| Overall Grade: |
B |
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| Story: |
B |
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| Acting: |
B |
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| Direction: |
B- |
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| Visuals: |
A- |
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One of the better werewolf movies
by mike (movies profile)
Sep 21, 2007
3
of
3 people found this review helpful
The Howling is one of the better werewolf movies ever made. I would actually rate it second behind An American Werewolf in London. It's hard to compare to Ginger Snaps because these movies are from different time periods.
Karen White (Dee Wallace) is a reporter for a local TV news team. She has been getting strange calls from a serial killer. The police use her to meet the serial killer in person so they can catch him. A few things go wrong and the police find her just in the nick of time and kill Eddie Quist (the serial killer). She suffers shock and can't remember anything that happened in that room. Her psychiatrist suggests she spend time up north at his secluded wooded retreat for some isolation therapy to remember things and come to grips with what happened. Her and her husband head up to the Colony for her treatment. To make a long story short strange noises are heard from the woods and when her husband suffers a mysterious "animal" bite all hell breaks lose. I'm not going to give away anymore of the story suffice to say that eventually the werewolves make an appearence.
The Howling could have been a classic as well if it hadn't taken so long to get off the ground. It wasn't really boring as it was setting up the story throughout. It just didn't get to any werewolves until about 45 minutes in, and no serious werewolf action until nearly an hour in. I liked the story and the set-up, but it was drawn out way to long.
What got this movie a better grade was how the story did come together towards the end. The storyline came together pretty cleanly, and the last 20-25 minutes really were some kickass werewolf action. Basically this movie was saved by a great ending sequence.
The effects were also good for a movie nearly 25 years of age. The transition from human to werewolf was pretty cool looking, and the werewolves themselves moved pretty well. You could tell a couple of effects they couldn't handle...one was made up with a cartoonish scene. This may have been because showing two werewolves having sex could have gotten them an X rating with the MPAA, or simply because they could not figure out how to do the shot. In another scene with three werewolves standing and howling it appeared they used stop-animation for a 2-3 second shot. Why they did this I'm not quite sure because they didn't seem to have any prouble making the wolves stand and howl in other scenes.
My one complaint about the werewolves was how long it took them to change. The first time we see one transform I understand its meant to be shocking. This doesn't mean however that it should take 2 minutes or more for the human to transform into the werewolf. Of course instead of doing anything...like running, or finding something to defend herself with Karen just sits and calmly watches the whole thing...without so much as a single scream mind you.
Minor qualms aside The Howling has a good story with a slow build-up. It is however more then worth it for the last 1/3 of the movie. Recommended as one of the better werewolf films out there.
The Howling 6.5/10 |
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