The Howling

Film: The Howling (1981)
Dir: Joe Dante
Rating: **** out of 5 stars



Between The Howling and John Landis' An American Werewolf in London, 1981 was a great year for lycanthrope fans. Both films were iconic pioneers of the subgenre, each loaded with black humor, great music, and groundbreaking makeup FX. In comparing the two, my heart still goes to London, but Dante's flick remains an influential and scary horror classic.

Television anchorwoman Karen White (Dee Wallace) is the target of a serial killer known simply as Eddie. In order to help police catch him, she agrees to meet Eddie in person, and consequently she is almost killed. Emotionally traumatized by the incident, Karen is ordered by her doctor to go on a country retreat. She and her husband Bill stay the week at a beautiful but remote colony of psychiatric patients. Howling sounds in the night and eviscerated cows are the first hints that something is not right with this place. Needless to say, the local residents are not what they seem.

Honestly, the werewolves in this aren't even as scary as Eddie is. The opening of the film, where Karen is trapped in a peep booth with the killer, is disturbing and horrifying on a level I did not expect from this movie. Beyond that, Dante keeps the mood a little lighter. Sure, it's all dark and bloody, but he slips in plentiful wolf puns and classic film references. Each time you watch the movie, you are bound to discover another in-joke you missed the last time.

Also worth mentioning is legendary composer Pino Donaggio's chilling score, which captures all the tension and eroticism of a good werewolf movie. You know it's a proper horror film when there is an Italian on musical accompaniment.

Based on Gary Brandner's novel The Howling, the screenplay is tense, witty, and packs an unforgettable ending. The story nails the standard lyncanthrope themes, like sexuality, change, and animal instincts. The script is supported by good performances, not the least of which being scream queen Dee Wallace, and amazing visual effects. The godly Rick Baker was originally hired to handle the film's special makeup effects, but he left to work on An American Werewolf in London. He left the job in the able hands of his assistant, Rob Bottin, who is one of my absolute favorite makeup effects artists (see also: The Thing, Total Recall).

Just like Landis' film, The Howling boasted a werewolf transformation on-camera. Bottin pioneered his own morphing technique, since Baker took his famous "change-o" mechanical head with him for London. Bottin utilized air bladders under latex and makeup to create the illusion of a human transforming into a werewolf. It may seem outdated today but it was groundbreaking at the time, and still impresses me to this day. Furthermore, the finalized werewolves look great - huge, frightening...and a tad adorable.

It is refreshing to know that both 1981 werewolf films did not steal from each other, but instead each film satisfied a niche within the subgenre. Both had amazing FX, great music, and campy humor, and yet they feel like completely different types of movies. Though it may seem a little outdated or silly by today's standards, The Howling nails the werewolf genre conventions while paying fantastic homage to its predecessors.

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The Last Winter

Film: The Last Winter (2006)
Dir: Larry Fessenden
Rating: ** out of 5 stars



The Last Winter follows a team of scientists and drillers who are attempting to lay pipeline in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Bizarre events start to occur, like rainstorms and a rapid temperature increase. When one of the team members starts babbling about a "force" coming after them, the others chalk it up to craziness. But they are soon forced to accept that things are not right here and that someone - or something - will not let them leave.

Many times I have watched films where a perfectly good plot was poorly executed and thus ruined the final product. The Last Winter seems to have the opposite problem - visually, it looks quite good, but the premise is ridiculous and preachy. This movie was doomed from the start. In his defense, I believe Fessenden told this story as well as anyone could have possibly told something this dumb.

There is some interesting camerawork and very nice cinematography, but ultimately, the film turns into a silly mess. There is very little horror involved, and the menace itself is both predictable and lame. If you want horrifying, let's talk about the CGI FX. Ugh. The filmmakers clearly allocated about $100 into their FX budget. Horrible. Just horrible. It's a shame because it cheapens all the nice cinematography throughout the rest of the film.

The pacing also leaves something to be desired. I grew bored very often, and the movie drags on and on before anything interesting happens. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of slow-boiling tension, but there is none here. On the positive side, leads Ron Perlman and James LeGros are good, as always.

As both a horror fan and bleeding-heart environmentalist, I should have loved this flick. But this movie proves that liberal lectures and horror do not mix. The result is boring, preachy, and ultimately, batshit crazy. Without giving away too much, I'll just say the moral of the story is: don't rape the Earth or she'll rape you back. I wish I could tell you the ridiculousness that comes out of that, but my spoiler ethics overpower me. See for yourself if you're feeling goofy. Otherwise, just skip this one and go watch The Thing again.

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