Review of Howling, The

Introduction

The Howling was only Joe Dante`s second outing as single director of a feature film, but it was the movie that brought him to the attention of the Hollywood establishment and the cinemagoing public alike. The Howling was the first of the two early 1980s movies that completely rewrote the book on the old werewolf movie sub-genre. In spite of having a low budget, the picture was a showcase for makeup design by Rob Bottin. Rick Baker had done some of the makeup work before moving on to John Landis` American Werewolf In London. Another makeup guru getting an early career gig was Greg Cannom.

Leading the picture was Dee Wallace as sceptic TV reporter Karen White, who finds herself investigating what turn out to be werewolves, when everybody knows there`s no such critter. Support comes in the shape of previous Disney hero Dennis Dugan, Patrick Macnee, John Carradine and Slim Pickens. To-become-Dante-regulars Kevin McCarthy, Robert Picardo and Dick Miller have key roles in the piece, with Picardo`s supremely creepy turn as "Eddie" being the highlight of the picture.

The movie was one of the box office smashes of 1981, a rollercoaster ride of a postmodern horror film that mixes laughs and frights in equal measure. Who can forget Eddie`s supremely black humoured line as he picks grey-matter from a bullet hole in his skull - "I want to give you a piece of my mind".

Momentum have once again really pushed the boat out presenting a proper collector`s edition of this movie. Two discs, excellent transfer and plenty of extras. For fans of this genre-tweaking picture, a very satisfactory Halloween present.

Video

The movie is very well transferred with a near immaculate picture boasting excellent colour and contrast. Presented in the original 1.85:1, the movie has not suffered the twenty-three years since its release too badly - quite an achievement considering the independent-studio ownership of the picture (Avco-Embassy).

Audio

The original stereo mix has been expanded into a very pleasingly enveloping Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix that will frequently have you jumping out of your chair if like me you`re something of a big girl`s blouse.

Features

This release is very well served with a variety of supplemental materials including outtakes and deleted scenes from the vaults. While these suffer picturewise from damage and splices, they are presented in anamorphic 1.85:1 like the main feature. Kinowelt, the European copyright holders, who have licensed the disc to Momentum in the UK have made a fascinating retrospective documentary "Welcome To Werewolfland" interviewing Joe Dante, cinematographer John Hora (who the eagle-eyed will recognise as miniaturisation wizard Ozzy from Innerspace), Dee Wallace and Robert Picardo among others. A huge photogallery (with a few repeat images), a theatrical and teaser trailers round off the package.

Conclusion

One of the new breed of rollercoaster-ride horror-thriller pictures coined in the 1980s which entertained a teen audience. Sold to its original audience as a common-or-garden slasher movie, the werewolf angle and the picture`s reinvention of the whole mythos came as a surprise twist. A particularly strong performance (coming steadily unglued as the picture progresses) from Dee Wallace and grand support from a spot-on cast makes "The Howling" a movie well worth closer examination.