Howling V: The Rebirth 1989

In Budapest, 1489, a family living in a imposing castle is slaughtered by a pair who then take their own lives. Yet, as the man lies dying, he discovers that a baby has survived the brutal attack, a detail that seeds a chilling thread through the centuries.

Fast forward to 1989, when a mysterious Count invites a group to the castle’s reopening. The party includes Gail Cameron Stephanie Faulkner, Marylou Summers Elizabeth Shé, Jonathan Lane Mark Sivertsen, David Gillespie Ben Cole, Ray Price Clive Turner, Anna Mary Stavin, the Professor Nigel Triffitt, and Dr. Catherine Peake Victoria Catlin. Peter József Madaras and Susan Renáta Szatler also attend the eerie gathering. The atmosphere is tense, the halls whisper of old sins, and the castle itself seems to breathe with a history that refuses to stay buried.

During a midday meal, Jonathan Lane recounts the region’s dark legend to Marylou Summers—a tale of wolves terrorizing the land a thousand years ago, believed to be commanded by Satan who takes a human form by day and a wolf by night. The Professor muses over the castle’s origins, noting its construction centuries ago and its sudden abandonment, a mystery that now feels tragically personal to the present occupants.

That night, the Count reveals the fate of the powerful family long tied to the estate and then withdraws, unsettled by the mention of the Professor’s disappearance. The next morning, Gail grows uneasy, insisting there is someone else in the castle. Ray, following a hidden passage, witnesses Gail being attacked by a werewolf and barely escapes with the Professor’s body in tow, only to be killed in the snow outside.

Peter sabotages David’s camera, a small act that foreshadows the paranoia and danger to come. The Count hunts for Cameron and Ray and uncovers a secret passage and a maze of tunnels, joining Peter and Susan in the perilous exploration. The group decides to organize a search party, determined to uncover the truth behind the escalating danger.

As the night unfolds, Jonathan Lane and Marylou Summers become separated from the others and are lured into getting lost—Jonathan is killed, Peter is wounded, and Marylou and Anna bear witness to a werewolf attacking their companions. Richard and Anna begin to sense a grim truth: none of them has a living family to claim as kin, which stirs suspicion that they were drawn here for a more sinister reason. David and Catherine locate most of the bodies, and they try to warn the others, only to find Richard already dead.

The Count reveals the terrible truth: all of them are descendants of the castle’s original family, and thus werewolves who can only be killed by a fellow relative. He has used the others as bait to lure out the supernatural threat. He locks himself away in the dungeon, alongside Peter and Susan. David and Catherine decide to kill them, defying Anna’s pleas, and she releases the captives, sealing her own fate as she confronts the approaching danger.

One by one, the grim toll mounts: Catherine discovers Anna’s body, and David discovers Ray’s lifeless form. Peter tries to kill David but accidentally slays Susan in the process, before Marylou ends Peter’s life. The group ventures outside and confronts the Count, who wrests the gun from David after warning Marylou that David is possessed and will transform when the moon rises. Marylou seizes the weapon and shoots the Count, ending his reign of manipulation.

David and Marylou share a brief, hopeful moment, with David insisting there’s no werewolf—yet Marylou’s smile lingers, chillingly enigmatic. As the full moon climbs in the sky, the truth finally breaks through: Marylou Summers is the werewolf, her human facade peeled away in a night that exposes the cast’s darkest lineage and the deadly bargain that tethered them to the castle for centuries. The revelation lands with a cold finality, leaving the surviving pair to confront a nightmare that is far from over.