Review of The Howling (1981) by Jean-Francois V — 18 Aug 2009

"The Howling" is a film I liked back in the early eighties, just saw again, and still like. It has nice cinematography and a great cast, with veteran actors like Patrick Macnee, John Carradine, Kevin McCarthy, Slim Pickens and Kenneth Tobey; eighties icon Dee Wallace; future "Star Trek: Voyager" star Robert Picardo (it's rather funny now to realise that he was serial killer Eddie Quist); cameos by Forrest J. Ackermann, Roger Corman and screenwriter John Sayles; and Dick Miller as a bookstore owner. Joe Dante is a man who loves the movies he grew up with and pays them homage in each of his films. This shows mostly in his choice of actors, but also in the various film clips that are featured on TV screens (a device John Landis also used in "Innocent Blood", as did many other directors.).

Rob Bottin's transformation scenes are still impressive today, and the only really dated special effect is a short camp fire animation, which looks very cartoonish. As a Pino Donaggio fan, I was disappointed by his score, however. His best theme is rather average, and there is even a scene when the music makes the scene look downright ridiculous.

But all in all, this film has aged rather well, better perhaps than "Gremlins", though I may be overrating it because of the nostalgia factor.