The Howling (1981) Review

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

-Erle Kenton

The Howling follows a Los Angeles news anchor, Karen White (Dee Wallace), who narrowly manages to survive an incident with a serial killer.  Suffering from PTSD and amnesia, Karen's therapist sends her and her husband Bill Neill (Christopher Stone) to a secluded resort in the countryside called The Colony, but what they don't know is that the residents of The Colony are actually werewolves, and they're looking for both new recruits and food, and they don't care which one they get.

What Sucks:

This will be much easier if I start with the negatives.  The biggest problem The Howling has is it's boring.  The story isn't interesting.  The characters are flat.  It takes awhile for anything to happen.  As a narrative, it's simply not interesting or engaging.  

The protagonist, Karen, is pretty awful.  She doesn't really do anything for most of the movie.  She is trying to get over her PTSD and amnesia, but it's a boring storyline.  She's pretty passive in her role as the protagonist until the last couple of minutes.  The werewolves are the far more interesting characters, and even they don't get much to do.

There aren't nearly enough deaths in this movie.  Plenty of werewolves die at the end, but they die via silver bullets.  There's only one person who dies gruesomely.  It's awesome, but The Howling could have used some more characters to kill off.

What Works:

The Howling has some of the coolest practical effects I have ever seen in a movie.  The scenes featuring werewolf transformations are incredible, some of the the best ever.  My jaw dropped while it was happening.  The effects are masterful and anyone who appreciates that kind of thing should check this movie out.

There is also some really cool cinematography.  The shots of the forest are spooky, and there are some really interesting angles and images throughout the film.

Finally, I need to talk about the ending.  Spoilers for a movie from 1981.

I loved the ending.  I'm not talking about the 3rd act, which was pretty generic, but the resolution to the film.  Karen ends up getting bit by a werewolf.  She and fellow survivor Chris Halloran (Dennis Dugan), return to Los Angeles, determined to expose the secret society of werewolves.  During a news broadcast, Karen goes off script and starts transforming into a werewolf, sobbing while she does so.  This ends with Chris shooting and killing her on live TV.  It's actually a really emotion scene and the highlight of the film.  After such a boring movie, I was shocked to see it deliver such a powerful ending, and I gotta give props to Dee Wallace for pulling it off.

Verdict:

For the most part, The Howling is a boring affair.  The story and characters are not very memorable.  But the incredible effects, interesting cinematography, and stunning ending make it worth sitting through because I am interested in those kinds of things.  I can't recommend this as a film, but I would tell anyone who has an appreciation for practical gore effects to check this one out.  It's not a good movie, but I appreciate it on a technical level.

 5/10: Hits But Mostly Misses