The Howling (1981)

 

When it comes to the big four in horror monster history, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, and The Mummy, I have always had a soft spot in my black soul for The Wolf Man.  Man by day and a blood thirsty beast at night when the full moon rises.  He must kill even if he doesn't want to.  The Howling is not just about one werewolf but an entire colony of them.  The Howling was one of three films about werewolves released almost at the same time Wolfen being another and the third on is the very well known An American Werewolf in London.  Special effects wiz Rich Baker left The Howling to go work on American Werewolf but not before he gave the rest of the effects crew all they needed to create their creatures.  To date this has one of the best transformation scenes in a werewolf movie I've ever seen.  But I'm jumping ahead here.  Let's start with the basics:  The Howling is director Joe Dante's second horror film and fourth film overall.  It is here that I feel he finds his feet and is able to use The Howling as a jumping off point for a career that would become impressive rather quickly.  After The Howling he moved on to Twilight Zone the Movie and Gremlins.   

Starring in the film is Dee Wallace (Cujo, E.T the Extraterrestrial, and Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween) as TV news reporter Karen White who is stalked by a serial killer.  After a traumatic event, she is sent by her therapist Dr. Waggner, played by Patrick Macnee (View to a Kill and the TV series The Avengers), along with Christopher Stone (Cujo and Love Me Deadly) who plays her husband Bill to a rehab facility in the countryside for some R and R.  There they meet some interesting characters including Elisabeth Brooks (Deep Space and The Forgotten One) as Marsha who tries to seduce Bill.  Turns out the entire colony are werewolves who are not at the mercy of the full moon.  They can change at will into a werewolf and they remain fully conscious of their actions while in their wolf forms unlike other werewolf stories.  Along the way we meet up with some great actors playing some bit parts but very memorable ones.  They include Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatcher) as Karen's boss at the TV station, Slim Pickens, John Carradine as Earle Kenton the patriarch of the colony, Dick Miller legendary character actor extraordinaire along with his often boss Roger Corman.  Also along for the ride in a short scene is Forrest J. Ackermann from Famous Monsters magazine.  This would begin a long chain of films Dante would direct where he used character actors for bit parts in his films.        

 

 

 

Of the three werewolf films I mentioned earlier this one, in my opinion falls somewhere in between the other two.  The story, while not all that original or surprising is held together by all the actors here.  Wallace is fantastic (as usual) as she struggles along from one threat to another in an attempt to figure out what is going on and not only save herself but perhaps the world as we know it.  The film is well paced and as I said before features a really impressive werewolf transformation that has to be seen to be believed.  If you've seen American Werewolf in London you have seen a similar transformation.  The different between the transformations is the same differences the two movies have.  Where American Werewolf at times plays for laughs, The Howling takes itself very serious.  Depending on how you feel about horror comedies you may lean one way or the other.  I lean towards American Werewolf but to each his own.  I'll give this three and a half vats of acid to the face out of five.  This one is worth it just for the transformation and Wallace's turn as a vulnerable yet strong leading woman.