SonnyFern, that was a great critique on the film. Well done.

I'm surprised I haven't touched on this film before, but let me add my two cents.

In my lifetime, there were three werewolf movies that made me a fan for life. All three hold a special place in my heart. The original WolfMan movie was the first I saw as a kid and it opened my eyes to the werewolf movie for the first time. An American Werewolf in London was the second I saw and it had a great storyline, a dark edge of humor and an outstanding transfomation scene.

But with The Howling, like SonnyFern said, it opened a whole new door to the werewolf genre. It showed werewolves not as tortured souls who couldn't deal with what was happening to them (as was the case with the WolfMan and AWIL),  it showed them as those who not only accepted their gift, but embraced it. It introduced a werewolf pack as opposed to a lone wolf. It had some great dialogue that was smart, funny and sharp. And it introduced characters that left a lasting impression.

But, what really made the movie was the transfomation scene. It wasn't just a fade in trick with the camera, like they did with The WolfMan (even though I still like that transformation) or the other old werewolf flicks. It was an all out man-to-werewolf transformation. Who cares if it was slow and drawn out? Who cares if it took several minutes and slowed the movie's pacing down? Flat out, it was the coolest thing I had ever seen.

And it showed just about every part of Eddie's transformation well, from the claws extending out of his bloody hand to the eyes rolling back to the hair extending out of every pore of his skin as it busted through his clothing. From the time you saw his muzzle extendinig out of his face and the ears grwoing atop his head, you couldn't help but be riveted just like Karen was at that clinic. And what made it even cooler, Eddie reveled in every minute of it, even giving off a bit of a smile as he continued to change.

Like I said, it was flat out the coolest transformation scene I've ever seen. And to this day, even though I've seen this film countless times on TV, on video, on laserdisc (which a friend of mine made a videotape copy for me) and now on DVD, I'm still find myself fascinated by that scene each time I see it. And it still blows my mind to this day that the guy who played the doctor in Star Trek Voyager was Eddie.

In any event, like SonnyFern and all the others who've commented on this forum, The Howling holds a place in my heart as one of the best werewolf movies out there. And even though the film's history may have taken a hit with the lame sequels that followed, it doesn't take anything away from what the original film has done for all of us werewolf fans.

A few years ago, I had the honor to meet Dee Wallace Stone, who played Karen, in person and told her what this film meant to me. She was pleased to hear that and to know that it still resonates to this day as a great werewolf movie.

But as we all know, to paraphase one of Eddie's classic lines, it was much more than that. Much more.

MarkOne - I am also shocked that the Star Trek Voyager doc was Eddie. It shows what a good actor can do.

Another thing about The Howling that I enjoyed was the use of seasoned actors like Slim Pickens and Patrick MacNee. They added a sense of normalcy, which made the whole concept of modern day werewolves a bit more plausible. Patrick MacNee's character was a psychologist, who was trying to teach the werewolf pack to "fit in" to society. In reality, their animal natures would prevent that. Slim Pickens as the local sheriff was classic casting to his prior movies.

Let's not forget the whole Bill-Marsha relationship. Lycanthropy added a whole new dimension to marital infidelity. Although Bill was an avowed vegetarian and athlete type, the werewolf bite soon turned him into a happy meat eater. Considering the unhappy state of his marriage, he subconsciously welcomed the freedom that Marsha offered him via werewolfism. Initially, he was upset over the change. By movie's end, he embraced the werewolf life and sided with Marsha as his mate. Sadly, this dynamic was not further explored in the sequel, due to the actress' illness. A good sequel plot line would have been Marsha pregnant with Bill's child.

Big question - should they remake the Howling?? if so, who to direct it??

Yep! Peter Jackson!

I think I'm gonna go with the books...

ya know...since you're all executive type...I had a little niggling though I'd like to put on paper...maybe I'll ask you some questions about big bad corporations??

I have it sort of outlined in my head....yeah I know scary thought...going with the werewolf lead corporation

a small techie corporation...yeah yeah...that's it...can't go wrong with technology...

What?!? No one has had anything to say here since August of 06??

Oh well, good thing I decided to mention that the nice folks at La-La Land Records have THE HOWLING soundtrack for $10. (around $15 with shipping in the US)

Just got mine and am listening to it now.

http://www.lalalandrecords.com/Howling.html

Yeah, I need to get back in to writing my sequel....

Baker? I guess, since Rob Bottin seems to not be doing much lately....

So I sat down and watched this movie for the first time. I found the plot quite interesting, although I think the end could have been better. The twist was cool but I think the look should have been consistent with the rest of the werewolves. I did like that they were not afraid to kill characters which really throws off the cliche of horror movies and the heroin surviving the terrible event.  I would have to say it was a good film overall, especially for its age.

aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrroooooooooooooooo

Elisabeth Brooks lost a fight to cancer in 1997.

Last edited by ArcLight (2009-07-28 11:34:29)