User reviews

The Howling

Easily one of the most historically popular werewolf films out there deserves some attention, right? Well of course. And since lately I'm getting more and more into werewolf films, I figured it was high time I actually bought this one and reviewed it. This, along with American Werewolf in London, were the two films that revolutionized werewolf movies and transformed them from just some guy running around bein' all hairy and strangling people. On top of it all, we have Joe Dante (Piranha, Gremlins) directing. Good times will be had by all!

This film revolves around a news anchor-woman who is helping the police track down a serial killer, made all the easier by the fact that he's taken an interest in her. Well, everything goes just awful and she ends up traumatized. Her shrink suggests she and her husband take a comfortable, soothing vacation in a community that he's a major part of. Of course, the movie is helped along by the fact that the town just happens to be chock full of werewolves who can't seem to decide whether to eat these new people or have them join up.

Here's the breakdown:

The Good:

--We've got some beautiful and unique looking werewolves here. The first one we have a very clear view of, in the doctor's office, almost resembles some creature that's part wolf, part man, and part cat. It just kind of had that feel--not that it's bad, I liked it.

--Interesting story, one of the better ones in the world of werewolves.

--The acting is pretty good, one has to consider the fact that a lot of actors just don't take these kinds of roles seriously enough. So finding a movie like this where they do is quite nice.

--Naked transforming werewolf sex scene by a campfire. Hmmm... maybe this should be the Memorable Scene....

--Average amounts of violence--more a suspenseful werewolf film than a visually disturbing one. The gore, while only occasional, is really good.

--Nice mystery story wrapped up in here.

Didn't Hurt It, Didn't Help:

--Decent music, somewhat average for these kind of movies.

--Dee Wallace-Stone's acting occasionally isn't quite up to par, shall we say...

--One werewolf transformation sequence is actually animated--like with cell animation and it doesn't look very good. It's brief and small, and doesn't detract from the film's overall quality.

--Dee Wallace's friends in the movie really seem to adopt the notion of werewolves rather easily--I would think it would be hard to accept that idea... oh well...

The Bad:

--Some two-dimensional characters.

--This film is in a series notorious for it's much crappier releases, but that's really about all there is that's not to like.

The Ugly:

--Robert Picardo (the hologram doctor from Star Trek: Voyager) plays the ultimate bad-ass werewolf--and boy, his face doesn't look good all charred with acid...

Memorable Scene:

--Robert Picardo's werewolf in the Doctor's office. Oh, and that werewolf transformation sex scene. That was pretty hot.

Acting: 8/10 Story: 9/10 Atmosphere: 9/10 Cinematography: 8/10 Character Development: 8/10 Special Effects/Make-up: 8/10 (some less than fancy stop-motion, and one bit of obvious animation) Nudity/Sexuality: 4/10 Violence/Gore: 8/10 (Average amount, but very high quality) Sets/Backgrounds: 9/10 Dialogue: 7/10 Music: 7/10 Writing: 8/10 Direction: 9/10

Cheesiness: 1/10 Crappiness: 0/10

Overall: 8/10

A horror must-see. One of the classic werewolf films. Personally, I think Dog Soldiers may still be a little better, but that's just me. For horror fans and a great piece for non-horror fans to find out what a good werewolf movie should look like--sans CG werewolves.

www.ResidentHazard.com http://bartboard.proboards3.com/index.cgi The Board, movie message board.

This classic werewolf movie is not as good as "An American Werewolf in London", however it is a pretty good horror movie in its own right. It is also one of the first (if not the first) to do an on screen transformation scene not using the old frame by frame technique. The story has a female reporter traumatized after she helps the police track down a serial killer. A friend psychiatrist sends her to a retreat known as "the colony" to help her unwind and get to the root of her problem. Well lets just say her first impulse was right as she really seems to think her and her husband are out of place in this retreat. I would agree, I do believe I would have left after seeing the first little beach party where the guy about to throw himself in the fire seemed the most sane. For the most part this movie has a bit of a slow setup, but once it gets going near the last 20 or thirty minutes it really gets going. The werewolves look rather good, there are a couple of scenes where they appear to be nothing more than cartoons or something, but for the most part they look like working models. There is a bit at the end which puzzles me as it seems to add humor into what was otherwise a movie that wasn't trying to garner laughs. However, for the most part you get a rather nice horror movie with lots of stars, something of a rarity this day and age.

Most of my favourite horror movies of the 1980s were small, indie movies made outside the major studio system e.g. 'The Evil Dead', 'Maniac', 'Basket Case'. Most of the "big" horror movies then (like now) were pretty lame. 'The Howling' is a notable exception. Watching it over twenty years after it was originally released is quite an eye-opener. It not only holds up well, it is in fact, a damn fine movie. Joe Dante must take the credit for this. For me in the 1980s Dante was like a smarter, more inventive Spielberg. Dante, who learned his chops working for Roger Corman as an editor, writer and director, is a knowledgeable horror buff (Universal, Hammer, Bava movies) with a sly wit and great sense of fun. 'The Howling' is full of in jokes and ironic nods, but never goes all the way into comedy. Dante takes the material seriously. This is a pretty scary movie and the werewolves are some of the best ever seen. Dee Wallace ('The Hills Have Eyes', 'The Frighteners') is a TV reporter who is traumatized after a close encounter with a serial killer (Dante regular Robert Picardo). Dr. Waggner (Patrick Macnee of 'The Avengers' fame), a charming psychiatrist she knows and trusts suggest that she and her husband Bill (Christopher Stone) join him at his therapeutic retreat "The Colony". I won't spoil the movie by going into detail about what happens next, but it's creepy and entertaining. Wallace is very good and Picardo, who usually plays comic roles, is convincing as Quist the psycho nut job. 'The Howling' was co-written by John Sayles, who pops up in a cameo, as does Roger Corman, and super fan Forrest J. Ackerman, former editor of 'Famous Monsters Of Filmland'. Dante is a loyal guy who always likes to acknowledge where he is coming from, so as well as Corman and Ackerman there are roles for horror legend John Carradine, Kevin McCarthy ('Invasion Of The Body Snatchers'), Kenneth Tobey ('The Thing From Another World'), Slim Pickens ('Dr Strangelove') and Dick Miller (as "Walter Paisley" his character in Corman's 1950s b-grade classic 'A Bucket Of Blood'). 'The Howling' is sure to be enjoyed by every horror buff and for me is one of the all time best werewolf movies along with Universal's 'The Wolf Man' and Hammer's underrated 'The Curse Of The Werewolf'.

Have an appreciation for horror and had been interested in 'The Howling' franchise for a while, with the first film being highly recommended. Also know that werewolf films have been done well on film, the obvious example being 'An American Werewolf in London' (over 35 years on and that film is still a classic). So decided to continue my "watching and reviewing all films from horror franchises" quest, and did so with 'The Howling' series.

While not as good as 'An American Werewolf in London', not quite a classic and not without imperfections, 'The Howling' managed to be a highly effective and solid film of the genre and as an overall film. If asked whether it seems like it has held up well, my answer would be it seems as though it has. It's entertaining and has unsettling moments, while also being surprisingly well made and made by someone with a clear love for the genre with quite a number of affectionate touches. As far as 'The Howling' franchise goes, this is by far the best having found the follow-ups a very mixed bag. When it comes to films centred around werewolves, it's also one of the better ones.

'The Howling' may take too long to get going, with a relatively uneventful first stretch, and is not without its dull spots.

Regarding the acting, it is variable with Christopher Stone looking as though he was not very interested in his role or the film, his acting resembles that of sleep-walking. Dee Wallace fares much better, she is appealing and looks engaged but she is not without her not so good spots, particularly in some of her reactions.

On the other hand, 'The Howling' does look great. There is a lot of atmosphere and it is very stylishly photographed, the secluded setting also adding a lot. In this regard though, faring best are the pretty amazing special effects/make-up. The score looms ominously very effectively and Joe Dante directs with an assured hand, never ill at ease or losing control of the material, and with clear affection of the genre.

Standing out too are the sharp and witty script, a very successful attempt at turning genre cliches on their heads and doing things fresh with them and some quite decent characters that don't bore or annoy, some named after horror incons such as Freddie Francis and Terrence Fisher. In particularly the second half when things do properly get going, there is a suspenseful and unsettling atmosphere and actually did think there were some nicely timed scares. The werewolf transformations are highly imaginative and look great even today. Although the acting is variable, the horror stalwarts involved fare very well, they are accomplished and clearly know what they were doing. John Carradine is the clear standout here.

In conclusion, solid atmospheric fun with bite. 7/10 Bethany Cox

A very long build up to the first scare, and even then it's not at all scary by today's standards. But there are still some enjoyable aspects. The storyline is well developed, the acting is pretty good, and the gags work well. The werewolf transformation is first rate, especially for the 80s. A pretty good movie in the end.

In 1981, horror movies were on the verge of their greatest comeback. The 1970's gave us Alien, Jaws and the Exersist, but we had lost the creepiness of the classic "Universal" monster films, such as Dracula, The Mummy and (my personal fave) The Wolfman. Pop culture had come to know the werewolf as a guy that hadn't shaved in a while and grew fangs. Joe Dante had a different idea. I was a freshman in high school in 1981 and some friends and I played "hooky" from school and went to see The Howling. After about 10 minutes I was so scared, that I actually found myself wanting to go to math class. Dante's film is full of suggested terror, although once he shows you, he never lets up. Karen White (Dee Wallace) is a popular newscaster who has managed to catch the eye of a serial killer. She decides to help the police trap him, but unannounced to us is the fact that the killer has a secret... A very dark secret. After a terrifying encounter, Karen and her husband Bill (Christopher Stone), take a long needed vacation. A retreat colony up in woods is their destination and the townsfolk (including the late, great John Carradine) are just normal everyday people who welcome them with open arms. As the days go by, strange things begin to happen and we realize that the colony is actually a colony of... Anyway, the visuals are great and this was long before the computer generated crap that they throw at us these days. Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo) is the resident bad dude or (wolf) as you may, and has one of the most classic transformation scenes I have ever witnessed. His sister Marsha Quist (Elisabeth Brooks) is definitely the hottest werewolf I've ever seen, and the cast is rounded out by Sheriff Newfield played by the one and only (Slim Pickens). The Howling certainly revolutionized the modern werewolf which has come a long way since Lon Channey Jr wore an afro wig and a pig nose, and there's not a lot of werewolf stranglings in this one. I have seen every werewolf movie ever made (literally), and The Howling has always remained my favorite, with An American Werewolf In (London)comming in at close second. If you have never seen this classic film, I urge you to go rent it, turn off the lights and pull the blanket up tight under your chin (for faster head covering action). You won't regret it, after all werewolves were meant to be big, ferocious, violent beasts that rip their victim apart. Nuff said.

The Howling demonstrates Joe Dante's penchant for exploitation aesthetics, ironic revision and the subversive critique of genre staples, the combination of the sensibility of a cartoonist and a social satirist. It escapes me why this film is seen as no more than a werewolf slasher pic even by respected critics, because in a sense, it did what Scream did fifteen years later: self-deconstructing. It is not about the plot. It is about itself. It comments on all the conventions it happily plays upon itself. The violence, gore and werewolf metamorphoses are disarmed by the ironic way Dante utilizes and annotates them. He inserts countless in-jokes and references, often veiled and subtle, not just to movies and TV like with The Big Bad Wolf in The Three Little Pigs but also concerning characters eating Wolf Brand Chili, the momentary glimpse of a copy of Howl by Ginsberg, mention of DJ Wolfman Jack, characters with names like Terri Fisher, which could be a reference to the British director Terence Fisher, who did direct a film called Curse of the Werewolf. The focus of this extremely hip post-modern wolf man movie is mostly on the humor, satirizing pop culture and the self-help craze, gaining comic effect even from some of the special effects.

But it goes much much deeper than merely being reference-happy. What is really clever about The Howling is its pervasive visual references to a variety of media forms and aspects of popular culture themselves. We see cameramen, bystander-like TV sets and movie posters galore, we go behind the scenes of a network TV station. There is stop-motion animation and puppetry as well as special effects by Rick Baker and Rob Bottin that were state-of-the-art at the time. A silhouette of one of the monsters is obviously a cartoon animation (not unlike in Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein). John Sayles (who co-wrote the blatantly metatextual script) and Roger Corman have cameos. Dee Wallace-Stone plays a Hollywood TV news anchor who is being stalked by a serial killer. In cooperation with the police, she takes part in a sting to capture the killer by meeting him in a scuzzy porn theater, where he forces her to watch a film of a young woman being raped, before she sees him emerging from the shadows. The final scene is a brilliant diametric reversal of this scenario in terms of the role of what's really happening, what's happening on the screen, and in what way horrific reality is stopped by bullets.

The brave anchor nonetheless submerges the memory of the tremendous sight which she cannot accept, so her therapist, Dr. George Waggner, named after the director of The Wolf Man with Lon Chaney and Claude Rains, sends her and her husband, Bill Neill, a thinly disguised reference to the director of Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, to a secluded countryside resort for treatment. As expected, the colony is chock full of oddball characters, and eventually werewolf sex, frightening shapeshifting and silver bullets abound. But all this elemental and earthy stuff takes place outside of the reach of mass media, at least to some extent, so a TV news anchor returning from this experience is going to want the world to know! But how can she? In a society surrounded and inundated by all kinds of bright, flashing mass broadcasting all the time, how can she make them truly connect and believe her claims no matter what she shows them?

As befits a real B-grade horror flick, the leads are all basically interchangeable. Most of the more solid moments are left to the character actors, played by B-movie vets like Slim Pickens, John Carradine, and Dick Miller, as well as Patrick Macnee, who plays Wallace-Stone's shrink. I tend to nix comparisons to Tarantino because his fans tend to write off a lot of interesting filmmakers as QT wannabes, but this movie was made long before Tarantino burst onto the scene: The Howling is like the Pulp Fiction or Kill Bill of horror movies. It's a post-modern pastiche that arrives insisting it is the real thing to some degree, casting all the right people, playing its own creative variations on a classic old-hat plot device, engulfing us with reminiscences of other movies and media like it and at the same time giving it a real-world edge. The Howling so consciously plays upon fantasy and allusions to midnight movies of yesteryear and werewolf lore, and reintroduces common, prototypical features of style. And there is always something about that self-aware quality that frees us from taking it seriously and we have so much more fun with it.

After a bizarre and near deadly encounter with a serial killer, a popular television newswoman called Karen White (Dee Wallace) suffers an embarrassing breakdown during the live broadcast. In an effort to recover from her trauma, Karen visits her psychiatrist, Dr. George Waggner (Patrick Macnee). Meantime, Karen's colleagues Terry (Belinda Belaski) and Chris (Dennis Dugan), continue their investigation of "Eddie the Mangler". Then Karen is sent to a remote mountain resort whose residents may not be what they seem. It is a secluded retreat where the strange residents (John Carradine, Slim Pickens, Elisabeth Brooks, Noble Willingham), are rather too eager to make her feel at home. There Karen and his husband (Christopher Stone) discover a weird form of lycanthropes. There's a pack of werewolves who are trying to keep a low profile and really hidden under ordinary villlagers. What she has witnessed, she cannot escape. What he has become, he cannot control. And what you experience, no one will believe until they come face to face with the inhuman fear that is the howling. All your nightmares are about to be transformed into one single inescapable fear! They're out there - and you're in the middle of your worst nightmare...When the howling starts... the horror begins! Beyond anything human. Imagine your worst fear a reality.

A classy horror movie that gives the quirkness and wit of the vintage wolfman genre. The motion picture displays action, suspense, terror with fun touches. Crammed with inside jokes, this horror-comedy pioneered the use of the body-altering prosthetic make-up (by Rob Bottin) now essential for on-screen man-to-wolf transformations. In ¨The Howling¨ stands out a great support cast cast with plenty of familiar faces, such as: Patrick Macnee, Belinda Balaski, Dennis Dugan John Carradine, Slim Pickens, Elisabeth Brooks, Noble Willingham, Robert Picardo, Kevin McCarthy,Kenneth Tobey, Dick Miller, among others. The motion picture was competently directed by Joe Dante. Rating: 7.5/10, better than average.

Followed by six sequels: ¨The Howling 2, your sister is a werewolf¨ 1985 by Philippe Mora with Christopher Lee, Sybil Danning, Marsha Hunt, Reb Brown. ¨Howling 3, The marsupials¨ 1987 by Philippe de Mora with Barry Otto, Michael Pate, Frank Thring Jr. ¨The Howling 4, The original nightmare¨ 1988 by John Hough with Romy Windsor, Michael T Weiss, Anthony Hamilton. ¨Howling 5, The Rebirth¨ 1989 by Neal Sundstrom with Philip Davis, Ben Cole, Victoria Catlin. ¨The Howling 6, The Freaks¨ 1990 by by Hope Perello with Michelle Matheson, Brendan Hughes, Antonio Fargas. ¨The Howling 7, New moon rising¨ 1995 by Clive Turner with Romy Windsor, Jacqueline Armitage, Clive Turner, Elizabeth She.

Yes! For a change in the horror genre this film does deserve all of the praise, hype, cult following and respect it receives, even from the critics. I would go so far as to even admit that I find this Joe (Gremlins, Innerspace, The 'burbs, Matinee, Small soldiers) Dante flick one of his best crafted works, followed by PIRANHA.

It's always been a toss up between THE HOWLING and AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON for the most effective lycanthropy picture of postmodern horror cinema (anything since Psycho). Where John Landis used comedy more blatantly, the humour in THE HOWLING is far more satirical and subversive. Undoubtedly, Rob Bottin's effects steal the show as well as they did for John Carpenter's THE THING. The transformation of Eddie Quist, especially on the revamped DVD is something to behold.

For anyone with a passing interest in the horror genre this is a film to include on that 'TO SEE' list. For fans of werewolf movies this should go on that 'MUST SEE' list.

A television news presenter helps find a serial killer and suffers from PTSD after the experience.

All good monster-transformation movies highlight 'the beast' lurking within everyone and The Howling does this well with it's continual threat of violence and lust associated with the pleasures of the flesh.

As a werewolf movie, the plot is slightly obscure in that focuses on parodies such as the self help retreat and the media obsession with violence. There are also some tributes to Joe Dante's favourite pop culture icons and you might feel certain characters are there by his whim as opposed to being overly important to the plot.

The horror scenes and werewolf effects and very impressive for the era, particularly the transformation of one character.

Dee Wallace leads the cast very well and is supported well by the other actors. Dick Miller has his standard Dante cameo and is great as always.

I have never been a fan of the werewolf sub-genre, in fact, there are only three other werewolf films I would rate highly. 'The Wolf Man,' 'An American Werewolf in London' and 'Dog Soldiers.' After ages of putting this one off I finally bit the bullet and put it in. I am glad I did. Joe Dante's 'The Howling' is not only a great werewolf movie, it is a really good movie. Featuring a great performance by Dee Wallace, some excellent transformation scenes and gore and some genuinely weird settings this is a a genre-defining movie. My attention was immediately drawn from the start and not once was I looking at my watch or waiting for the end. The story is interesting and is very evenly paced and the creepy woods setting (with some atmospheric fog to boot) kept me tense throughout. Moreover, when the first transformation scene occurred (during sex by a campfire!) I was even more engaged.

Joe Dante's direction and sly sense of humour probably helped this movie quite a bit, though. Especially with the ending, which was tragic and although out of place (for me, anyway) did suit the movie. Overall, 'The Howling' was surprisingly good and features one of the coolest transformation scenes I have ever seen! 3½/5

Terrific modern werewolf film from director Joe Dante remains one of his best movies.

News Anchor has a terrifying encounter with a lunatic murderer, then decides to seek rest in an isolated colony of weird characters. It's about to become a hairy situation!

Writer John Sayles (who does a humorous cameo as a morgue attendant) makes The Howling a clever and deeply spooky picture with some nicely tongue-in-cheek humor. The story references lots of old-school horror movies, notice how many of the characters in this movie are named after directors of old werewolf films. Dante lends some well-crafted direction, giving the movie a truly haunting atmosphere. He builds some great suspense and the occasional good shock. The art direction by Robert Burns is also quite good, making for some creepy settings. Rob Bottin's makeup FX are impressive and frightening. Pino Donaggio's music score is splendidly dramatic.

Dee Wallace Stone does a strong performance as the film's troubled heroine. Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, Belinda Balaski, and Christoper Stone are also good in their supporting roles. Elisabeth Brooks and Robert Picardo make for some truly scary villains.

Along with Landis's great American Werewolf in London, which ironically came out the same year as this film, The Howling ranks as one of the very best modern werewolf movies!

**** out of ****

You know, I'd never seen this the whole way through. And it's great! Oh, there are some cheesy track-through-the-cocktail-party setups, and the movie really should have given us a few minutes to get to know Dee Wallace BEFORE she became a nervous wreck. But I like how the husband is this mustachioed vegetarian lunkhead, basically useless, and I like how good old John Sayles' script combines werewolves and encounter groups without making it into a Metaphor for Society or anything. It's just a smart jape - evidently Dante's specialty - as evidenced by the preponderance of movie insider gags, including characters named David Hewitt and Sam Newfield and a cameo where Roger Corman checks the pay phone for change. The effects are great. And it's lovely to see Carradine in a quality production, the old coot looks like he's having a really good time.

Big fan of Gremlins, and always heard tell of how good The Howling was. Problem was I'd never been able to get more than 30 mins into it without something annoying me so badly I had to rage quit. Well, I finally got through it. Right to the end and yeah, it isn't for me.

Not sure what the budget was on this thing, but man oh man does it look bad. Its shot with soft lighting, and not enough lighting, and most of the time looks like Vaseline was on the lens. I think its a technique to mask the low budget special effects. Also, the famous transformation scene which I finally got to goes on for like two minutes too long and isn't that interesting. I prefer the Rat in From Dusk Till Dawn, at least he doesn't mess around. Having recently watched E.T. again I think I've identified my major problem with The Howling. Poor Dee Wallace, who also plays E.T.'s mother, is on screen most of the time, and she's just not a good actress. She's more convincing here than in E.T. but really she just doesn't sell any of it. And that really pulls a picture down when your protagonist, your anchor, just doesn't convince or draw you in. So, yeah. While probably landmark in 1983, The Howling is one I've always struggled to get through, tried to force myself to like, but at the end of the day its a movie its not homework, you don't have to like it. If I had to pinpoint the other main thing that frustrated me about The Howling it would be that the actual werewolves don't do get to do much. They spend so long transforming its like that's all they're good for. Its pretty funny when you think about it. Again, a question of what was possible with the special effects, but earlier films did more. Nosferatu (1922) and Dracula (1931) are incredible to this day. The Howling (1983) is not.

Its funny, maybe the genre just isn't for me. I can't think of a single werewolf movie I've liked except the remake to American Werewolf, and that one probably just hit me because I saw it at the right age, in the cinema. Maybe there's a time for werewolves, and you only get one chance. Its like falling in love.