The Howling (film)

The Howling is a 1981 horror-comedy film directed by Joe Dante. Based on the novel by Gary Brandner, the film is written by John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless. It is about a country resort run by werewolves. The original music score is composed by Pino Donaggio. The film is marketed with the tagline Imagine your worst fear a reality.

Plot

Karen White is a reporter who is being stalked by a murderer named Eddie Quist. In cooperation with the police, she takes part in a scheme to capture Eddie by agreeing to meet him. Eddie forces Karen to watch a video of a young woman being raped, and when Karen turns around to see Eddie she screams. The police enter and shoot Eddie, and although Karen is safe, she suffers amnesia. Her therapist decides to send her and her husband to "The Colony" in the countryside to receive treatment. The Colony is filled with strange characters, and one, a nymphomaniac named Marsha Quist, tries to seduce Karen's husband. After Karen's husband is ambushed by a wolf-like creature, he returns to Marsha and the two have sex. During the encounter, both shapeshift into werewolves. Meanwhile, Eddie mysteriously escapes from the morgue.

Eddie travels to The Colony, where he encounters Karen once again and transforms himself into a werewolf while she watches. She escapes him, and Eddie is later shot by Karen's friend, with a silver bullet. As it turns out, however, everyone in The Colony is a werewolf. These werewolves can shapeshift at will; they do not require a full moon. Karen and her friend survive their attacks and burn The Colony to the ground. Karen resolves to warn the world about the existence of werewolves, and surprises her employers by launching into her warnings while on television. Then, to prove her story, she herself shapeshifts into a werewolf, having become one after being attacked at The Colony. She is shot on live air, and the world is left to wonder whether the transformation and shooting really happened or was the work of special effects. It is also revealed that Marsha escaped The Colony alive and well.

Main cast

Dee Wallace-Stone - Karen White
Patrick Macnee - Dr. George Waggner
Dennis Dugan - Chris Dugan
Belinda Balaski - Terry Fisher
Christopher Stone - R. William "Bill" Neill
Kevin McCarthy - Fred Francis
John Carradine - Erle Kenton
Slim Pickens - Sam Newfield
Robert Picardo - Eddie Quist
Dick Miller - Walter Paisley
Elisabeth Brooks - Marsha Quist
Noble Willingham - Charlie Barton
Kenneth Tobey - Older Cop
Jim McKrell - Lew Landers

Production

Though the film has been noted for its witty screenplay, it began life as a more straight forward 1977 novel by Gary Brandner. After drafts by Jack Conrad (the original director who left following difficulties with the studio) and Terence H. Winkless proved unsatisfactory, director Joe Dante hired John Sayles to completely rewrite the script. Sayles' draft bears very little resemblance to Brandner's book.

It was the first werewolf movie ever to show the transformation from man to wolf without the use of camera dissolve.

Due to their work in The Howling, Dante and producer Michael Finnell received the opportunity to make the film Gremlins (1984). That film references The Howling with a smiley face image on a refrigerator door. There are smiley faces seen in several places throughout The Howling.

Actors Robert Picardo, Dick Miller, Noble Willingham and Kenneth Tobey all later appeared in the Star Trek spin-offs.

Reception

Critical response to The Howling varied. Writing in 1981, Roger Ebert dismissed the film as the "Silliest film seen in some time..." ^* Conversely, Leonard Maltin wrote in his book 2002 Movie & Video Guide that The Howling is a "hip, well-made horror film" and noted the humourous references to classic werewolf cinema.

The film won the 1980 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film.

Sequels

External links

The unofficial site