T.V. newswoman Karen White is being stalked by a serial killer named Eddie Quist. She agrees with the police to take part in a sting at a pornographic theater in order to get him captured. While the whole ordeal is a success, she suffers from amnesia following the incident, so her therapist decides to send Karen and her husband Bill to a private resort called "The Colony" for treatment. When they arrive, they meet a myriad of strange characters, and also can hear a faint howling in the distance...
Despite having a pretty good following, The Howling is still looked at by some as a very underrated werewolf movie, especially considering that it was released in the same year as An American Werewolf in London. The film separates itself from the pack (no pun intended) by being a very decidedly UN-werewolf movie for most of it's runtime, most notably in the first half. I know I've been saying this for a lot of my reviews so far, but this really does play out like a drama or mystery for the first 30-40 minutes, with little to no mentions of anything supernatural or monster-related. In some regards, it could be viewed as being very slow, but I think it helps build tension rather well. Apparently the first trailers for this film also had little to no mention of werewolves, so that must have added to the mystery even more.
The cast is pretty okay, though there were some parts where Dee Wallace Stone (who I'm convinced will never play anything other than wives or mothers in films) was starting to lose me. Everyone else ranges from good to just plain silly, with my personal favorite being Dick Miller playing a man who informs one of the younger couples in this film about the old mythos with werewolves and even sells silver bullets. Some of the other characters are almost a little too "obvious" with who they are and are trying to be, if you know what I mean. The score of this film was a high spot, done by the same gentleman who scored several Argento films and movies like Carrie. The highest praise I give to the film would be in the makeup department. Rick Baker was originally attached, but left to work on AAWIL. Rob Bottin, his replacement, does an excellent job though, as the transformation sequences look stellar and pretty god damn cool. Too bad that none of the sequels apparently top the work in this though.
So did I love The Howling? Eh, no. But I did really like it. It's got good tension, a decent script, and great makeup. It's ending, which apparently deviates from the book that this was based on, also packed quite a punch and I can see why they would feel the need for a sequel. Now SEVEN sequels? That's pushing it. And before you ask, no I will NOT be reviewing any of the sequels. I have my limits people.
Tomorrow, I take a dip in Italian waters and hope that I don't drown watching TENTACLES.
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