The Howling Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: A traumatized reporter stays at a wannabe hippie colony that is home to werewolves.

Review: The time has finally come to review this godforsaken franchise. Actually, the films in this series aren't that bad; it's mostly just part 7 that leaves its ugly stain upon cinema. The first entry was based on a book of the same title, but all the other sequels make up whatever they want. Speaking of which, there are a lot of inconsistencies, plot holes, and contrivances throughout the franchise. I find it's best to simply take each movie on its own rather than trying to create an overall continuity; the films try, and fail miserably, to establish a flowing narrative. Other than these odd deviations between sequels, there isn't much that is exceptional about this franchise. If anything, the truly notable aspect to this series is the fact that they kept making them! How in the hell did they muster the funds and interest for 8 films?! My goodness...

A few ground rules probably need to be established regarding how werewolves work in this universe. They loosely touch upon the notion that werewolves are shapeshifters--a myth which is attributed to explaining away werewolves and vampires alike. What this boils down to is that they don't need a full moon to transform--they can do it at will in broad daylight if need be. This leads into the idea that they are mentally in control of their werewolf side unlike Universal's classic depiction of the Wolfman; but you'll notice they play fast and loose with this idea too. They still die to silver but that kind of gets tossed up in the air from time to time in the sequels. Also, silver kills them, but they can still be hurt and slowed down by conventional means of death; their regenerative abilities are questionable as well from film to film. However, the aspect that fluctuates the most is their strength. Sometimes they can rip you limb from limb while other times they are laughably weak and slow; it all comes down to the contrivances that keep the story rolling.

Setting all the bullshit aside for a second, the first film is decent but there isn't a lot going on. Dee Wallace plays a mildly famous reporter, named Karen, who makes contact with a serial killer. Surprise, he's really a werewolf and is shot by the police. Traumatized by this incident, for whatever reason, Karen and her annoying husband stay at a kind of retreat in the woods at the behest of a psychiatrist. Of course everyone at this place, they refer to as a colony, are werewolves as well. See, you can't trust hippies...ever. As it turns out, that psychiatrist was a werewolf trying to help the serial killer live a normal life, but the killer couldn't keep his shit together. This was a cool dynamic as the psychiatrist wants the werewolves to fit in and control their wolf side. Unfortunately, a lot of the werewolves don't enjoy the idea of being tamed and act out through killing people.

The psychiatrist wants Karen and her bitch boy husband to join the colony, but Karen says hell no; the bitch boy becomes a werewolf though. After one of Karen's friends gets killed, another guy Karen works with shows up with silver bullets and incredible marksman abilities pulled right out of his ass. The psychiatrist gets killed and thanks the guy; you always have to throw in at least one character thankful to be dead in werewolf films. After killing nearly every flunky werewolf, Karen and her friend escape but not before Karen is bit by her stupid husband! This is what I meant about how they present the werewolves as in complete control of themselves, with their personalities intact, yet the husband goes berserk? Hmm. Karen and the friend go to the TV station they work at and Karen transforms into a werewolf during a live broadcast. The friend shoots Karen, and we cut to one of the werewolves hanging out at a bar ordering a burger. Well, I like her style. They wanted to be original, and amuse me greatly, so they end the film and rolls credits while this burger is being cooked. You have to give them points for style.

I know it may not sound like it's worth a view, but the first entry was pretty good. There is a certain dark humor to the experience with various cameos and other shenanigans going on in the background to enhance the fun. The main werewolf transformation is cool, but it's also funny how they have Karen kind of just looking around while it takes 3 minutes to wrap up. I thought the idea of the werewolves trying to domesticate themselves was interesting and probably should have been fleshed out more. For what it was, "The Howling" was a respectable addition to the werewolf sub-genre. The sequels on the other hand...well, we'll just have to see!

Notable Moment: When the one cop remarks that they're getting interference from too much neon. Welcome to the '80s, pal!

Final Rating: 6/10