The Howling... Any good?

[cinema sickness]

I wanted to pick this one up for some Halloween enjoyment this October but I have never seen it and got some mixed review on places like Amazon. So lets get it straight from the Cinema Buffs mouths. How is it?

[charlieray1]

I've always enjoyed it. Campy, (intentionally) with lots of in-jokes for film fans -- for example, many characters are named for directors of other werewolf movies. Great transformations. Good stuff. Great little Halloween flick!

Avoid the sequels though.

[cinema sickness]

Originally Posted by charlieray1

I've always enjoyed it. Campy, (intentionally) with lots of in-jokes for film fans -- for example, many characters are named for directors of other werewolf movies. Great transformations. Good stuff. Great little Halloween flick!

Avoid the sequels though.

Excellent! I LOVE CAMPY! I just didn't want "The Howling" to be another "Wolfen". "Wolfen" was a decent film and I did enjoy it but it was a lot more serious then fun and campy. The trailer I saw on YouTube almost made "The Howling" look kinda like a slasher with a werewolf. And that sounds good to me.

[dmb70]

I saw it back in the day, really liked it, rented it again recently, still enjoyed it.

[1blufan]

Hands down one of the best Werewolf films around. With one of the best transformations ever created, doesn't hurt that the genious Rick Baker was the consultant on the film. John Sayles did the script
I didn't find it to campy back in the day, might be a touch dated but it's still well worth it.
Like the previous poster stated stay away from the rest of them.

[charlieray1]

Originally Posted by cinema sickness

Excellent! I LOVE CAMPY! I just didn't want "The Howling" to be another "Wolfen".

Cool! I think you'll really like it. It gets very jokey in spots -- try to notice how many references there are to wolves in the various sets and props. Cans of "Wolf" brand chili, the book "Look Homeward Angel" by Thomas Wolf, clips from The Wolf Man on TV -- lots of stuff like that. Some good scares too -- not unlike American Werewolf in London.

[AKORIS]

4 out of 5 stars-- one of the best werewolf films of all time--

[1blufan]

Originally Posted by cinema sickness

Excellent! I LOVE CAMPY! I just didn't want "The Howling" to be another "Wolfen". "Wolfen" was a decent film and I did enjoy it but it was a lot more serious then fun and campy. The trailer I saw on YouTube almost made "The Howling" look kinda like a slasher with a werewolf. And that sounds good to me.

There's more to the story then just werewolves, but we don't want to spoil that for you do we.
Just stay away from any room with smiley face stickers in it.

[cinema sickness]

Wow! Ok! I'm In! Thanks everyone!

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by 1blufan

Hands down one of the best Werewolf films around. With one of the best transformations ever created, doesn't hurt that the genious Rick Baker was the consultant on the film. John Sayles did the script

And if you like that, check out the OTHER smarter-than-they-should-be B-movie scripts John Sayles wrote for his days with Roger Corman:
- Alligator
- Battle Beyond the Stars
- The Challenge (or whatever it's titled now, with Scott Glenn training as an American samurai)
- Piranha (also with Joe Dante)

[OrlandoEastwood]

Elisabeth Brooks, may she rest in peace, was hot as hell in The Howling. It's a good werewolf flick. I thought the werewolf designs were really spectacular. I've only seen the first two films and one of the other sequels, I'm not sure which one it was. It had the guy from that TV show The Pretender in it.

Edit: Michael T. Wiess and it was The Howling 4: The Original Nightmare.

[DetroitSportsFan]

One of the best werewolf movies ever.

[koontz1973]

Most definitely one of the top 5 best WW movies of all time.