The Howling review.
Joe Dante’s The Howling is one of the better werewolf movie efforts. Often overshadowed by the superior An American Werewolf in London released later that same year…there is plenty to love in The Howling.
Classic movie reviews will contain spoilers.
The Howling
Directed by Joe Dante
Written by Gary Brander, John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless
Starring Dee Wallace, Christopher Stone, Robert Picardo, Kevin McCarthy, Slim Pickens and John Carradine
The Howling Review
1981 was the year of the werewolf. I’d argue that this would be true if the only release was John Landis’s An American Werewolf in London. It’s the best werewolf movie ever made. I’m not interested in debating that point. But 1981 had more in store than just the best of the subgenre. Albert Finney starred in Wolfen just a month before Landis’s classic hit screens. Genre mad man Larry Cohen offered up Full Moon High just a few months after it. The last werewolf film to arrive prior to the GOAT? Joe Dante’s The Howling. Released in March of 1981.
Joe Dante would give us Gremlins a few years after The Howling. Gremlins is the movie he’s going to be remembered for. As well it should be…it’s a horror comedy masterpiece. A movie on the same level as Landis’s werewolf film. Before we got to either…we have The Howling. A great movie in its own right. While it doesn’t quite have the spirit one has come to expect from Dante’s work…it does have a great, and original, werewolf tale to tell.
Dante starts The Howling slowly. We are offered only the briefest shadowed glimpse of what may or may not be a werewolf. Reporter Karen White (Dee Wallace) agrees to help entrap a serial killer named Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo). She (and we) sees what appears to be the wolf form of Eddie before he is seemingly killed by police. Karen carries some post traumatic stress for the rest of the movie. It takes 42 minutes for The Howling to deliver an actual wolf attack. Unfortunately for Karen, it’s her husband who ends up on the receiving end of the curse.
The werewolf rules are a bit different here than in most stories. The cursed can transform into a werewolf whenever they choose. No need for a full moon in The Howling. The silver bullet remains the standard way to end the curse, however. Like the wolves in The Howling, I go back and forth on the concept of transforming without the lunar cycle. It makes some unexpected moments in movies…but it kind of takes away the cursed aspect of the whole concept. When it’s used like it is here…I’m fine with it. When it’s used to write lazy stories…not so much.
The transformation scene in An American Werewolf in London arguably stands as the gold standard. The Howling is right up there. There are two major transformation scenes…both of which are all timers. The first is a double transformation during a sex scene. It’s some wild Joe Dante stuff, to be sure. Again, unfortunately for Karen, it’s her husband who transforms while having sex with a wolf-woman. It’s one of the best transformation scenes around…and it isn’t even the best transformation scene in this movie.
The title of best in this show goes to the slow transformation of Eddie Quist late in the movie. Unfortunately for Karen, the police don’t load silver bullets before shooting down serial killers. Outside of David’s legendary transformation in An American Werewolf in London…this is as good as it gets. It’s a long, long scene. We see every part of Eddie morph into his wolf form with the use of gorgeous practical effects.
Turns out, the whole colony she spends most of the movie in (at the behest of her therapist) is comprised of werewolves. Which, after a point, includes her husband. Karen (along with ex-boyfriend Chris) manages to escape the colony, burning it to the ground in her wake. Unfortunately for Karen, a wolf bites her before she can escape. Chris quickly kills the wolf. Afterwards, he transforms back into her husband Bill. A rough vacation for everyone.
The Howling raps up with Karen desperate to warn the world about the existence of werewolves. Her return story at the news station is on the very topic. In order to make people believe her…she transforms in front of the camera. The audience laughs it off as special effects. Chris shoots Karen. Unfortunately for Karen, Chris knows to load his gun with silver bullets.
The Howling is a great werewolf movie. It’s also a great Joe Dante movie even though it only hints at the fun he would have a few years later with Gremlins. With memorable transformation scenes and a completely original story…The Howling is a top tier werewolf movie. Unfortunately for Karen, the best one arrived right on its heels.
Scare Value
The Howling isn’t as funny as you might expect from a Joe Dante movie…but it has its moments. Despite spawning countless sequels to dull the name, The Howling is a great werewolf movie. Two of the best transformation scenes in werewolf history and a more than capable tale of lycanthropy. You can’t ask for much more than what The Howling has to offer.
The story would (unfortunately) continue in Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf
4/5
The Howling Links
Streaming on Shudder
Rent/Buy on VOD from Amazon
Buy on Blu-Ray from Amazon
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