As if the sequels weren't bad enough, sixteen years after the last addition to the series we're given a "reboot" and obvious attempt at cashing in and capturing the Twilight crowd by aiming towards a younger audience and adding a completely unnecessary romance aspect. Ultimately, the studio's attempt at re-launching the franchise fails, especially when it doesn't even seem to know whether it's a horror film or a dreary teen romance.

The story revolves around a high school senior named Will, who spent the last four years unnoticed by not only his fellow classmates, but also the girl he has admired the entire time. Days before his graduation, Will finally gathers the courage to talk to her and a connection between the two is quickly formed. After just turning eighteen and thinking as though his life was starting to get better, he's nearly attacked at an underground party by a werewolf, which opens his eyes to not only the possibility of these creatures being real, but that he may also be one himself.

After the film's cheesy opening we're introduced to our lead and his needless Twilight-esque narration that not only seems forced, but also proves gratuitous as time goes on. The Twilight similarities don't end there, as we're given obligatory romance scenes almost randomly placed throughout the film. One in particular just came off as completely unnecessary, as it was hastily placed in the middle of what was supposed to have been a fairly tense sequence.

There are a lot of these misplaced back-and-forth scenes of forced romance and horrible dialogue, making it clear that (like said above) the filmmakers weren't sure whether they were aiming for a legitimate horror movie or something more youth-friendly. This is especially an issue towards the end when we're finally given some decent werewolf action, then we're immediately thrusted back into some awful scene involving the two leads "bonding" with each other.

On a positive note, the werewolves looked pretty decent when they were in full transformation. Luckily they went the practical route as far as the appearance of these beasts go. However, there were also some underling werewolves that looked more like some kind of hairless man-wolf/dark-skinned vampire hybrid that just seemed out of place. And while the original Howling is recognized for its great transformation scene, they opted to completely skip that here and just have them magically CGI morph into these creatures in a matter of seconds.

It's a little baffling as to why this movie even received an R rating since there's no gore, nudity or even language, and as far as a horror movie goes, it's a pretty tame one. This is especially the case when the antagonists spend a majority of their time simply delivering cold blank stares (sometimes while shirtless), leaving all the actual recognizable genre flair at the very end.

Almost entirely void of any actual "horror", The Howling: Reborn is simply an obvious cash-in on a completely different and more youth-oriented franchise all together. With its misplaced obligatory romance scenes, awful dialogue, and lifeless villains, we're left with something better left in the toilet where Twilight's Jacob shat it out.