| Overall Grade: |
B- |
|
| Story: |
B- |
|
|
| Acting: |
C+ |
|
|
| Direction: |
B |
|
|
| Visuals: |
B- |
|
|
Neither great nor howlingly awful.
by Yahoo! Movies User (movies profile)
Nov 18, 2005
5
of
5 people found this review helpful
The Howling is considered by many to be a horror classic. I'm not sure I would quite call it that. Masterful horror films are rare; among the best are Jaws, Gore Verbinski's The Ring, The Exorcist, and John Carpenter's The Thing. The Howling doesn't rank that highly, but it is nonetheless a mostly well-made horror film that provides good late-night chills. Werewolf movies are mostly bad (check out this one's sequels), and this is easily one of the better films of its kind, though I have yet to see Underworld (Dog Soldiers and An American Werewolf in London are generally superior to The Howling).
Karen White (Dee-Wallace Stone), a popular news anchor, has been arranged to meet a man who calls himself Eddie, a serial killer who has a special interest in Karen herself. With the police following along, they follow her into a porno shop, where they proceed to kill Eddie.
Karen is haunted by the events that occur, and she can no longer remember what exactly happened in her short meeting with Eddie. She is recommended by Dr. George Waggner (Patrick Mcknee) to take part and stay awhile in this experimental colony he has up north in the woods. She gladly obliges, and is accompanied by her caring husband, Bill (Christopher Stone).
The first few days at The Colony are relatively relaxing for Karen. Even though she's startled a bit by Marsha (Elisabeth Brooks) and her feral brother, T.C. But at night, she notices strange things, such as frightening and piercing howls that sound unlike anything she's ever heard. She also finds dead cows in the forest. Inviting her friends and co-workers, Chris (Dennis Dugan) and Terri (Belinda Balaski) over, they investigate the place and begin to uncover its sinister secrets.
Director Joe Dante seemed to be making two movies. The Howling's first half is slow-moving, plodding, and not nearly as interesting a set-up as it should have been. The serial killer subplot is treated as a second tier, and isn't tied in to the main story particularly well. A couple of scenes are also more cheesy than frightening, such as the first sight of a werewolf, which looks more like a giant puppet than any lycanthrope.
But Dante improves the film significantly in the second half, creating a lot of suspenseful scenes, as well as one truly terrifying moment when a werewolf suddenly appears in a scene in the most unexpected fashion. From around the 50-minute or so mark right up to the final scene, The Howling is absolutely riveting. The famous werewolf transformations are also a sight to behold.
Working to the movie's advantage is the setting, since it's always fun to watch a horror flick set in the woods. Sometimes, when it's done well, a la The Evil Dead, you can have a lot of fun watching it. The Howling falls into that category and the setting helps enforce the atmosphere and tone. The constant amount of fog and mist is a bit annoying, but it's easy to get over that once the fun sets in.
Watching this film (particularly the second half) gives me an added appreciation and sense of nostalgia for the way horror films were styled in the 80's. The Howling relies quite a bit on its great sense of atmosphere, setting, and mood. This isn't a teeny-bopper film with a serial killer running around, slashing people everywhere. The situation presented is scary, and Dante plays many of these moments out the right way.
There are some other flaws, however. Character development is given a good attempt, and it does work somewhat, but I never quite got behind Karen White as much as I felt I should have. Dee-Wallace Stone delivers a decent performance, but is hampered by a script that doesn't fully flesh out her character. Of course, good attempts like this are still better than your average horror film. Christopher Stone as her husband is fairly lifeless, not so much bad as he is given not a whole lot of material to work with. Dennis Dugan and Brenda Balaski are both good as Karen's friends, with Dugan exuding what seems to be genuinely likable personality. These days, he's mostly well-known for directing a few Adam Sandler films.
Robert Picardo as Eddie has very little screen time, but is appropriately chilling in the scenes he's in. Elisabeth Brooks is especially creepy as a (possibly) nymphomaniac werewolf with an attraction towards Bill. She also bears a startling resemblance to Angelina Jolie.
I've read from many reviewers and critics that this film is supposed to be a partial comedy. While there are a few laughs, they seem more like the usual comic relief you'd see rather than all-out horrific humor Evil Dead 2 or The Return of the Living Dead style. This is more suspense and horror than comedy, for sure. The biggest laugh probably comes near the end, which also manages to be a fairly poignant scene, surprisingly enough. Dante really balanced out that one scene almost perfectly.
Of course, what review of The Howling could go by without mentioning the visual effects, which are part of this film's fame. Some parts are definitely cheesy by today's standards, but the werewolf transformations are very well-done. Makeup artist Rob Bottin showed true talent in creating a believable and formidable monster. Credit must also be given for the lack of extreme gore effects. There are some violent and bloody scenes, but compared to many other horror films, this one is relatively restraint and is all the better for it. The emphasis on suspense over blood is always welcome.
So, The Howling comes as a recommendation from me. I enjoyed much of it, found a lot to like and appreciate, though to get to the film's meaty parts (pun intended), you still have to bear through a relatively dull beginning. It's still definitely worth watching. |
My Public Profile 
