Genres

Visitors Review

AlexandriAxMansoN 2013-05-15 19:40:14

Awesome werewolf movies to be a classic.....

Given the time that this movie came out(1981),technology has taken over to improve special effects,this movie was off the hook back in the day,and it's still almost perfect.....so good that I bought the dvd for non stop thrills and chills! This movie has some really good "scares" in it,and is one I like to watch in the dark with the lights turned off.The werewolf effects were awesome given that this movie is 24 years old! I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys werewolf movies,or any horror movie that is based on fictional characters.GREAT MOVIE!

2013-05-15 03:01:49

Not really scary, But who cares?

I haven't seen "The other early 80's werewolf movie" In about a decade, So I will make no more refrences to it, I Promise. This is a review for a 1981 movie, on a 2001 DVD, and in the case of most horror movies : Horror + Many Years = Not scary, bordering on pathetic. Nobody over the age of eight is going to be scared of this movie today (Accept maybe PETA), and tomorrow doesn't look good either. This is honestly, THE movie I've been waiting for on DVD since I bought my player, and I am somewhat disappointed by the MGM release. The picture quality is only so-so for DVD (Meaning it's better than original) blacks aren't super-black, colours aren't too vibrant, But for a low-budget twenty year old horror movie, I guess you can't expect a frame for frame restoration like 'Akira' or 'The Exorcist'. Audio quality isn't anything to write home to momma about either. The dialogue is clear, sound effects aren't too shabby, and the music isn't bad ('Untouchables ' was really bad). I don't remember who composed, but chances are some other reviewer did, and you can find out from their review. Special Features are nonexistant. You get a trailer and subtitles, Not even a commentary. I don't care who directed this, but he should have had a commentary track. And if the directors dead, then put the stars in the commentary. If the cast was eaten by werewolves during post production (It would have been horrific and ironic), then they could have got some guy off the street to do commentary. I like commentary, and this DVD seems to lack that basic feature. Also 'The Howling' will not let you be late for work tomorrow because you won't oversleep, because you will have no reason to stay up late watching featurettes. No Making-of's, storyboards, scripts, behind the scenes, free T-shirts, collectible ashtray's, or Lobby card's are included. As for the film: It's a B horror movie. It's not very good. It's probably closer to bad. But if it is bad, then it is so bad it's good. It seems to enjoy its early 80's gorehound campy horrificishness (I just made that up). The fact that THIS is the best werewolf movie to date (Maybe 'Wolf', I won't argue too much here) is saying something either about Hollywood, or werewolves in general. Hopefully it says something about Hollywood, because I happen to enjoy the werewolf mythos. Someday werewolves will have their opus, as zombies had their 'Day of the Dead', vampires had their 'Dracula', necrophiliacs had their 'Nekromantik' and mummies had 'The Mummy'. But this is not that opus, At least I hope it's not. This is really just a special effects slasher movie with dog hair. But I love it none the less, and I can't explain why. This movie was followed by a series of sequels that were either bad (6 and 7), worse (2 and 5), Really really really bad (3), or a quasi-remake of the first (4).

2013-05-15 17:51:15

Great Movie :) - Disappointing Release ;/

A horror movie of great worth, perhaps the best werewolf movie of history, THE HOWLING still doesn't have a definitive release. I'll focus particular aspects of the MGM DVD (released on August 28th, 2001).I didn't get why not to use the original movie poster in the cover instead of that "remake" design. Fans know it but I think companies don't: original promo materials are almost part of the movie. Moreover, the back cover is one of the worst I've seen in DVD so far, an ugly full moon, an artificial dead blue background and a crazy processed photo of late actor Christopher Stone to a point his skin looked green/brown, like a vegetable (although the movie has Kevin McCarthy, it is not the body snatchers! :). We're precisely talking about the only werewolf movie that followed some ancient legends that declined the moon cycle in the werewolf curse. Therefore, what is that moon for? And that's not all about the design, unbelievably there's nothing inside but the disc, not a single booklet to show the chapters!The trailer is in awful shape (the source print was a mess, dirty and scratched, I'd say spoiled). Warning, this IS NOT the original theatrical trailer as it reads in the back cover, it had editions in it, God knows why.I'd like to know why to release in widescreen 1.85:1 a print that was originally 1.66:1. Only in order to cut out some top and bottom areas? That's what happened. Actually even left and right areas of the screen were cut out a bit. Why there can't be widescreen/letterbox releases that show the entire picture area? I use the plural because the laserdisc collector's edition supervised by Joe Dante failed in that matter too.Then we go to another problem: tone colors and lighting. The result was too bright and yellow. Joe Dante didn't want the transformation scene to be overlit and he took care about it when filming it, creating a fantastic atmosphere. However, home releases failed to respect his plans. In the first VHS edition (80s) it was more dark than it should, and from that on, the movie was tortured by bad home releases. Some of them blueish, some of them yellowish, none of them right. Perhaps not even the mentioned laserdisc collector's edition was perfect in this matter.I guess the curse of this movie is not about werewolves, but about "silver homevideo releases".Anyway, at least now there is the DVD of this title.Let us have a good special edition of THE HOWLING with new running commentary, etc.

2013-05-15 06:53:26

They don't make werewolf movies like this anymore

Have you watched any werewolf movies lately? The ones with those lousy and crummy computer animated human to werewolf transformations? To me there flat out ridiculous!!! This is not the case with The Howling. This movie was made when special effects artists like Rob Bottin,Rick Baker were in their prime.The old latex FX are a thing of the past and they were the only ones that looked real.About a year ago I got around to renting An American werewolf in Paris and although it was a cool movie the werewolves looked more like gorillas than what they really supposed to be and the transformations happened so fast that I really didn't get to enjoy them.Joe Dante gives great direction and the make-up artist Rob Bottin puts lots of love into the FX for The Howling.If you wanna see what a werewolf movie is really supposed to be like then I highly recommend this one and remember they just don't make em' like they used to.

2013-05-12 20:05:04

Good Specail Edition, but not great.

This review is from: The Howling (Special Edition) (DVD) I like this classic, here. My mom and I watched it when I was a kid and introduced me to the horror genre and always brings back fond memories for me. This special edition is pretty good, but it's not great. Shortly after I bought it I discovered another specail edition will be release on blu ray soon. I will be looking forward to that. This is a great classic worth having in any collection.

rebelstrike 2013-05-12 07:18:32

The best werewolf movie ever made

Much better than American Werewolf in London in many ways. Thetransformation sequence here was far scarier and the werewolves here werethe way werewolves are supposed to be- they walk on two legs not the bigdogs in American Werewolf

drnickyp 2013-05-09 11:03:15

Unfortunately I was disappointed beyond belief

I love the horror genre, and I have always been a particular fan of thewerewolf movie, rating most highly such classics as An AmericanWerewolf in London, and the more recent Dog Soildiers. I had never seenThe Howling, but had read so much about it, so I was excited followingits DVD release and watched with fervour.How upset I was, by the poor writing, the awful acting, the carelessdirection, the shoddy story line, and the dramatically stayed specialeffects. It had so much to offer, but delivered so little. Its onlysaving grace is that it clearly influenced the more able film makers ofthe superior genre pieces mentioned above.

BaronBl00d 2013-05-09 00:55:24

A Howling Good Time

Joe Dante is a great fan of the horror genre, and most of his films arededicated to that passion directly, as in his film creations, andindirectly, with his use of inside jokes and references and his use ofbeloved figures from the genre itself in small roles. It is this passionand love that makes his films special, and The Howling is no different. Itis a boost for the relatively weak sub-genre of lycanthropy. It hasmarvellous special effects which are still quite good by today's standards,some good humour, well-choreographed chase scenes, and some good acting. The script is weak and laden with cliches, but remember it is a parody inways. Dante names characters using the names of great horror directors(hisidols I imagine) such as Terry Fisher, Freddie Francis, and Erle Kenton. Forrest J. Ackerman, Roger Corman, John Sayles, Dick Miller, John Carradine,Kenneth Tobey, and Kevin McCarthy make appearances. Patrick Macnee is quitegood in his role, and Dee Wallace is excellent in her screaming way. Overall a fine film!

trixster7 2013-05-08 07:05:55

One great scene does not a good movie make

I really didn't like it. Werewolf flicks are usually my thing, but Ifound this one rather silly and oddly paced. I also didn't catch thesupposed tongue-in-cheek humour at all. The story is rather weird, andreally doesn't fit the film at all, and the acting is uniformlyterrible. There's no hint of character development or even shades ofanything more than slight stereotypes, and thus it becomes just anotherslasher flick. Also, by the time this film starts going, it's nearlyover, as there's too much build-up and not enough payoff. The makeupeffects are admittedly impressive, and the much-ballyhooedtransformation scene is quite a treat to watch, but one great scenedoes not a good movie make. The end is kinda cool, I guess, but, again,doesn't fit the film. It's not terrible, but it's not that good either.Quite a disappointment for me.

2013-05-07 18:40:08

The Original & Still The Best

This review is from: The Howling (Special Edition) (DVD) THE HOWLING is the best werewolf flick I've ever seen in my lifetime and both Dee Wallace and Elizabeth Brooks do an awesome performance, especially when kids see Dee Wallace transforming into a werewolf on the news at the end of the movie and when Elizabeth Brooks & Christopher Stone are deliciously nasty doing werewolf sex showing Liz Brooks in full-frontal nudity showing off her sexy genitals such as cunt, tatas, & ass which easily made Liz eyecandy in this horror flick. The one thing I found baffling and gross about this movie was when Liz Brooks is in the cafe and the waiter asks her how does she want her hamburger and Liz Brooks says "Rare".This horror flick also takes me all the way back to memory lane to when we had all those budget cuts going on during the recession we had going on back in 1981-1982 when Ronald Regan was president since I was 9 years old in the 3rd grade at Rockwood Elementry School in Calexico, CA and living in my hometown(El Centro, CA)at the time THE HOWLING was released in all the movie theatres, which was during my childhood days of living in the Imperial Valley. Overall, I would have to say that this was the best Howling of them all, since I didn't care for all the other Howling sequels.

2013-05-07 09:23:55

Outstanding Werewolf Flick

I'm a big fan of this 80s movie. Rob Bottin's effects are great, and Dee Wallace carries the movie well even though I like her husband better. The premise is solid and different for this kind of film. It also has plenty of cool little cameos for the genre fan. There really isn't too many worthwhile werewolf tales, but this is one of them.The DVD is excellent too. Lots of interesting extras at a good price.

2013-05-06 22:04:10

Hee, hee,

Joe Dante kills me. I should have expected a little bit of silliness from the maker of "Gremlins". While not all that scary coming off your TV screen, I could imagine a few frights in the theatre. Worth it for the complete, almost five minutes long transformation of man to werewolf, the numerous in joke props ("Wolf Chili", the appearance of "Howl" by Ginsberg on someones desk) and the full frontal of Angelina Jolie lookalike Elisabeth Brooks. It was better than Carrie.

wolfbeast 2013-05-06 06:35:55

One of the best early-day werewolf movies

From the same year as American Werewolf in London, I guess this moviecaught the shadow of that blockbuster everyone knows, and is thereforenot very well known. However, the special effects are great for thismovie, and even though not as focused on the actual transformation, thewerewolves in this movie are excellent. Even paying attention to makingthem digitigrade (toe-walking) and generic body shape that people neversaw before (older werewolf movies always had the very human lookingshape to them).The plot itself is quite rich for this type of movie, with some twistshere and there. Unfortunately quite a few (too many) sequels of thismovie were made that really aren't worth watching, but this (first) oneis certainly one to watch. Even if very old by now, if you look pastthe aged "movie-scares" that are in there on a few occasions, if youlike werewolf flics it still remains a good movie to date.

rj07305 2013-05-05 15:43:37

In the last twenty years there has been only two good werewolf movies!

This is one of the two films. It's not as frightening as it is tense duetothe backdrop, the location itself gets your imagination running overdrive.You could picture yourself in the woods thinking is someone or somethingoutthere watching me! The human body count is low, but, you probably won'tnotice because the story is so good. By the way, this movie has some greatone liners, I think the best is "See what your friend did to myhand!"

J. Bradley 2013-05-05 12:17:03

Could have been better, but not bad

I finally rented this film 2 days ago after having it recommended to me somany times. And I have to say, I was somewhat disappointed. The first halfof the movie was extremely boring and seemed to go on forever, until themovie finally picked up at the last half hour. Dee Wallace is looking moredepressed than ever, but then again I've never seen her in a film where shedidn't. Christopher Stone is definitely not one of the better actors outthere. And what was the purpose of the 2 warewolf hunters? ( At least Ithink thats what they were. ) But the performances are descent all in all.The warewolves are nothing special either, they somewhat resembled the onesin " An American Warewolf in Paris " but were not as big. The direction andscript is what saves this film, without a doubt. But I do strongly recommendit if you enjoy Warewolf films. 6/10

2013-05-05 01:41:40

"You can't tame what's meant to be wild, doc. It just ain't natural."

This particular offering from Joe Dante and crew back in the 80's was one of the first werewolf films I had ever seen uncut and unedited, thanks to the ancient wonder of "premium channels". Perhaps that may make me a little biased subconsciously, but I like to think I'm mature and objective enough in my passion for film to see what there is to see...or what's NOT there.That said, "The Howling" still ranks as my very most favorite werewolf movie. I love "An American Werewolf in London", huge fan of "Dog Soldiers", "Ginger Snaps"...I could go on, but you get the point.Are any of these 'better' films than "The Howling"? In the grand generalized scheme of things, likely so...but to paraphrase Obi-Wan Kenobi, it depends on our own point of view.What works for me in this flick can be explained in 1) The concept: werewolves DO exist...always have...but to get away from what some of them view as persecution (torch and pitchfork wielding villagers spring to mind), they've enacted a ruse to "fit in", having their own little society at a secluded compound, raising cattle for food, and day to day representing themselves as regular, if a bit odd, members of humanity. Some of this clan don't agree with what they see as "hiding", and with a flair of superiority would prefer to take their place as top of the food chain. Lo and behold, one of their members does just this, but covers himself in the trappings of a serial killer......and this is where the film begins, and brings me to the second point of why I love this one, 2) Execution. The stunning Dee Wallace turned in what I thought to be a phenomenal performance as an investigative newswoman who has been contacted by the 'killer' (our wayward werewolf, played by Robert Picardo in a creepy performance that can only be called 'chilling'), and is determined to put a stop to his activities. Needless to say, things don't go well, and after a confrontation with this killer, she suffers amnesia and severe anxiety. The film goes on to her traveling to a remote compound run by a famed psychologist in order to "recharge" and therapeutically work through her issues.I won't go any further into the plot than that, but you folks out there can probably figure why the word "compound" was used twice in two paragraphs;) Regarding the story itself, the pacing does get a bit shaky at times, but never to the point that it's senseless or, in my opinion, difficult to follow. A lot of the supporting actors are a little stiff, but still on or above par with the contemporary films of the day.The special effects, where many reviewers here were not impressed, were to my eyes very impressive for their time, and even still...both transformations and gore are prevalent in this film, albeit largely in the second reel. One glaring departure: there is one scene that, due to budgetary constraints, had to be done with animation; it's quite obvious, and quite weak...a blight on the film that cost it one star in my rating.Finally, several other peers of mine have complained that the ending was dissatisfying...I can only say (and not give too much away) that the film itself answers the question of 'why' things transpire at the end the way they do...you just have to pay attention.So there it is; I'm not saying it's a great MOVIE, but I think it IS a great HORROR movie. All in all, I love the flick, and if you dig werewolves, watch for many in-jokes for us fans, and tips of the hat to what has gone before in the genre. This DVD also offers a marvelous smorgasboard of behind the scenes features that, to me, improved upon my enjoyment of a film that I already thoroughly enjoy.If you're looking for an high-end werewolf film and expect to be blown away by big budget production values, you may be better served by checking out one of the other movies I mentioned earlier, but if you love horror films for being horror films, and want to see a genuinely creepy, atmospheric spin on the lycanthropic side of the genre, I'm of the opinion that you won't be disappointed in "The Howling".Does it have it's issues? Sure...but does it do it's job?Absolutely:)

MrGKB 2013-05-03 08:51:49

Thoroughly effective low-rent lycanthropy....

...and despite its failings, still one of my all-time favorite werewolfmovies, Joe "Piranha" Dante's direction and John "ditto" Sayles' scriptare a hairy blend of E.C. Comics and a certain post-modern sensibility;this time the wily shape-shifters congregate at a rustic seasideretreat run by a new-agey shrink (Patrick "The Avengers" Macnee) whobrings our heroine (Dee "The Hills Have Eyes" Wallace) there toostensibly deal with the PTSD (as we millennials now call it) she'sbeen suffering after an attack by one of the colony's more recalcitrantmembers (Robert "This was my foot in the door!" Picardo). Naturally thegood doctor has an unorthodox sort of therapy in mind, and ultimatelythings don't quite work out for our lead, or her hubby (Christopher "inreal life, too!" Stone), or a co-worker (Belinda "I'm yet another Danteregular!" Balaski), and ultimately the not-so-good doctor and most ofhis lupine cohort. The film is chock full of in-jokes & genre characteractors, seasoned nicely with magnificent fx work from Rob "where am Inow?" Bottin, and topped off with a requisite nubile femme fatale. Itwas a complete breath of fresh blood for a cinematic monster staple,paving the way another genre favorite, John Landis' "An AmericanWerewolf in London." Both films have ardent fans to this day, and trulyone is hard-pressed to say which is the more successful inaccomplishing what it sets out to do. I tend to favor the more polishedLandis film, but "The Howling" remains a quirky pleasure. It's hard toargue with a genre classic that includes the likes of Dick "Bucket ofBlood" Miller, Slim "Dr. Strangelove" Pickens, Kevin "Invasion of theBody Snatchers" McCarthy, Kenneth "The Thing From Another World" Tobey,and John "count 'em!" Carradine. Highly recommended.Addendum: and where, oh, where *is* Rob Bottin now that we really needhim?

2013-05-03 03:28:52

Keep The Flea Powder Handy

The Howling is a good but not great werewolf movie as it fails on any real suspense as a reporter uncovers what really lurks behind a doctor and his so-called colony.There are heaps of nods and winks to other horror films and the effects were ahead of there time in 1981.Sadly though the whole thing looks a bit tame now and it's quite boring at times, so fans will still love it but newbies will probably say "so what's so good about this?"For fans only.

2013-04-30 14:24:49

IF YOU LOVE WEREWOLF MOVIES.................................

If you love horror movies about werewolves then this is the flick for you. This movie has a lot of cool werewolves and a lot of scary scenes that'll make you jump out of your seat! The characters & actors are O.K. and so is the plot. The story is about a news lady who visits a ranch and eventually discovers that the place is flocked with werewolves! This movie isn't really suitable for kids, but older teens and adults should get a big kick out of it. The film does contain a lot of gruesome adult horror, as well as nudity and some sexual content. I highly recommend this horror classic to anyone with a taste for it.

Wayne Malin 2013-04-30 06:02:06

An almost classic

TV newswoman Karen White (Dee Wallace) is traumatized by a meeting witha psycho killer in a porno shop. A pompous doctor, George Waggner(Patrick Macnee!), invites her to "The Colony"--a woodland clinic ofhis to help her get over the shock. Karen and her husband Bill(Christopher Stone) go...unaware that there are wolves roamingaround...This is a full throttle horror-comedy with an emphasis on the comedy.It's almost as good as "American Werewolf in London". It's fun, hassharp dialogue and constant wolf references (a copy of the book "Howl"is seen on a desk; people watch "The Big Bad Wolf" and "The Wolf Man"on TV). Also The Colony itself is just gorgeous and beautifullyatmospheric. In the day it's clear and bright--at night the fog rollsin and it becomes really creepy. Also it playfully injects horrorclichés in the movie (I got a big kick out of the sequence in whichKaren and a friend get lost in the woods, their flashlight goes out andthere's howling in the distance...). It's ALMOST a classic.The problems are many, but the main one is that the film isn'tscary--when you see the werewolves they look pretty pathetic. This issupposed to be (partially) a HORROR film--it doesn't help when the mainmonsters look silly. The transformation scenes look lousy too--but thiswas over 20 years ago. The story is sort of vague (why does Dr. Waggnerinvite her to the colony in the first place? It puts her in danger!)and there are plenty of dead spots. It seems too long and it's only 90minutes! Also Wallace and Stone are not good actors--Wallace's reactionto finding a dead, bloody body is very poor and Stone sleepwalksthrough his role (although he does very well at a campfiresequence--you'll know it when you see it).So, it has great atmosphere, some very good laughs, John Carradine andsome very good cameos (Dick Miller, Roger Corman and Forrest J.Ackerman holding a copy of his magazine "Famous Monsters of Filmland")but it's VERY light and insubstantial--you want to see a real movieafter this. Nevertheless, it's worth seeing but not the classic itcould have been.