Review of The Howling (1981) by Shane V — 11 Feb 2010

After going undercover to expose a serial murderer, news anchorwoman Karen White is sent to a 'colony' where she can work through the frightening events. But the colony is not all that it seems, and Karen quickly discovers that she is being pursued by a werewolf.

I can see why this is regarded so highly as a werewolf film. The transformation scenes, make-up, suits: all horrendously beautiful and just plain great. And every scene surrounding the actual creatures were well done with the right amount of excitement and fear injected into them. Most fans would probably stop the review right there, because nothing else really matters. Unfortunately, I can't do that.

The plot was simply awful. It had no real flow, and there was no sense of mystery, suspense, or anything to really engage us. Karen's plight with her nightmares was poorly fleshed-out, and I couldn't really feel for her. All around the acting was fine, but at times the script was simply awful, awful, awful. The characters basically took turns being the focus, and as a result we really don't make a connection with any of them. Thank goodness the Stupid Character Syndrome is kept to a minimum.

The theme either put you in the perfect mood for the scene, or completely took you out of the film with a few poorly-placed pieces of carnival music (don't ask me why it's in there). The plot progression is sloppy, and everything just kind of falls apart by the end. If ever you need an example of a horrible adaptation of a book, see this film. It felt as if they just stuffed in the scenes that mattered without bothering to tie them together decently. And there was so much emotion that was never really felt. So what are we really left with? A vehicle for brilliant special effects and a great werewolf. But outside of that, this is a choppy film with poorly focus, a lack of atmosphere, mystery, or suspense, and poorly-written characters. I'd say this is the 80's definitive of a werewolf movie, and nothing else. And that's just not good enough. I have to give "The Howling" 4.5 smiley stickers out of 10.