Horror Short Review: Smiling Woman Birthday (2025)
Well, it has been a while, but the mysterious Smiling Woman is back in ACMofficial’s latest entry in their long running ‘Smiling Woman’ series of horror shorts.
Well, it has been a while, but the mysterious Smiling Woman is back in ACMofficial’s latest entry in their long running ‘Smiling Woman’ series of horror shorts.
After seven films, and sixteen years after the previous entry (Howling: New Moon Rising), the Howling franchise returned and it’s a reboot. A failed reboot that, as of May 2025, has meant there hasn’t been a new entry since.
Directed, produced, and written by Clive Turner, the seventh film in The Howling film series, Howling: New Moon Rising is a special kind of bad.
I’d say this was the moment that The Howling franchise officially went off the deep end, but who am I kidding? Have you seen the films that came before? By contrast, Howling VI: The Freaks almost seems sane. Almost.
An unnerving horror short from Ethan Hunt, Dark Water stars Amelie Melsness and tells a creative story that will have you looking over your shoulder.
Howling V: The Rebirth, a werewolf film with almost no werewolf action in it. Yet, it still manages to be a thoroughly entertaining watch with a great gothic location, watchable characters with some ‘unique’ acting, and a surprisingly compelling ‘whodunnit’ story.
What if your neighbour wasn’t just weird but something far more sinister?
Compared to this, the second film looks like a work of art. Howling III: The Marsupials is the worst one so far, but when you consider the low bar, that’s not saying a lot.