The Howling (film)

For the novel, see The Howling. For The Howling EP by The Phantom Band, see The Phantom Band.

The Howling
File:The Howling (1981 film) poster.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Joe Dante
Produced by	Michael Finnell Jack Conrad
Screenplay by	John Sayles Terence H. Winkless
Based on	The Howling by Gary Brandner
Starring	Dee Wallace Patrick Macnee Dennis Dugan Christopher Stone Belinda Balaski
Music by	Pino Donaggio
Cinematography	John Hora
Edited by	Mark Goldblatt Joe Dante
Production company	International Film Investors Wescom Productions
Distributed by	Avco Embassy Pictures (United States) MGM (2003, DVD) Shout Factory (licensed from MGM) (2013, Blu-Ray DVD) Studio Canal
Release dates	April 10, 1981 (1981-04-10)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1.5 million (estimated)
Box office	$17.9 million

The Howling is a 1981 American horror film directed by Joe Dante, and starring Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, and Robert Picardo. Based on the novel of the same name by Gary Brandner, the film follows a television newswoman sent to a remote mountain resort after a fatal incident with a serial killer, unaware that the inhabiting residents are werewolves.

The film was released on April 10, 1981 and became a moderate success, grossing $17.9 million at the box office. The film received generally positive reviews, with praise regarding the makeup special effects from Rob Bottin. The film won the 1980 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film during the film's 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 film has accumulated a cult following, and the film's financial success helped the film career of Joe Dante, and prompted Warner Bros. to hire Dante (as director) and Michael Finnell (as producer) for Gremlins. The film's success spawned a franchise, consisting of eight sequels.

Plot

Karen White (Dee Wallace) is a Los Angeles television news anchor who is being stalked by a serial murderer named Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo). In cooperation with the police, she takes part in a scheme to capture Eddie by agreeing to meet him in a sleazy porno theater. Eddie forces Karen to watch a video of a young woman being raped, and when Karen turns around to see Eddie she screams. The police enter and shoot Eddie, and although Karen is safe, she suffers amnesia. Her therapist, Dr. George Waggner (Patrick Macnee), decides to send her and her husband, Bill Neill (Christopher Stone), to the "Colony", a secluded resort in the countryside where he sends patients for treatment.

The Colony is filled with strange characters, and one, a sultry nymphomaniac named Marsha Quist (Elisabeth Brooks), tries to seduce Bill. When he resists her less-than-subtle sexual overtures, he is attacked and bitten by a wolf-like creature while returning to his cabin. After Bill's wolf bite, Karen summons her friend Terri Fisher (Belinda Balaski) to the Colony, and Terri connects the resort to Eddie Quist through a sketch he left behind. Karen also begins to suspect that Bill is hiding a secret far more threatening than marital infidelity as he develops an appetite for meat. Later that night, Bill meets Marsha at a campfire in the woods. While having sex under the moonlight, they undergo a frightening transformation into wolf-like monsters.

While investigating the next morning, Terri is attacked by a werewolf in a cabin, though she escapes after cutting the monster's hand off with an axe. She runs to Waggner's office and places a phone call to her boyfriend, Chris Halloran (Dennis Dugan), who has been alerted about the Colony's true nature. While on the phone with Chris, Terri looks for files on Eddie Quist. When she finally finds Eddie in the file cabinet, she is attacked by Eddie (in his werewolf form) and tries to fight back. However, Terri is finally killed when she is picked up by him and bitten in the jugular vein. Chris hears this on the other end and sets off for the Colony armed with silver bullets.

Karen is confronted by the resurrected Eddie Quist once again, and Eddie transforms himself into a werewolf in front of her. In response, Karen splashes Eddie in the face with corrosive acid. She escapes, and Eddie is later shot by Chris with a silver bullet. However, as it turns out everyone in the Colony is a werewolf and can shapeshift at will, without need of a full moon. Karen and Chris survive their attacks and burn the Colony to the ground.

Karen resolves to warn the world about the existence of werewolves, and surprises her employers by launching into her warnings while on television. Then, to prove her story, she herself shapeshifts into a werewolf, having become one after being attacked at the Colony by her husband Bill. She is shot by Chris on live television, and the world is left to wonder whether the transformation and shooting really happened or if it was the work of special effects. It is also revealed that Marsha Quist escaped the Colony alive and well.

Cast

• Dee Wallace as Karen White
• Patrick Macnee as Dr. George Waggner
• Dennis Dugan as Chris Halloran
• Christopher Stone as R. William "Bill" Neill
• Belinda Balaski as Terri Fisher
• Kevin McCarthy as Fred Francis
• John Carradine as Erle Kenton
• Slim Pickens as Sam Newfield
• Elisabeth Brooks as Marsha Quist
• Robert Picardo as Eddie Quist
• Margie Impert as Donna
• Noble Willingham as Charlie Barton
• James Murtaugh as Jerry Warren
• Jim McKrell as Lew Landers
• Kenneth Tobey as Older Cop
• Dick Miller as Walter Paisley
• Meshach Taylor as Shantz

Production

Though the film has been noted for its semi-humorous screenplay, it began life as a more straight forward novel by Gary Brandner which was first published in 1977. After drafts by Jack Conrad (the original director who left following difficulties with the studio) and Terence H. Winkless proved unsatisfactory, director Joe Dante hired John Sayles to completely rewrite the script. The two had collaborated before on Dante's 1978 film Piranha. Sayles rewrote the script with the same self-aware, satirical tone that he gave Piranha, and his finished draft bears only a vague resemblance to Brandner's book. However, Winkless still received a co-writers credit along with Sayles for his work on the screenplay.

The cast featured a number of recognizable character actors such as Kevin McCarthy, John Carradine, Kenneth Tobey and Slim Pickens, many of whom appeared in genre films themselves. Additionally, the film was full of in-joke references (see 'Tributes' below). Roger Corman makes a cameo appearance as a man standing outside a phone booth, as does John Sayles, appearing as a morgue attendant and James Murtaugh as one of the members of the Colony. Forrest J. Ackerman appears in a brief cameo in an occult bookstore, clutching a copy of his magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland.

The Howling was also notable for its special effects, which were state-of-the-art at the time. The transformation scenes were created by Rob Bottin, who had also worked with Dante on Piranha. Rick Baker was the original effects artist for the film, but left the production to work on the John Landis film An American Werewolf in London, handing over the effects work to Rob Bottin. Bottin's most celebrated effect was the on-screen transformation of Eddie Quist, which involved air bladders under latex facial applications to give the illusion of transformation. In fact, Variety claims that The Howling's biggest flaw is that the impact of this initial transformation is never topped during the climax of the film. The Howling also features stop-motion animation by notable animator David W. Allen, and puppetry intended to give the werewolves an even more non-human look to them. Despite most of the special effects at the time, the silhouette of Bill and Marsha having sex as werewolves is quite obviously a cartoon animation. Joe Dante attributed this to budgetary reasons.

Due to their work in The Howling, Dante and producer Michael Finnell received the opportunity to make the film Gremlins (1984) for Steven Spielberg. That film references The Howling with a smiley face image on a refrigerator door. Eddie Quist leaves yellow smiley face stickers as his calling card in several places throughout The Howling.

Differences from Brandner's novel

The plot and characters of the film deviate from the original novel in many ways:

• In the novel, Karen White is called Karyn Beatty. Her husband in the novel is called Roy Beatty (as opposed to Bill Neill in the film). Neither Karyn or Roy work in television.
• In the novel, Karyn is raped by a man in her apartment. In the film, she is saved by the police before she is attacked by a werewolf in an adult bookstore.
• In the novel, Karyn's psychiatrist is only briefly mentioned. In the film, her psychiatrist is Dr. Waggner who is a major character.
• In the novel, Karyn goes to recuperate at Drago, a mountain village in California. In the film, she goes to "The Colony", a health resort run by her psychiatrist Dr. Waggner.
• Karyn's rapist in the novel is named Max Quist, and he is an ex-con who has no involvement with the village of Drago or its inhabitants. In the film, Karen's (attempted) attacker is named Eddie Quist and is already affiliated with the Colony before he meets Karen.
• Marsha Quist's name in the novel is Marcia Lura, a shopkeeper in Drago, and she is no relation to Max Quist.
• In the novel, Karyn and Roy bring their pet dog with them to the village, which is killed later on. In the film, they have no dog.
• The werewolves in the novel are described as completely wolf-like, though larger. The werewolves of the film are more anthropomorphic, and can walk on their hind legs, standing over seven feet tall.
• The werewolves in the novel are never seen in the daytime, suggesting that they can only change at night. The werewolves in the film can change at will at any time of the day and are seen in daylight hours.
• In the novel, the character Chris Halloran is Roy's best friend. In the film, Chris works with Karen and Bill at the television station. Karen's friend Terry (Chris's girlfriend) who also works at the station is not featured in the novel at all.
• In the novel, Karyn escapes from Drago unscathed (though traumatised) and survives after being rescued by Chris Halloran. In the film, she gets bitten by her husband who is now a werewolf, and later transforms into one herself on live television. She is then killed by Chris with a silver bullet, live on air.

Tributes

Director Joe Dante put many in-joke references in the film, including subtle references to wolves (The Big Bad Wolf from Ub Iwerks' Little Boy Blue (1936) is seen on TV, Sheriff Newfield is seen eating Wolf Brand chili and a similar can is seen on the counter in Eddie's cabin, a copy of the Allen Ginsberg book Howl appears, a mention of disc jockey Wolfman Jack, and in Karen and Bill's cabin there is a picture of a wolf who killed a sheep within the flock).

Furthermore, many characters in the film are named after horror film directors who directed other films that featured werewolves, including George Waggner, who directed The Wolf Man (1941). Others include R. William Neill (Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, 1943), Terence Fisher (The Curse of the Werewolf, 1960), Freddie Francis (Legend of the Werewolf, 1975), Erle Kenton (House of Dracula, 1945, which co-stars John Carradine, who plays Kenton in The Howling), Sam Newfield (The Mad Monster, 1942), Charles Barton (Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, 1948), Jacinto Molina (La Marca del Hombre Lobo, 1968) and Lew Landers (The Return of the Vampire, 1943).

Dick Miller's bookstore owner Walter Paisley gets his name from Miller's starring role in the low-budget horror film A Bucket of Blood (1959). Also present in the bookstore is the mummified Grandmother in an armchair from the attic of the house in the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre film.

The film's screenwriter and future director John Sayles, Dante's former producer Roger Corman (who directed A Bucket of Blood), and science fiction and horror film personality Forrest J. Ackerman all have cameos.

Reception

Critical response to The Howling was generally positive and currently holds a 66% approval rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 6.4 based on 29 reviews. In 1981, Roger Ebert's 2-out-of-4 star review described The Howling as the "silliest film seen in some time," but Ebert also said the special effects were good and the film was perhaps "worth your money, IF you get it two for one." However, Ebert's television partner Gene Siskel liked the film and gave it three and a half stars out of four. Leonard Maltin also wrote in his book 2002 Movie & Video Guide that The Howling is a "hip, well-made horror film" and noted the humorous references to classic werewolf cinema. Variety praised both the film's sense of humor and its traditional approach to horror. Kim Newman, in his 1988 book Nightmare Movies, called The Howling "a brisk chiller that effortlessly revives the prowling-through-misty-forests genre," and called Picardo's transformation sequence "the movies' most impressive werewolf monster."

The film won the 1980 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film (despite the fact it was not released until 1981). This film was also #81 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.

Home media

The Howling debuted on The Movie Channel on January 5, 1982 at 10 a.m. CST.

Shout! Factory re-released The Howling on DVD and Blu-ray on June 18, 2013 through their Scream Factory branch. The movie was previously released to DVD by MGM (owners of the video and TV distribution rights to The Howling due to the distribution deal with Studio Canal, itself the owner of the Avco Embassy library) on August 26, 2003 as a Region 1 widescreen 'Special Edition' DVD.

External links

• The Howling at IMDb
• The Howling at AllMovie
• The Howling at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Howling at Box Office Mojo
• The Howling - Movie Trailer on YouTube