The Howling came out in 1981, and is directed by Joe Dante. This was his first film after working with Roger Corman’s production studio where he worked on Rock N Roll High School and Piranha, and before Gremlins. While he didn’t have the large budget some of his later films would, The Howling was based on a book and had a decent budget so there were high expectations.
Fortunately it all wasn’t up to Joe Dante. He did good, but not nearly as good if he didn’t have John Sayles (who wrote Piranha) co-writing the film (with Terence Winkless) and the special effects of Rob Bottin and Rick Baker. Then there is the cast. Dee Wallace, Patrick MacNee, Slim Pickens, Robert Picardo, Dick Miller, John Carradine, and several other recognizable names and faces show up. There was talent both behind and in front of the camera.
Werewolves were enjoying a sort of mini-renaissance (Wolfen would even be released a few months later) at the time and Joe Dante played right into expectations with a thrilling story that could also be seen as part commentary on society at the time. And there are plenty of in-jokes and references as well to both the werewolf genre and Dante’s past with Corman. Some obvious, some not.
But is the film any good? Yes. If you’re looking for a solid werewolf film, The Howling is definitely one to watch. And it is bloody. Maybe it gets to be a bit gratuitous, but in this scenario werewolves are not a nice creature. And this is a horror film, so this is sort of to be expected.
As for the plot, there’s a serial killer, an investigative reporter suffering a breakdown, and a few people who aren’t what they appear to be. The mystery to horror ratio is about 1:3 and that works out well here. Much of the tension of the mystery winds up being fed into the horror.
Shout Factory releases The Howling on DVD (and Blu-ray) with a massive set of special features. Some of the stuff here is carried over from previous DVDs, such as the audio commentary (which is a must-listen for fans of the film and Joe Dante) as well as the making of featurette. We also get a look at how the monster effects were done, some deleted scenes a photo gallery and a look at where the film was.. filmed. Neatly tucked away in the audio options is a second audio commentary track with the author of the book the film was based on, Gary Brandner. This was a highly enlightening track well worth the time.
I do wish I had the Blu-ray. Still, on DVD it looks good, much better than I remember. Actually, the whole film is much better than I remember. I’m glad I got to see it again.