THE HOWLING
The slashed resort
released OUT NOW! 1981 | 18 | Blu-ray
Director Joe dante Cast dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, dennis dugan, Christopher stone
Although overshadowed by the release, four months later, of An American Werewolf In London, Joe Dante’s take on lycanthropy remains an entertaining one.
The gritty establishing scenes, which follow a TV reporter (Dee Wallace) to a sleazy sex shop to meet a serial killer, feel like a Brian De Palma film. Thereafter, as Karen visits a country resort, it’s more what you’d expect from the Gremlins director, with oddball characters and in-jokes aplenty. Genre fans will also nod knowingly at the parade of familiar faces, including The Avengers’ Patrick Macnee, Body Snatchers’ Kevin McCarthy and horror veteran John Carradine.
Having said that, when Dante removes tongue from cheek, The Howling can be surprisingly tough, with some satisfyingly tense werewolf attack scenes. And the bubbling, gooey faces of Rob Bottin’s transformation sequences remain impressively icky.
Extras Moderated commentary with Gray Brandner, author of the original novel; four interviews (51 minutes) with co-writer Terence H Winkless, the editor, an exec producer and a stopmotion animator – none is particularly interesting. Finally, TV show Horror’s Hallowed Grounds visits the original locations (12 minutes). Ian Berriman
B-movie director Roger Corman cameos; it’s identical to his “man outside phonebox” cameo in Rosemary’s Baby!