A big city lives in a state of fear with a crazed killer on the loose. Known psycho Eddie “The Mangler” Quist (Robert Picardo) has agreed to an exclusive interview with local Channel 6 news reporter Karen White (Dee Wallace). Unbeknownst to Quist, Ms. White is being “tailed” by police in an effort to catch him at the agreed upon meeting point. The killer directs the reporter to a seedy adult entertainment store that has “peep show booths” in the back. Karen identifies the correct “closet” by a yellow smiley face sticker dotted on the outside of the door. She hesitantly saunters just inside the darkened room, assuming that help is just a few steps away. Problem is the cops lost sight of her, and are scrambling to trace where she went. Karen sits anxiously as an overly-risque film reel plays, while Quist creeps in from behind and begins to wrap his hands around the news lady’s dainty shoulders, ever so encroaching her gentle neck. As she desperately tries to shift focus to the “interview,” it’s abruptly clear Eddie wants no part of a questionnaire, and just means harm to Ms. White in some way. But just as things could take a tragic turn, the city’s finest locate the correct venue, are directed to the back by the shop owner, and open fire on the assailant, killing him in the process.
Returning to work seems trivial for Karen amongst the “near death” experience she was dealt just days before. Area psychologist and TV personality Dr. George Waggner (Patrick Macnee) begins to council Karen after the incident and quickly resolves that her current emotional state is rather fragile. Dr. Waggner’s professional advice books Karen and her husband Bill (Christopher Stone) on a weekend retreat to The Colony. Setup by the Dr. himself, this serves as a “getaway” of sorts for people that are under similar strain. As the couple looks forward to the trip, hoping it will “iron” out issues that seem to be creating harmful rifts, fellow Channel 6 associates Terri Fisher (Belinda Balaski) and Chris Halloran (Dennis Dugan) continue with the investigation into Quist. But their discoveries start to unravel more puzzling circumstances, of which may even follow Karen to her next destination.
Films like this exist in a genre simply because they “must.” It would be looked on as “clumsy” to not give some sort of identifying label to a project that has strong tones and definitely leans to a certain type of movie. The Howling can safely reside in the horror landscape based on theme and generic conventions alone, and I doubt many would refute the classification. But the “emotional” elements that make something, well, horrible are largely missing. Joe Dante heads up the directing efforts. I would argue he’s best known for his work on a defining ’80s flick The Gremlins, and an under rated ’90s “family” film Small Soldiers. These two examples put his effect in perfect light. In the former, we have a story about a lonely boy who confides in his new “pet,” but doesn’t heed the warning of the wise seller, and an entire town pays the price. This could be simply passed off as a cheesy comedy, but there are real instances of sizable “creep” in Gremlins. The slimy, horrendous little terrors are very comical I’ll admit, but they are far from harmless, and could even be formidable in some respects. Small Soldiers could just be a tale of living toys that have a hard time finding their way in this big world (Indian in the Cupboard, if you will). But instead, the Commando Elite became real threats for the actual neighborhood folks. Both of these films offered something we weren’t expecting. A few generally terrifying thrills. This, though, should be netting those emotions regularly, and not of the “token” variety we see with the aforementioned examples. I never felt the film was trying to really “scare” the audience. Really allow the ‘wolves to dig under on a psychological level so that their violent instances seem relate-able. This is why I’m not sold on the “horror” of this film.
On the plus side, the visual effects (when considering the time) are great. The transformation that happens later in the film, the full-fledged “elongated” change, is very detailed and even lifelike. The animatronics add a level of grotesque-ness that even current CGI just cannot produce. The narrative has good pace and I was consistently interested in the “goings on” from scene to scene. If anything, this definitely isn’t a “boring” film. I was entertained, just not thrilled. The acting is typical fodder for the time, considering the movie’s stance. I did think Patrick Macnee’s performance as the coolly, reserved shrink type is worth noting for it’s validity and effect on his scenes. And lest I forget Elisabeth Brooks as the sultry temptress. I felt she played her role the best of everyone, in part due to her decent screen time (Robert Picardo’s actual “minutes” are limited, for obvious reasons).
In terms of presentation. I wasn’t taken aback by any stretch. Even with the Blu-ray buffer, things can’t help but look “dated.” I didn’t necessarily think it as grimy, but just not as vibrant as I would have hoped from the transfer process. And the big unpleasant surprise was how uninspired the audio is. The disc is outfitted with a DTS 5.1 Master, and I was thinking this is what would shine through as the reason to have the BD. But it all sounded kind of flat without any noticeable definition. And with the added importance of sound in relation to supporting horror elements, it’s a real shame this is just “middle of the road.” The best part of this release is the Special Features. There is a perfect mix between older pieces produced around the release of the film and newer selections in high definition.
– Howlings Eternal with Steven A. Lane: Sitdown with said producer about his early days of a cineplex owner, how he got the ball rolling on a screen adaptation from the novel, and the shift in “details” from beginning to end.
– Cut to Shreds with Editor Mark Goldblatt: Mr. Goldblatt shares his passion for horror films, and how that fueled him in the “cutting room” to create the project’s aura of suspense.
– Interview with Co-Writer Terrence Winkless: The scribe details what’s important about the art of storytelling when doing scripts. And in relation to The Howling, the strikingly low amount of influence the book had to the script.
– Horror’s Hallowed Grounds. A Look at the Film’s Location: A full HD feature that visits some of the choice locales today and the ways they’ve changed since principle photography.
– Making a Monster Movie. Inside The Howling: An “original” behind-the-scenes with cast and crew, including director Joe Dante and special effects artist Rob Bottin, about what makes this different from the usual scary movie fodder.
– Interview with Stop Motion Animator David Allen: Mr. Allen explains his collaboration with Dante and Co. to create nice pieces that would portray what they “saw” in their heads in terms of what the werewolf scenes should look like.
– Unleashing the Beast. The Making of The Howling: A standard “beginning to end” explanation of the project’s creation, implementation, and finalizing with numerous members of the film.
There are also deleted scenes, outtakes, a theatrical trailer, and a gallery.