**_Back to the original story, but with less polish and pizzazz_**

A writer (Romy Windsor) from Southern Cal goes to the desert town of Drago to heal after a breakdown, which is hard to do when she gets caught up in a mystery about demons and werewolves. Michael T. Weiss plays her husband while Antony Hamilton plays her hunky friend from Los Angeles. Susanne Severeid appears as a fan of the author who becomes her assistant sleuth while Lamya Derval plays a shop owner with cat-like eyes.

"Howling IV” (1988) is subtitled "The Original Nightmare" because it's more faithful to Gary Brandner's original novel in comparison to the 1981 film, which doesn't mean it's better.

Surprisingly, it had almost twice the budget, but the crew was caught off guard by learning that they were shooting in South Africa as opposed to a neighboring county. The British producer had vanished and what he promised was not provided. It didn’t help that director John Hough clashed with scriptwriter Clive Turner because the latter was originally set to direct until the financiers pulled out and veteran Hough was brought in at the last minute. After Hough turned in his version, Turner went out and shot new scenes and edited the movie to his liking, which he constantly fought Hough over during principal shooting.

The end result is a somewhat worthwhile sequel that's really a remake with a dubious ending reflecting hellish perdition. Nevertheless, it's superior to "Howling II" and "Howling III" in that it throws out Phillippe Mora's goofy camp and general eccentricities.

I like the cast and the slow-build mystery with its full moon ambiance, which are reminiscent of the first movie. Windsor & Severeid make for an effective female team. Moreover, Weiss is one of the few actors who could get away with a mullet. While the bulk of the movie was shot in the sticks of South Africa, and you can tell, it's not too bad of a substitute for the desert wilderness of Southern Cal. Actually, it makes for an interesting change of pace for the barely-connected series of stand-alone werewolf flicks.

I also like comparing the similarities to the first movie. For instance, Lamya Derval as Eleanor plays the role of Elisabeth Brooks’ Marsha Quist. Again, it’s the same basic story, but the changes in cast, location and story details somehow keep it from being the same-old, same-old. The first time I saw it I wasn’t even able to connect it to the original movie.

I should add that Clive Turner would continue serious work with the franchise on 1989's "Howling V: The Rebirth" and 1995's "Howling: New Moon Rising."

The film runs about 1 hour, 33 minutes. There are exterior shots of Los Angeles with the opening hotel scene done in Fresno.

GRADE: B-