day, Marie tells Janice about the hikers and their reference to the Bell Tower. She recalls Janice mentioning how Sister Ruth had mentioned hearing the sound of bells before her breakdown. The two decide to go into town to investigate further. They drive out to the Bell Tower, but Mrs. Ormstead prevents them entering, saying that it is unsafe. Marie sees a tow truck hauling a Chevy camper away and recognizes it as the vehicle driven by John and Paula. She goes to the sheriff to explain the situation, but Sheriff Carson declares that it is an abandoned vehicle and as such, ordered it to be hauled away. When the sheriff leaves, Marie goes into the tow truck garage and finds two New York license plates corresponding to the vehicle in question.

Afterward, Janice go see the local doctor. She wants to know if Paula may have made an appointment to see about her leg injury. Doctor C. Coombes tells her that no such woman ever came to see him. Marie then asks him if ever administered care to Sister Ruth. Coombes recalls the nun, but his description of her condition is different from the account told to her by Sheriff Carson. Marie calls her friend Tom in L.A. and asks him to use his contacts in the District Attorney's office to find the owners of the license plates she recovered.

That evening, Marie returns home and Richard is back from Los Angeles. Marie is awakened in the middle of the night by the sounds of howling. She goes into the other room where she sees furniture suddenly begin flying all over the place. She screams out in terror then finds herself being shaken back to reality by Richard. Richard assures her that she is just having a bad dream.

Early the next morning, Richard takes Marie and Janice outside to practice firing the rifle. Marie has trouble with it, but Janice appears to be a crack shot. After a bit more practice, Richard leaves Marie at home while he goes out to get supplies. On his way back, he stops and sees the artist Eleanor. Eleanor and he make love in the back of her shop.

While Richard is carrying on his affair, Marie hears evidence of a wolf approaching the house. She runs outside and fires at it with the rifle. When Richard returns, Marie tells him what has happened and she is clearly shaken by the affair. The next day, Marie returns to the office of Doctor Coombes. She tells him about her hallucinations and also mentions the shooting incident with the wolf. The mention of this causes Doctor Coombes to grow increasingly agitated. He tries to convince her that she had actually shot at a raccoon and not a wolf. She also mentions how she feels that the cottage is haunted by its previous occupants.

Marie tries to confide in Janice once again; until Janice begins telling her stories of werewolves that reputedly came to Drago from Romania. She believes that this supernatural mystery is what Sister Ruth was investigating and what ultimately drove her insane.

That evening, Marie and Richard get into an argument. Richard is upset that Marie has been running around with Janice chasing ghost stories and making up tales about werewolves. Frustrated, he grabs his coat and leaves the cottage. He walks through the woods until he comes upon Eleanor. The two begin making love for a second time, but this time, Eleanor transforms into a werewolf and bites Richard on the shoulder. Richard stumbles back towards the house and Marie finds him wandering about outside. She helps him into the house and tends to his injuries. She goes off to find Doctor Coombes and brings him back to the cottage. Coombes convinces Richard that he fell down a gulley even though Marie knows that he was attacked by a wolf.

Meanwhile, Janice goes to see a priest in Twin Forks named Father Camefron. She wants to know if he possesses any books on exorcism. He regrets that he does not, but does provide her with the Bible that once belonged to Sister Ruth. She drives her jeep back to Wilderness Cottage. Marie tells her about Richard's injury even though he appears to have fully recovered. Even Marie is now convinced that he hurt himself by falling into a gulley. Janice however, is not so sure. Before she can express her concerns any further, Tom shows up at the cabin. Janice is nervous and excuses herself from the house. Tom takes this opportunity to make a move on Marie. Richard returns home, sees her putting his arms around his wife then punches Tom across the jaw.

Tom drives to the next town to the Twin Forks Hotel where he finds Janice. He reveals that he tracked down the license plates as Marie asked, but found out that they belonged to somebody with the last name of Brooks. Janice tells him that Brooks was Sister Ruth's last name. They then go to the Twin Forks City Hall to investigate further. They find out that Sister Ruth's parents were the previous occupants of Wilderness Cottage. Janice begins to suspect that the townspeople know the truth behind these strange happenings and have been trying to cover it up. She recalls Sister Ruth's last words "We are all in fear", which is actually just a mis-pronunciation of "Werewolves in here". Tom grows concerned that Marie might be in danger. Late into the evening, Richard goes out for another stroll through the forest. His injury begins aggravating him and he quickly finds himself doubled over in pain. He stumbles out into the road and is nearly run down by Tom. Tom slams on the brakes and tries to help Richard, but he pushes past him, running back towards the cabin. As he gets closer, his body begins decomposing. His hair and skin melt from his bones and slime begins dripping out of every pore. Within seconds, Richard's body completely disintegrates. The full moon rises over the tree line and several werewolves come out to witness the spectacle. Richard's body, nothing more than a pile of black sludge, reconstitutes itself into the form of a werewolf. Marie rushes out of the house and sees her husband's gruesome fate. The werewolves attack her, but Marie manages to get to her car and drives off.

Janice meanwhile, drives back towards the cottage, but stops in the middle of the road when something catches her eye. She finds Tom's bloody body lying on the side of the road. She drives on and comes to the Drago General Store where she finds the panic-stricken Marie. Marie climbs into the jeep, but before they can drive off Sheriff Carson, also a werewolf, emerges with a shotgun and shoots out their tires. Marie and Janice run and seek shelter inside the Bell Tower. When they enter however, they find Doctor Coombes standing in the center of the room in the middle of a pentagram. With a gravelly voice he says, "You were right, Janice. There are werewolves". Janice recalls the legend of the Bell Tower and tells Marie that trapping them in the Bell Tower and setting it on fire is the only way to stop them. She urges Marie to leave while stays behind to ring the bell to summon the werewolves. As she rings the bell, dozens of wolves come running towards the tower, including Richard and Eleanor. Marie goes outside and finds an unused vehicle. She shoves a trail of paper into the gas tank then sets it on fire. She pushes the vehicle down the incline towards the Bell Tower. As it crashes through the doors, the vehicle explodes and the building goes up in flames. She watches in horror as the werewolves burn to death. One werewolf manages to survive the conflagration however and leaps out for one final attack.

Notes & Trivia

 * The Howling IV: The Original Nightmare was released on DVD on June 15th, 2004.


 * The Howling IV: The Original Nightmare bears many similarities to the original 1981 version of The Howling. Both films involve covens of werewolves hiding in secrecy. They both involve a married couple who take some time away from work to relax at an isolated cabin in the woods. Both women work in some form of media (Marie Adams is a writer while Karen White was a news reporter). Both women complain about hearing an eerie howling noise coming from the woods. Both of the male leads commit infidelity with a seductive werewolf vixen and suffer traumatically as a result. The climax of both films involves trapping a group of werewolves inside a wooden structure and setting it on fire. In each film, at least one werewolf is known to survive.


 * Actor Michael T. Weiss would later go on to play the role of Joe Haskell in the short-lived 1991 Dark Shadows revival series.


 * The tow truck driver is played by Clive Turner. Turner plays starring roles as two separate characters in The Howling V: Rebirth and The Howling: New Moon Rising. He was also the co-writer on The Howling IV, Rebirth and New Moon Rising as well as director, producer and editor on New Moon Rising.


 * Father Camefron's name is mis-spelled "Fater Cramefron" in the closing credits.


 * Most of the scenes were shot in South Africa. The city scenes were filmed in Los Angeles.