This is a short recap of movies watched during a weekend trip in which I wasn't able to write more full reactions in a timely fashion:
The Howling is a 1981 Werewolf movie directed by Joe Dante and based off a 1977 book of the same name by Gary Brandner.
The movie was, seemingly, an attempt to modernize the werewolf movie as by the 80's the Universal monster movies had taken a back seat for some time and the Slasher was just beginning to rise as a popular force in horror. I assume it succeeded due to its place on this list of ultimate horror movies. The movie I thought was alright for the most part, not great...a little silly at times though the many nods to classic werewolf movies were fun more than obvious. Probably the strongest thing, conceptually, was the very end during the news report that Karen gives when returning from The Colony. Werewolves tend to make better supporting characters than stars, though I really did enjoy An American Werewolf In London (Though I'd argue that the ghosts and the human form of the lead were more main characters than the werewolf form). I wouldn't say it's a bad movie, just a bit dull and missing the man-vs-man's animal nature character battle that really should be a part of the werewolf genre. Incidentally, this is played really well by Sam Huntington in the US Being Human (not to snub the UK's Russell Tovey in the werewolf part, I just think Sam does a better job at the more extreme ends of the emotional range).
The remake/re-imagining The Howling: Reborn is a bit more fun, and the effects are better...but it is quite silly.
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