Truly Dreadful Film

Pretty Good

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Horror movies are very picky in hands of others. Why it makes it awesome? It has agood base, for 1. It has a news lady that is in a mission on a guy that has killed people. To meet at a booth, then ends up at a porn place. The guy is behind her durning filming nad starts changing she is so terrified. Can't remember, her at first loving man shes with is so understanding, she talks to some Doc guy to go to a little colony, everyone is pretty much nice, but has a spooky side. Vibe. Now the points. 1) The werewolves look awesome their on their hind legs, big jaws, the best looking i ever seen. NO joke. 2) Unlike other werewolf movies , you can see them changing in many times, their mouth moves out, and claws coming out, it looks like real effects on their face changing boiling looking the graphics look so real! 3) Great characters, and great story mode as in Example 1. The way the colony changes has DIck Miller in it, the best person in it comes into save day. The music is freaky, the atmosphere is freaky, just everyone has something to complain about. I love werewolv movies, but none no matter if Dog Soliders or Howling 2 was not bad, and afew others i give a ok or 2nd best on comes close to this, it has everything spooky area, spooky music the werewolves changing so realistic unlike any i ever seeen ever. The way they look their big mouth, big ears. LOng legs, Others looked way more costume some were on it yes or could tell others it looked so real good. The best even if not liked like it should be. No werewolv movie is close to this. 10/10

First of all I like to say I'm a big fan of werewolves horror movies! The Howling (1981) is the sole best of the Howling movie series! The Howling (1981) is loaded with suspense, horror, terror (Great\Good Fear), a bit of sex and nudity (which comes with the territory of werewolves films often! 8), great costume and special effects. And most importantly of all, you'll see the best werewolf transformation in horror cinema history! Kudos\Bravo to the Makeup Department: Rick Baker ... special makeup effects consultant Joe Beserra ... makeup effects studio artist Rob Bottin ... special makeup effects creator Greg Cannom ... additional makeup effects Bill Davis ... assistant makeup artist Morton Greenspoon ... creative contact lens effects (as Morton K. Greenspoon O.D.) Tina Kline ... contact lens technician (as Tina Klein) Shawn McEnroe ... first makeup effects assistant Medusah ... assistant hair stylist (as Anne Aulenta-Spira) / assistant makeup artist (as Anne Aulenta-Spira) Art Pimentel ... second makeup effects assistant Margaret Prentice ... makeup effects studio artist (as Margaret Beserra) Josephine Turner ... special hair work / wig maker Gigi Williams ... hair stylist / makeup artist Kevin Brennan ... special makeup effects artist (uncredited) Steve LaPorte ... special makeup effects artist (uncredited) Bill Sturgeon ... creature effects crew (uncredited).And kudos\bravo to the cast & production crew of this film who made it the best werewolves movie ever! 8)

Director Joe Dante wasn't known for much in the horror world besides his 1978 film Piranha when he dove into The Howling (based on the book of the same name by Gary Brandner, though it apparently bears only a slight resemblance to the original story) a few years later. It was one of many werewolf movies to crop up in the 80s (others include An American Werewolf in London, Teen Wolf, and The Company of Wolves) and certainly one of the most iconic. Its financial success was instrumental in him being chosen by Warner Bros. to direct Gremlins just a few years later.The story centers around Karen White (Dee Wallace), a news anchor in Los Angeles who is being stalked by serial murderer Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo in his very first movie role). She works alongside the police to lure him to a porno theater where he is fatally shot after revealing his true form to her. She suffers amnesia after the encounter and her psychiatrist (Patrick Macnee) encourages her to take a leave of absence to his secluded resort in the woods — called The Colony — with her husband (Christopher Stone) so she can rest and regain her memory. While there, she realizes this group of psychiatric patients all have one thing in common, and it's not their doctor…** SPOILERS! **A huge part of why I loved this movie so much was how self-aware it was — almost satirical at times. It is filled to the absolute brim with references, homages, and cameos. Roger Corman appears as a man waiting outside of a phone booth, while Forrest J. Ackerman is seen at the occult bookstore holding a copy of his own Famous Monsters of Filmland. There are endless subtle hints by fellow patients at The Colony — "I sleep like the dead" or "I figure another five years of real hard work and maybe I'll be a human being"– or workers at the morgue — "he didn't get up and walk out on his own" — or even Karen's own husband — mentioning several times about how he tries to stay away from meat, but voraciously inhaling exactly that when their friend Terry (Belinda Balaski) comes to visit, mentioning "I get hungry enough, I'll eat anything!". There are several cans of Wolf brand chili spotted throughout, a copy of Allen Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems casually laying on a desk, Bill reading "You Can't Go Home Again" after he's bitten, a TV playing the Looney Toons episode with the Big Bad Wolf. The list could go on, but I loved all of the little references here and there.The special effects are, understandably, one of the main things this movie is known for. Rick Baker (Squirm, Men in Black, Videodrome) was originally in charge of the monster makeup, but he actually passed to work on An American Werewolf in London (and created easily the best werewolf transformation of all time) and left his assistant, Rob Bottin, to work in his absence. Bottin already had The Fog under his belt, and rocked this job as well.He clearly learned well from Baker but had his own distinct style — Eddie Quist's transformation scene is one of the most terrifying things I've seen in a long time. The skin on his face bubbling like it was about to explode at any second, his hands stretching to impossibly thin fingers, his eyes rolling around in his head… shudder. I couldn't look away. Probably the only downside to that scene, if I had to come up with one, was how calm and unaffected Karen seemed — she sticks around, looking on quite casually, for the entirety of his gruesome change before she finally retaliates. I also enjoyed Bill's transformation scene in the woods (though that was very brief), as well as the severed arm of a werewolf attacker transforming back into its human form.I think, most of all, I loved the humanity that this movie brought to the werewolves. The duality of their persona can be disappointingly understated at times, but this film brought to light how conflicted some of them may be. Clearly some of the werewolves have a desire to get back to the ways of the past — "you can't tame what's meant to be wild, Doc — it ain't natural" — but some, maybe most of all Dr. Waggner himself, want to find a way to keep their urges contained. Him blurting out "thank God" as he's shot with a silver bullet was subtle but so meaningful.The greatest example of this was the ending itself. Karen, knowing she was bit and doomed to a life that she was so disgusted by, still wants to do the only thing in her power to try to warn others so they don't fall prey to the same beasts. Her willingly transforming ON LIVE TELEVISION as a single tear rolls down her cheek (and then being shot dead as families at home and drunks in bars watched, wide-eyed) was just the coolest damn thing… and all of the viewers barely batting an eye, chalking it up to advanced special effects, is as relevant today as ever.Absolutely one of the greats, both for werewolf movies and horror in general.

The Howling (1981) is an underrated cult classic werewolf film of the 80's a masterpiece in all horror genre. It is one of my personal favorite horror movies. From the director of Gremlins and Piranha comes the ultimate masterpiece of primal terror. Filed with edge-of-your-seat suspense genuine thrills and amazing special effects, this riveting werewolf tale sinks in teeth into your deepest fear and never lest go. This is my third favorite werewolf film of all time, I love this film to death! It was filmed and released the same year as was An American Werewolf in London my number 2 favorite werewolf horror film this is the third one that I love to death! A hip, well-made horror film brimming with film-buff jokes and amazing wolf transformations! This is still one of my favorite werewolf films, it isn't a great movie but the effects, directing and acting are really solid. Now, I do admit that there are a couple missed opportunities regarding the werewolves screen time-wise, like they could've shown some earlier in the film. But still, it's a pretty good film. This movie got a several sequels which I don't care for but I am going to give a second chance to see Howling II: Stirba - Werewolf Bitch (1985) because it has a good theme score.he film is about a television newswoman (Dee Wallace) sent to a remote mountain resort after a fatal incident with a serial killer, unaware that the inhabiting residents are werewolves. First and for most this is THE werewolf movie that started it all Besides American Werewolf in London (classic by the way) but this is a true werewolf horror. What a cast!!! The lovely delightful Dee Wallace oh my god, she was everyone's favorite movie mom (ET) The special effects (c'mon people for its time 1980/1981) great editing, amazing creepy music, weird people, a very secluded setting.. werewolf's!! Need I say more!! Anyone who knows horror films understands "The Howling" was a ground breaking film, and not just for the cutting edge SFX (for the time) that still holds up today.What I love about this film is beautiful actress Belinda Balaski as Terry Fisher who sees the island that a serial killer (Eddie Robert Picardo) drew, she run to the cabin and she fight off the werewolf, she chopped a werewolf's hand with an ax what a shocker. In this movie you have a pack of werewolf's who kill's people and Dee Wallece has to fight for her own life. I love the transformation of werewolf's in this film, I love the character Chris Halloran (Dennis Dugan) shooting werewolf's with a silver bullets. Chris bolts werewolf's inside of barn and together, Karen and Chris pour gasoline all around the barn and set it on fire and kills the rest of the werewolf's this a bad ass scene and the best one in the movie! I love the howling in this movie, Karen and Chris are surrounded in the car by group of werewolf's and they hardly escape. Karen is bitten by werewolf wow I love this movie. I love the music score by Pino Donaggio and mostly I love the acting by Dee Wallace.The film won the 1980 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film while still in development, and was one of the three high-profile wolf-themed horror films released in 1981, alongside An American Werewolf in London and Wolfen. Over the years, The Howling has accumulated a cult following. Its financial success aided Joe Dante's career, and prompted Warner Bros. to hire Dante (as director) and Michael Finnell (as producer) for Gremlins. A franchise consisting of seven sequels arose from the film's success.The Howling (1981) is my second personal favorite werewolf horror slasher film in the horror genre I love this movie 10 out of 10 it is wisely scary and it is also intelligent film.