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Horror has a plethora of subgenres, from slashers and zombies, to ghosts and vampires, and many more. An underappreciated subgenre is the werewolf film. Although there were classics like The Wolfman in 1941 and John Landis' An American Werewolf in London in 1981, we don't get many werewolf-centered movies, and the ones we usually do get aren't that good. (Sorry, Werewolves). This will hopefully change with Leigh Whannell's Wolf Man, but for now anyway, the scariest werewolf horror movie ever made goes to Joe Dante's The Howling, which ironically came out the same year as Landis' effort. However, while An American Werewolf in London leans into the comedy a bit more, The Howling is a full moon nightmare.
Dee Wallace Is the Star of 'The Howling'
The 1981 films by John Landis and Joe Dante certainly aren't the only great werewolf movies out there. 1985's Silver Bullet, based on Stephen King's Cycle of the Werewolf, is fun, but with its subpar practical effects (is that a werewolf or a bear?), it can't be put in the upper echelon. 2000's Ginger Snaps is a good one, but it's more of a coming-of-age movie wrapped up in werewolf clothes. And 2002's Dog Soldiers is exciting, but it also feels a lot like an action film.
The Howling sets itself apart from so many other werewolf films by not having a poor character afflicted with the curse of the werewolf as its central protagonist. When this more common route is taken, the fear of the unknown is removed. Instead, in The Howling, it's a human being who has never been bitten who we follow. That comes in the form of now horror icon Dee Wallace, who was a year away from starring in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, playing a reporter named Karen White. This raises the tension because, while we know that any protagonist who is a werewolf is guaranteed to meet a tragic end, Karen's fate is uncertain. The audience is one with her, wanting her to live. In The Howling, Karen is at a retreat, having just survived an attack by a serial killer, only to meet killers of a different form when she encounters not just a singular werewolf, but a whole pack of them.
'The Howling' Has Top Notch Practical Effects From Rob Bottin
It doesn't matter how well written a werewolf film is if the monster effects are bad. Some of the CG in 2010's remake of The Wolfman with Benicio del Toro is so awful that it takes you right out of it. On the other hand, 1996's Bad Moon could have just been low-budget trash, but with its use of scary practical effects, it's become a bit of a cult classic.
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I have to give the best ever werewolf transformation on film to An American Werewolf in London. David's (David Naughton) painful transformation was so visually shocking that Rick Baker won the first ever Academy Award for Best Makeup. However, the memorable transformation scenes done by Rob Bottin (a year later he was the genius behind the effects in The Thing) in The Howling are just as good because they took a different approach from what we were used to seeing. Bottin didn't settle for just the usual elongating limbs. Rather, his transformation shows a man's face and neck bulging as the curse takes him over from the inside. This werewolf seems to inflate, showing us that the beast was always in there and waiting to be set loose.
'The Howling's Opening and Themes About Sexual Assault Are Just as Scary
Image via Embassy Pictures
The Howling is a creepy, slow-burn film, with Joe Dante succeeding by building the tension as the story unravels, or using shadows and darkness to amp up the fear. He's not interested in only the usual gore effects, but wants to get under our skin. And just like the best horror movies, there is more going on here than your standard werewolf film.
The Howling isn't afraid of its themes about sexual assault. After all, isn't becoming a werewolf a symbol of assault, with a victim's body invaded without their consent, changing them forever in a way they can never heal from? In The Howling, the film begins with Karen White at a disgusting porno theater (the same setting was also used in An American Werewolf in London), where a serial killer named Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo) shows her a violent, repulsive film before attacking her. Thankfully, the police are there to supposedly take him out, but this is just the beginning of the hell that awaits for Karen.
The Howling is filled with ideas about the repression of sexual urges along with the assault themes. There's even a scene where a man and woman start going at it as they transform and rip at each other. It's more scary and invasive than anything remotely sexy, and another reminder that in this movie, violence and sex are one and the same. It all leads to a shocking ending for Karen, one that is both satirical, but also heartbreaking and horrifying. Most werewolf films follow the same predictable beats. In The Howling, Joe Dante wants to transform us.
The Howling is currently not available for streaming, but the Special Edition Blu-ray can be purchased on Amazon.
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Release Date March 13, 1981
Director Joe Dante
Runtime 91 Minutes
Writers Gary Brandner , John Sayles , Terence H. Winkless
Cast Dee Wallace , Patrick Macnee , Dennis Dugan , Christopher Stone , Belinda Balaski , Kevin McCarthy , John Carradine , Slim Pickens , Robert Picardo , Margie Impert , Noble Willingham , James Murtaugh , Jim McKrell , Meshach Taylor , Robert A. Burns , Kenneth Tobey , Dick Miller , Don McLeod , Bill Sorrells , Ivan Saric , Steve Nevil , Sarina C. Grant , Wendell Wright , Herbie Braha , Joe Bratcher , Chico Martínez , Daniel Nunez
English (US) ·