Karen White is an investigative TV reporter who suffers a nervous breakdown after a horrific encounter with Eddie Quist; a serial killer who gets gun down in front of Karen. To recover from this incident; she and her husband head to a remote psychiatric retreat run by Dr. George Waggner. But while there she becomes even more on edge, as Karen suspects that there are weird things going on at this camp with the woods coming to life with constant howling and one of the women there is getting real close to her husband. Meanwhile, back in LA her work buddies Chris and Terry continue their investigation into Eddie and come up with some unusual revelations. When they go to check out his corpses, the body is gone.
I don't know, but never really got the hype that surrounded this flick. The first time I watched it was somewhat unsatisfied. The next time it was slightly better, but I just couldn't put my finger on why its held up so high, as again I was still left a little unimpressed. So, third time around my thoughts are still the same, but I probably got a bit more from it now than from my previous two viewings. That's not to say I think now it's a grand piece of entertainment, more so a mildly riveting exercise that has it's pluses and minuses.
The film paired up director Joe Dante and screen writer John Sayles again, after their collaboration in the incredibly witty, 'Jaws' knock-off "Piranha (1978)". "The Howling" goes for a sinister outlook in its contemporary take on the werewolf genre and Sayles' thoughtful script steers mostly away from the clichés associated with Hollywood werewolf films. Here it sticks with the true mythology (being able to shape shift whenever) of the lycanthropy. The one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is the overabundance of in-jokes, satirical humour and references to old flicks. The sharply, sardonic humour seemed to hold a great rapport with the seriously morbid approach Dante went for here. What did get on my nerves though, was the plodding mid-section, which just didn't draw me in like I hoped. Well, I actually found the sub-plot with Chris and Terry investigating Eddie to be far more interesting with some unexpected developments than the main focus on the leadenly, dramatised interactions between Karen and her husband Bill with the strange occurrences at the medical retreat.
After the relentlessly, seedy atmospheric build up within the first ten minutes, the story slowly dragged for quite a bit. That's until it makes way for an anxiety packed final half hour with one or two memorably, jarring scenes. Although, I found the climax somewhat anti-climatic. When it wants to be suspenseful, it is. I just wish there was more of it. Since the undeniably grimy atmosphere is perfectly, high on mood and when it shifts to its forebodingly, foggy woodlands its hard to escape the nightmarish feel, especially at night with eerie howling. The scenery is simply top-notch. Now I just wish the characters followed the same suit. Honestly they were mostly a unlikable lot that I didn't I care for one bit. Actually, I enjoyed the support roles more than I did of the leads. Belinda Belaski and Dennis Dugan as Terry and Chris were sturdy in their performances and gave their characters a little bit of solidarity. Robert Picardo nails it down as the slithering, monstrous Eddie Quist. There's a neat cameo from Dick Millar too. But the rest just didn't do anything for me. Dee Wallace was rather unconvincing and predictably uneven in her performance I thought. The same for Christopher Stone as her husband Bill Neill. Patrick Macnee seems lost at sea as Dr. George Waggner.
What made the film has got to be the cracking special effects by Rob Bottin! I really liked the towering werewolf designs. But it was the transformations that caught the eye with the repulsively, petrifying body morphing. The convincing detail that went into it is exceptional, but I thought at times it did take away from the overall effect by going on for just too long. The light in those scenes and sometimes other sequences was extremely poor I thought. Even the editing is kind of choppy and there's a odd inventive camera shot amongst the orthodox frame shots. Sometimes I thought the zooms got to close to the action, where we don't always get a good look of what's happening. But the score just felt out-of-place and basically corny. The film does have a sleazy tone and there's a grisly werewolf attack here and there.
Even though I found "The Howling" to be rather unsavoury as a whole, but there's a definite backbone that holds the film together with its wry humour and gruesome make-up effects.
I don't know, but never really got the hype that surrounded this flick. The first time I watched it was somewhat unsatisfied. The next time it was slightly better, but I just couldn't put my finger on why its held up so high, as again I was still left a little unimpressed. So, third time around my thoughts are still the same, but I probably got a bit more from it now than from my previous two viewings. That's not to say I think now it's a grand piece of entertainment, more so a mildly riveting exercise that has it's pluses and minuses.
The film paired up director Joe Dante and screen writer John Sayles again, after their collaboration in the incredibly witty, 'Jaws' knock-off "Piranha (1978)". "The Howling" goes for a sinister outlook in its contemporary take on the werewolf genre and Sayles' thoughtful script steers mostly away from the clichés associated with Hollywood werewolf films. Here it sticks with the true mythology (being able to shape shift whenever) of the lycanthropy. The one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is the overabundance of in-jokes, satirical humour and references to old flicks. The sharply, sardonic humour seemed to hold a great rapport with the seriously morbid approach Dante went for here. What did get on my nerves though, was the plodding mid-section, which just didn't draw me in like I hoped. Well, I actually found the sub-plot with Chris and Terry investigating Eddie to be far more interesting with some unexpected developments than the main focus on the leadenly, dramatised interactions between Karen and her husband Bill with the strange occurrences at the medical retreat.
After the relentlessly, seedy atmospheric build up within the first ten minutes, the story slowly dragged for quite a bit. That's until it makes way for an anxiety packed final half hour with one or two memorably, jarring scenes. Although, I found the climax somewhat anti-climatic. When it wants to be suspenseful, it is. I just wish there was more of it. Since the undeniably grimy atmosphere is perfectly, high on mood and when it shifts to its forebodingly, foggy woodlands its hard to escape the nightmarish feel, especially at night with eerie howling. The scenery is simply top-notch. Now I just wish the characters followed the same suit. Honestly they were mostly a unlikable lot that I didn't I care for one bit. Actually, I enjoyed the support roles more than I did of the leads. Belinda Belaski and Dennis Dugan as Terry and Chris were sturdy in their performances and gave their characters a little bit of solidarity. Robert Picardo nails it down as the slithering, monstrous Eddie Quist. There's a neat cameo from Dick Millar too. But the rest just didn't do anything for me. Dee Wallace was rather unconvincing and predictably uneven in her performance I thought. The same for Christopher Stone as her husband Bill Neill. Patrick Macnee seems lost at sea as Dr. George Waggner.
What made the film has got to be the cracking special effects by Rob Bottin! I really liked the towering werewolf designs. But it was the transformations that caught the eye with the repulsively, petrifying body morphing. The convincing detail that went into it is exceptional, but I thought at times it did take away from the overall effect by going on for just too long. The light in those scenes and sometimes other sequences was extremely poor I thought. Even the editing is kind of choppy and there's a odd inventive camera shot amongst the orthodox frame shots. Sometimes I thought the zooms got to close to the action, where we don't always get a good look of what's happening. But the score just felt out-of-place and basically corny. The film does have a sleazy tone and there's a grisly werewolf attack here and there.
Even though I found "The Howling" to be rather unsavoury as a whole, but there's a definite backbone that holds the film together with its wry humour and gruesome make-up effects.