The werewolf sub-genre is one that Hollywood has always struggled with. Despite their being a plethora of such films, most of them are beyond awful with very few of them actually providing good entertainment. One of the few is Joe Dante’s much loved 1981 film called The Howling, a film that manages to strike just the right balance between comedy and horror in order to be a success.
The story focuses on a female newsreader that has a near fatal and strange encounter with a serial killer that is obsessed with her. In order to help her overcome her ordeal, her psychiatrist sends the newswomen to a rehabilitation retreat but it soon becomes apparent that her fellow inhabitants may not be what they seem and there may be an ulterior motive for her being sent to the retreat.
Director Joe Landis has managed to create a fun and entertaining film because despite it being primarily a horror film it never takes itself too seriously. Admittedly the basic premise is nothing new, a person being sent away only to a retreat only to find out the inhabitants are not quite human has been done countless times before but The Howling is so well written that it still manages to seem fresh. A lot of people forget that this film was released before its much more famous cousin An American Werewolf in London and was undoubtedly an inspiration for the special effects in that film. Obviously there was no CGI available at the time so the transformation scenes all had to be done using practical effects and they look great. Yes the werewolves themselves look a little hokey and not in slightest bit frightening but it doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of the film. Perhaps the only real downside is that it takes a little while to get to the main storyline but once the werewolves start attacking it’s good old fashioned horror fun despite it not being frightening in the slightest.
The so called twist is painfully obvious and the storyline has been done to death but Joe Landis has made his film with a sense of fun which provides solid entertainment throughout.
