I have to admit with movies like The Howling, I’ve never been a big fan of werewolf movies. I remember seeing this as a teenager, and not being overly impressed. I’m not sure if it was an immature taste in horror, or maybe the movie just wasn’t that good… Either way I was curious as to whether or not it would impress me more this time around.
Upon watching this it became apparent this one was of a more “adult” nature than many of the other werewolf movies I’ve seen. The plot focus’ in Karen (played Dee Wallace) who is a reporter working for the police to snare a serial killer. She a agrees to meet the killer in a porno shop / theatre. The police apprehend the killer but Karen is traumatised and sent to counselling to get over the incident. She heads off with her husband to a remote retreat to get the help that she needs. Her husband is bitten by a wolf whilst out hunting. Similarly, someone or something starts to kill of the retreat participants in a series of savage murders. Is it her husband? What can she do about it? I guess you’ll have to watch the movie to find out!
THE HOWLING VERDICT
I do have to say that after re watching The Howling I’ve grown a little in my appreciation for the were wolf genre. This is actually a really cool film and quite captivating from start to finish. Definiteley worth checking out if you get the chance. I watched this movie twice. First time through in all its grainy VHS glory. It was hard to pick any flaws it horror effects but to be fair for a film this old, the effects looked pretty good. The wolf transformations I have to say still did look a little cheesy, but maybe that’s just me. Second time through I watched this again on DVD after this and the DVD transfer was simply stunning in comparison. Much easier to watch, but it did expose flaws in the special effects.
The Howling went on to achieve a fair level of success and spawned 7 sequels.
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