Trivia / Howling II: Stirba: Werewolf Bitch

• Awesome, Dear Boy: Christopher Lee took the lead role because he had never been in a werewolf movie before (by that point, he'd played Dracula, the Frankenstein's Monster, and the Mummy, so it would've helped round out his personal Monster Mash of an acting career), and he was intrigued by the idea of filming in and around Czechoslovakia during a time of the Iron Curtain.
• B-Team Sequel: Joe Dante was never offered the chance to direct this movie. The rights to the book The Howling II was owned by one of the producers and by Gary Brandner, the author of the book. Brandner, who was not a huge fan of Dante at the time, was not likely going to consider him to make the sequel after his displeasure with the director loosely adapting the first The Howling novel.
• California Doubling: Shot almost entirely in Czechoslovakia, with Český Krumlov doubling for Transylvania and Prague for Los Angeles. The latter proved to be something of a problem for director Philippe Mora, who had to "'literally import trash from America to clutter the clean communist streets." During an open casting call for punks in the concert scene, nearly a thousand individuals arrived, resulting in the local authorities calling in the both the police and military. Mora was advised by an army colonel, "you can finish shooting the scene, but they'll have to leave in groups of no more than three".[1]
• Creator Backlash:
  • Christopher Lee was not happy with how the film turned out. When he landed a role in Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Lee personally apologized to Joe Dante.
  • Director Philippe Mora was unhappy after the film was Re-Cut without his input, and demanded in his contract for the third film that he have complete control of the final cut.
  • Though no stranger to nudity, Sybil Danning had agreed to do only one topless shot as Stirba. She was reputedly not happy to learn said shot is repeated multiple times during the credits.
• Creator Killer: Screenwriter Robert Sarno only wrote one other film before his death in 2002.
• Executive Meddling:
  • Philippe Mora intended the film to be a tongue-in-cheek horror comedy, but the studio recut it as a more conventional horror film with some comedic elements. The third film, for which Mora had more creative control, gives an idea of What Could Have Been.
  • The production was under the constant, watchful eye of the KGB, with Sybil Danning and Christopher Lee being spied on daily by an undercover minder, and Reb Brown having his overseas phone calls tapped.
• Fake Nationality:
  • None of the actors playing the Transylvanian werewolves are actually Romanian.
  • Infamously, most of the extras were non-English-speaking Czech locals
• Market-Based Title: Known by the far more cumbersome title Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf in the U.S.
• The Other Darrin:
  • For her brief re-appearance in this movie, Karen White is played by Hana Ludvikova instead of Dee Wallace.
  • Ferdy Mayne replaces the late John Carradine as Erie.
• Playing Against Type: Christopher Lee as heroic occult expert Stefan Crosscoe.
• Post-Release Retitle: The movie was released theatrically in the United States as "Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf", likely because the word "Bitch" would not have been allowed by the MPAA (who, of course, holds no sway in its native Europe).
• Troubled Production: And how!
  • After the release of the first The Howling, author Gary Brandner purchased the franchise and sequel rights from New World Pictures. Dissatisfied with that film's treatment of his source material, Brandner resolved to write and produce a follow-up himself, and began writing a screenplay more in-line with his novels.
  • Brandner produced several drafts which procured the interest of Hemdale Film Corporation, a "mini-major" production company known at the time for films lower-budget, well-received genre fare like The Terminator and The Return of the Living Dead. Hemdale and Brandner entered into a financing deal with a Spanish production company on the grounds that the film be shot on-location in Spain, necessitating an extensive rewrite by Brandner.
  • The financing deal subsequently and suddenly fell out, necessitating yet more rewrites. Soon after, Brandner abruptly left the project altogether when his publisher pushed up the deadline to the third Howling novel.
  • Hemdale, who had yet to produce a single usable draft, hired writer Robert Sarno to dig through Brandner's disparate drafts to try and recover something usable, hoping to rush the principal photography to early Spring of 1984, with a projected Fall 1984 release date. Sarno all but disposed off Brandner's drafts, re-tooling a pre-existing spec script about vampires to include werewolves. ^note  This may explain why Stephen tries to kill Karen with a silver needle through the heart, like one would a vampire.
  • Director Philippe Mora was hired off the success of the "were-cicada" body horror movie The Beast Within, enticed through the promise of relative creative control. Mora's set out to produce a campy horror comedy, playing up the satirical elements present in the first film to outright pastiche.
  • On-going political unrest in Ceaușescu-ruled Romania ruled it out as a filming location, leading to the production seeking permits in nearby Czechoslovakia. Due to on-going Cold War tensions, equipment and costumes were held up at the border for over two weeks. When they finally arrived, Mora learned that the werewolf costumes were re-purposed ape costumes from the short-lived Planet of the Apes television series.
  • Filming in Czechoslovakia was continually undermined by local authorities, who were suspicious of the production and sent KGB operatives to tap hotel phones and follow cast and crew members around 24/7. During filming of a concert scene, Mora learned that local regulations prevented the audience members from standing up or cheering during a musical performance, and spent several hours negotiating with members of the Czech army who had arrived after mistaking the impromptu mass gathering for a riot.
  • Filming was further slowed by the inexperience of local Czech crews and unavailability of experienced special effects artists or equipment, necessitating numerous on-the-spot improvisations and rewrites. An actor was almost shot after a propmaster misunderstood a direction and accidentally loaded a prop rifle with live ammunition.
  • Most of the Czech extras improvised blocking due to the absence of an on-set interpreter. Most infamously, several extras during the orgy sequence began engaging in actual sex acts, which continued after Mora had called cut.
  • After filming wrapped, Mora was locked out of post-production while the film was edited from his intended horror comedy to a serious horror film, much to his chagrin.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Gary Bradner's original script was set in Spain, then later to Yugoslavia.
  • Marianna was intended to be Marsha from the first film,the sole survivor of that film's werewolf pack. Elisabeth Brooks refused to reprise her role, unhappy with her nude scene in the first film. Notably, Ferdy Mane plays Erle, taking the role from the then-deceased John Carradine.
  • According to director Phillipe Mora in a 1984 interview during filming, Sybil Danning as Stirba wasn't supposed to actually exist. That is, Stirba didn't actually regenerate her youth. Sybil Danning was a projection by a spell of what Stirba wished she looked like. Though this does not seem to be the case in the finished film, there are two instances of this to be found: first, when Stirba first appears young, she also seems scared and unsure of herself until she sees her followers (literally) howling over her beauty. Then, she realizes everyone sees her as young. Secondly, when Stefan and Stirba meet again, Stefan sees Stirba as old because her magic doesn't work on him.
• Writing by the Seat of Your Pants:
  • Gary Brandner hastily rewrote the script after a financing deal with a Spanish production company fell through, necessitating a change in location. The producer demanded constant changes, and Brandner eventually left the production to focus on finishing the third Howling novel after the publisher pushed up his deadline. The producer brought in writer Robert Sarno to rewrite Brandner's disparate, unfinished drafts, which Sarno all but disposed of to start from scratch. A rough cut of the film even leaves out Brandner's writer's credit.
  • Composer Steve Parsons was given only two days to write and record a theme song.

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