Three innovative entries in the werewolf horror vein saw their release in 1981: Wolfen, An American Werewolf in London and The Howling. While each brought something special to the genre, the latter united a multitude of talent for a film that was outlandish, gruesome and innovative in its use of cutting-edge practical effects. Penned with satirical wit by John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless from Gary Brandner’s serious source material, the film opens in Los Angeles, where news anchor Karen White (Dee Wallace) struggles to sleep after a near-murder at the hands of a stalker. Her psychiatrist suggests she and her husband (Christopher Stone) take a sojourn at the “Colony,” a secluded resort for rest and relaxation. It doesn’t take long for Karen to discover that the place is run by a group of werewolves (among them John Carradine and Slim Pickens), who shapeshift, hunt human flesh and fornicate by moonlight. Outnumbered but determined, Karen rushes to expose the Colony and to spread the word that werewolves walk among us, but will anyone believe her? When master effects artist Rick Baker left to work on John Landis’s American Werewolf in London, Dante handed the reins to Rob Bottin, who was more than up for the task and crafted one of horror cinema’s greatest on-screen transformations. Bottin would contribute his talent to John Carpenter’s The Thing in 1982. While The Howling saw a number of sequels with diminishing returns, this first entry launched director Joe Dante’s highly successful career. Note: Be on the look-out for B-movie producer Roger Corman outside a telephone booth in the film’s early moments.
by Thomas Davant
