When I first saw The Howling, it was via the film's original videotape incarnation (unfortunately I missed out on the theatrical run). At the time, I thought the film was bizarre and rather overrated. Of course, I was only seeing part of the film; the video was so dark and murky that I could not see what was going on most of the time. It was not until years later that I watched a `cleaned up' cable presentation and realized what a good movie The Howling really is. Perhaps the better the image, the more enjoyable my experience, because seeing The Howling on DVD I was finally able to fully appreciate its greatness.
Karen White (Dee Wallace) is a Los Angeles reporter suffering from nightmares, panic attacks, and frigidity as a result of a botched undercover mission to trap a serial killer called 'Eddie the Mangler'. Karen's psychologist, Dr. Waggner (Patrick MacNee), advises her to stay at `The Colony', a self-help village that he operates. She and her husband Bill (Christopher Stone) travel to this secluded sector in Northern California for a week long `therapeutic vacation'. Before long, though, Karen starts to sense something is very wrong in The Colony. Her nightmares are becoming more vivid, and are now incorporating images of her husband and of people staying in The Colony. She hears howling in the night, and finds a mutilated cow in the woods.
Meanwhile, back in L.A., Terry (Belinda Balaski) and Chris (John Dugan), a young couple who work at Karen's TV station, investigate the death of Eddie the Mangler for a news special the station has planned. Eddie's body disappears from the morgue, and they investigate further, only to discover that he was obsessed with werewolf mythology. When a panicky Karen calls Terry to tell her that Bill was bitten by a wolf in the woods, she rushes to The Colony to offer comfort and further her investigation. At this point, I will say no more. Of course you can probably figure out where it is headed, and if not by this point in the film you will know exactly what is going on. But The Howling is a film full of twists and turns and to spoil even one of them would be an injustice to first-time viewers.
I have not seen enough werewolf movies to recognize every homage paid by this film, but apparently most of the characters are named after werewolf movie directors. Additionally, an expository scene from The Wolf Man plays as Terry learns that Bill has been bitten by a wolf, and a cartoon adaptation of The Three Little Pigs is cut into a scene of a woman being cornered by a werewolf. And there are a course an endless roster of genre cameos; Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), B-movie king Roger Corman, and Joe Dante regular Dick Miller, to name a few. Sound familiar? Sixteen years before Scream was even a reality, The Howling invented the `self-referential scary movie' sub-genre. In fact, the humor laced throughout the film is generally the most celebrated element of The Howling. It was certainly among the most influential; contemporary classics like Evil Dead, Fright Night, Return of the Living Dead, Re-Animator, and of course Scream owe a debt to the road paved by this film.
The humor may be the most widely regarded facet of this film. However, in the end this is a horror movie, and a damn scary one. As much as I love the somewhat similar An American Werewolf in London, I give The Howling the edge largely because it never gets carried away with the comedic elements. Joe Dante, who at this point was best known for the cult classic Piranha, updated werewolf folklore by applying it to two of the more popular horror trends of the time: female paranoia (Rosemary's Baby, The Stepford Wives, Suspiria) and fear of non-urban environments (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Deliverance, The Hills Have Eyes). Dante makes the most of these two thematic elements, while also cultivating a classic, spooky atmosphere rarely seen in post-Psycho horror movies. Dante also manages to tap into primal childhood fears of the dark, the woods, the fog, and The Big Bad Wolf. In fact, some of the film's most terrifying scenes make their mark because they so aptly recreate images from Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs.
Looking back, it really is shocking how ahead-of-its-time this movie was. Not only did it turn the mirror on horror films of the past and present, but it also offered a shockingly accurate, post-Network glimpse into the media. From what I have read, the novel The Howling by Gary Brandner is vastly different, particularly in this regard. Instead of being an author (as she was in the book), Karen is a reporter, and this allows Dante to explore the notion that the American public was so desensitized by 1981 that television had to resort to extreme shock tactics to maintain viewership. Yet even more innovative is the similar viewpoint that people were also too sophisticated to believe anything even if it happened right in front of them. In a time of unprecedented cynicism and complacency (not to mention being the era of `reality shows'), Dante's message is more relevant than ever.
When The Howling was released, it was extremely well received by critics and became a box office hit. Dee Wallace went on to play the mother in E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (prompting one of the funniest lines in Scream). Joe Dante went on to direct the blockbuster Gremlins. And special make-up effects man Rob Bottin went on to such films as The Thing, Total Recall, and Se7en. As the cast and crew were busy moving on with their own successes, The Howling did not get its inevitable sequel until 1985's loosely related (or so I have heard) The Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf. Over the next ten years The Howling would amass a total of six sequels, many of them barely released in theaters or sent straight to video. I have intentionally avoided these films, but from what I understand they give Amityville a run for its money as the worst horror franchise of them all. In fact, The Howling IV: The Original Nightmare, is actually a remake of the first film! Normally a string of ill received follow-ups harms a film's reputation, but in this case, it may have actually strengthened it. More than two decades after its initial release, The Howling remains one of the most enduring horror films of the 80s.
My Grade: A+
Karen White (Dee Wallace) is a Los Angeles reporter suffering from nightmares, panic attacks, and frigidity as a result of a botched undercover mission to trap a serial killer called 'Eddie the Mangler'. Karen's psychologist, Dr. Waggner (Patrick MacNee), advises her to stay at `The Colony', a self-help village that he operates. She and her husband Bill (Christopher Stone) travel to this secluded sector in Northern California for a week long `therapeutic vacation'. Before long, though, Karen starts to sense something is very wrong in The Colony. Her nightmares are becoming more vivid, and are now incorporating images of her husband and of people staying in The Colony. She hears howling in the night, and finds a mutilated cow in the woods.
Meanwhile, back in L.A., Terry (Belinda Balaski) and Chris (John Dugan), a young couple who work at Karen's TV station, investigate the death of Eddie the Mangler for a news special the station has planned. Eddie's body disappears from the morgue, and they investigate further, only to discover that he was obsessed with werewolf mythology. When a panicky Karen calls Terry to tell her that Bill was bitten by a wolf in the woods, she rushes to The Colony to offer comfort and further her investigation. At this point, I will say no more. Of course you can probably figure out where it is headed, and if not by this point in the film you will know exactly what is going on. But The Howling is a film full of twists and turns and to spoil even one of them would be an injustice to first-time viewers.
I have not seen enough werewolf movies to recognize every homage paid by this film, but apparently most of the characters are named after werewolf movie directors. Additionally, an expository scene from The Wolf Man plays as Terry learns that Bill has been bitten by a wolf, and a cartoon adaptation of The Three Little Pigs is cut into a scene of a woman being cornered by a werewolf. And there are a course an endless roster of genre cameos; Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), B-movie king Roger Corman, and Joe Dante regular Dick Miller, to name a few. Sound familiar? Sixteen years before Scream was even a reality, The Howling invented the `self-referential scary movie' sub-genre. In fact, the humor laced throughout the film is generally the most celebrated element of The Howling. It was certainly among the most influential; contemporary classics like Evil Dead, Fright Night, Return of the Living Dead, Re-Animator, and of course Scream owe a debt to the road paved by this film.
The humor may be the most widely regarded facet of this film. However, in the end this is a horror movie, and a damn scary one. As much as I love the somewhat similar An American Werewolf in London, I give The Howling the edge largely because it never gets carried away with the comedic elements. Joe Dante, who at this point was best known for the cult classic Piranha, updated werewolf folklore by applying it to two of the more popular horror trends of the time: female paranoia (Rosemary's Baby, The Stepford Wives, Suspiria) and fear of non-urban environments (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Deliverance, The Hills Have Eyes). Dante makes the most of these two thematic elements, while also cultivating a classic, spooky atmosphere rarely seen in post-Psycho horror movies. Dante also manages to tap into primal childhood fears of the dark, the woods, the fog, and The Big Bad Wolf. In fact, some of the film's most terrifying scenes make their mark because they so aptly recreate images from Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs.
Looking back, it really is shocking how ahead-of-its-time this movie was. Not only did it turn the mirror on horror films of the past and present, but it also offered a shockingly accurate, post-Network glimpse into the media. From what I have read, the novel The Howling by Gary Brandner is vastly different, particularly in this regard. Instead of being an author (as she was in the book), Karen is a reporter, and this allows Dante to explore the notion that the American public was so desensitized by 1981 that television had to resort to extreme shock tactics to maintain viewership. Yet even more innovative is the similar viewpoint that people were also too sophisticated to believe anything even if it happened right in front of them. In a time of unprecedented cynicism and complacency (not to mention being the era of `reality shows'), Dante's message is more relevant than ever.
When The Howling was released, it was extremely well received by critics and became a box office hit. Dee Wallace went on to play the mother in E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (prompting one of the funniest lines in Scream). Joe Dante went on to direct the blockbuster Gremlins. And special make-up effects man Rob Bottin went on to such films as The Thing, Total Recall, and Se7en. As the cast and crew were busy moving on with their own successes, The Howling did not get its inevitable sequel until 1985's loosely related (or so I have heard) The Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf. Over the next ten years The Howling would amass a total of six sequels, many of them barely released in theaters or sent straight to video. I have intentionally avoided these films, but from what I understand they give Amityville a run for its money as the worst horror franchise of them all. In fact, The Howling IV: The Original Nightmare, is actually a remake of the first film! Normally a string of ill received follow-ups harms a film's reputation, but in this case, it may have actually strengthened it. More than two decades after its initial release, The Howling remains one of the most enduring horror films of the 80s.
My Grade: A+