Surprisingly incoherent and boring

just watch it!

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

I first saw this on a VHS in the mid 80s. Revisited it recently on a DVD. After a very unpleasant incident involving a serial killer, TV reporter Dee Wallace takes some time off and goes to a retreat, but it's a place with horrifying secrets. The movie starts very slow with lots of chatting n nothing happening but eventually picks up the pace towards the end. The editing is bad as scene transitions r abrupt n the tension gets away too. The cinematography is decent. Nothing great to create the atmosphere. Joe Dante takes his time to build up the film n the werewolves. The transformation scenes are long and agonizing and go on forever. But the special effects by Rob Bottin r very good. Some may just laugh at the teeth of the werewolves. Viewers may find weird when they witness the werewolves' victim just standing there the whole time during the transforming instead of running for their lives. Notable was Elisabeth Brooks as she remains one of the hottest of all screen werewolves. And her campfire sex scene is one of the greatest love scenes of the 80's.

Traumatized news anchor Karen White (a strong and sympathetic performance by Dee Wallace) goes to a remote rural retreat for therapy and recovery that turns out to be a front for a werewolf colony.Director Joe Dante keeps the engrossing and entertaining story moving along at a zippy pace, crafts a nicely spooky atmosphere, and provides a wealth of witty in-jokes. The clever script by John Sayles and Terrence H. Winkless pokes wickedly amusing fun at pretentious self-help groups, glib pop psychology, and the sensation-driven media. (Sayles also has a hilarious cameo as a talkative morgue attendant.) The fabulous cast helps a lot: Patrick Macnee does supremely smooth work as folksy shrink Dr. George Wagner, gorgeous brunette Elisabeth Brooks burns up the screen with her sultry portrayal of alluring and uninhibited vixen Marsha Quist (her campfire nude scene rates as one of the single most hot moments in an early 80's horror movie), and Robert Picardo cranks the skin-crawling creep factor up to eleven as vicious serial killer Eddie Quist plus there are fine contributions from Christopher Stone as Karen's easygoing husband Bill, Dennis Dugan as the nerdy Chris Halloran, Belinda Balaski as the spunky Terry Fisher, Slim Pickens as the amiable Sheriff Sam Newfield, Kevin McCarthy as tough boss Freddie Francis, John Carradine as crazy old coot Erle Kenton, and Dick Miller as feisty occult bookstore owner Walter Paisley. Rob Bottin's fearsome werewolves and elaborate transformation set pieces are still impressive and persuasive. Kudos are also for John Hora's moody cinematography and Pino Donaggio's spirited shivery score. Worthy of its cult classic status.

The Howling starts out as Television newswoman Karen White (Dee Wallace) takes some much-needed time off after a traumatic incident with a serial killer. Hoping to conquer her inner demons, she heads for The Colony, a secluded retreat where the creepy residents are a little too eager to make her feel at home. Also, there seems to be a bizarre connection between Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo) and this supposedly safe haven. And when, after nights of being tormented by unearthly cries, Karen ventures into the forest and makes a terrifying discovery. Now she must not only fight for her life... but for her very soul!...Based on the novel by Gary Brandner, one has to say the The Howling is one of the best werewolf films ever made and as a horror film is just a pleasant viewing experience from the nostalgic '80s. Joe Dante works his movie perfectly, giving us creepy situations, funny moments to enlighten the audience and a cast of whos who actors mostly cameos from well known genre actors like Dick Miller, John Carradine and a cameo by Roger Corman to veteran actors like Patrick Macnee, Slim Pickens, and Noble Willingham, and you cant leave out Robert Picardo as the psychotic Eddie Quist and the late Elizabeth Brooks as his sultry sister Marsha Quist, also Dee Wallace and late husband Christopher Stone do just fine as our two main leads. But, what really makes The Howling shine is its special effects started by Rick Baker who left for An American Werewolf in London (1981) and finished by Rob Bottin, while most of the stop motion effects used look outdated today, the transformation scene is still nasty and bets the hell out of any CGI crap seen today. The film itself isn't loaded down really with violence, even tho its a horror film its there, but, you can tell they were trying to go into a classic horror format instead of the blood and guts routine, but, there is some good nudity from Elizabeth Banks character. My only complaint about the movie in general is that it takes awhile to get going at the beginning, but, stay with it and I promise you you'll will love it. All in all, The Howling is just a all around good horror film and a great werewolf film, it is often compared with Joe Landis An American Werewolf in London (1981) which probably is a step higher, but, lacks the grittiness as Landis film is meant to be a horror/comedy. Fans of both the horror and werewolf genres should definitely check out both titles, if not your missing and real treat. Also for reading fans I've read the book and it is very good I recommend it if your into reading.

I am a horror connoisseur. I watch a whole lot of horror movies. My favorite mini-genre of horror is the werewolf film. I have been obsessed with werewolves since I was a little guy. Unfortunately, I probably can't even come up with 20 great werewolf movies. Though Hollywood has glutted us with vampire and zombie flicks, the werewolf remains a rarity. I believe part of that is the struggle people seem to have to craft a unique werewolf story. The other part is the challenge of presenting a believable werewolf makeup that looks good. Joe Dante was able to accomplish both of these things (with help from Rob Bottin, of course).Dee Wallace (who is gorgeous in this movie) is a news reporter who has been receiving phone calls from a serial killer named Eddie Quist. She helps the police to set up a sting operation to try to capture Quist, but it doesn't go as planned and she is almost killed before the police save the day and kill Quist (or did they?). Now, she has memory blocks and nightmares, so her shrink advises her to go to a new age camp to get the help she needs. Only there is much more to this camp that it seems and it might just be a village full of werewolves.What Dante does well to begin with, story-wise, is to avoid the origin story. This was a prerequisite of most werewolf movies before this, that all followed the blueprint created in WEREWOLF OF London. Hero gets bit by werewolf, hero becomes werewolf, movie focuses on the tragedy of his/ her situation. Literally, they pretty much all followed that blueprint until THE HOWLING. By bringing us something fresh, Dante brought something new to the formula that has helped it to stand the test of time.Dante, also, crams this movie full of easter eggs for fans. Beginning with the casting choices. Kenneth Tobey (the hero of THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD) is a cop in the beginning. Patrick Macnee as the doctor. John Carradine as an aging werewolf. Slim Pickens as the sheriff. Even more so are the myriad werewolf references. Go through the list of character names and you will notice that almost all of them are named for directors of classic werewolf pictures. The backgrounds are full of little wolf references, from the books they read to the chili they eat, it's like a Where's Waldo of werewolf lore and so fun for a werewolf nut like myself to dig through each time.The makeup is maybe my favorite werewolf design of all time. Most early films used the "hairy guy" approach (think WEREWOLF OF London or THE WOLFMAN) where we get a guy on two legs with some extra yak hair. There was the cheap way out of using an actual dog (THE BEAST MUST DIE) or even AN American WEREWOLF IN London uses a creature that is basically just a dog. When I imagine a werewolf in my nightmares, neither are the monster I see. It should be an almost perfect amalgamation of the two creatures and THE HOWLING gives us that. Rob Bottin created something damn near perfect for this movie that I still haven't seen topped (DOG SOLDIERS comes close). If I have one nitpick it is the ears, which are too large, but I'm being too picky now.The film keeps the action tight and the suspense at a maximum. We start to realize that there are more than one monster in these woods and it adds a terror of not just the werewolf(s) at the door, but the very fact that the heroes are up against an entire colony, adding that one vs all mentality that brings a whole new level to the plot complexion. It all wraps up in one heck of a climax.There are weak spots, brought about mostly from the limitations of the budget. The animation in the sex scene is really bad. It was bad then and looks even worse now. The claymation used in the final chase is, also, very obvious. It's not EVIL DEAD bad, but it's not good either. Still, these small moments do not take away from the mastery of the special effects on display in this movie.It's a shame that the movie will, really, forever live in the shadow of AN American WEREWOLF. Being released in the same year as what is, admittedly, a superior movie it never got a fair shake, but this movie remains one of the 5 best werewolf films of all time and one of the greatest horror films released in the 80s.