The Howling

Yes! For a change in the horror genre this film does deserve all of the praise, hype, cult following and respect it receives, even from the critics. I would go so far as to even admit that I find this Joe (Gremlins, Innerspace, The 'burbs, Matinee, Small soldiers) Dante flick one of his best crafted works, followed by PIRANHA. It's always been a toss up between THE HOWLING and AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON for the most effective lycanthropy picture of postmodern horror cinema (anything since Psycho). Where John Landis used comedy more blatantly, the humour in THE HOWLING is far more satirical and subversive. Undoubtedly, Rob Bottin's effects steal the show as well as they did for John Carpenter's THE THING. The transformation of Eddie Quist, especially on the revamped DVD is something to behold. For anyone with a passing interest in the horror genre this is a film to include on that 'TO SEE' list. For fans of werewolf movies this should go on that 'MUST SEE' list.

This is an excellently crafted piece of work from former Roger Corman student, Joe Dante. I won't go much into the plot, but it involves a news woman who gets attacked while in a porno shop viewing room. To get her mind off things, a psychiatrist recommends she goes to his private retreat to be treated. After that, spooky happenings and strange deaths start occurring. This film has great direction and great atmosphere and mood. The lighting and use of fog is excellent and really hightens the spookiness of the film. One of the best werewolf transformations is shown in this film, rivaled only by the one in An American Werewolf in London. Although this movie starts out slow, the tension keeps rising and keeps you interested in what will happen next. The spookiness doesn't always lie within the content but also the claustrophobic feeling and the uncertainty of who you can trust. A very good movie, highly recommended.

A very long build up to the first scare, and even then it's not at all scary by today's standards. But there are still some enjoyable aspects. The storyline is well developed, the acting is pretty good, and the gags work well. The werewolf transformation is first rate, especially for the 80s. A pretty good movie in the end.

Attractive reporter(Dee Wallace Stone)is coming to a small health resort.What she doesn't know is that all the residents of this resort are werewolves."The Howling" is one of my favourite werewolf flicks.It features some of the best transformation scenes ever filmed,excellent special effects and a bit of irony.The acting is pretty good,and Joe Dante's direction is well-handled.There's a nice amount of blood and gore too!This shocker offers also some delicious sleaze(sex and full frontal nudity).However I'm not going to waste my time writing about its sequels,because they pretty much suck(still I haven't seen the fourth and fifth installments of this series).Joe Dante also made the kick-ass "Piranha"(1978).