The Howling

Joe Dante likes A and B horror movies, and I like Joe Dante. This time, however, compared to his other works, I missed one very important component - humor. Yes, it's simply not that serious and the plot asks for some lightness from time to time. Now, of course, I'm not referring to the excellent opening, which has a Brian de Palma-like atmosphere, but to most of what happens afterwards in Colonia. The very end, in which we finally get to see the humor, makes this clear. We should have laughed more, then maybe we would have been more scared. (17/08/2014)

Werewolf films are not precisely my favourite type of horror and The Howling won’t make me change that view. Its main problem is the first half, which is not just relatively boring, but incredibly so. Things pick up speed in the second half and the turns in the story start to accumulate, only to be brutally killed by its rubbish ending. Some of the scenes with the werewolves are very well made, but there were others that aren’t so effective. For example, the transformation scene looks quite ridiculous today, but becomes an utter loser when compared with a similar scene in An American Werewolf In London. 50% (30/09/2008)

This film has a nicely upwards trend, after all. The beginning is awful and chaotic, but the psychology finds its feet after they move to the island, the viewer can take in the intentions of the creators, and the last act is actually very good (the part after they burn the barn maybe even excellent). It’s a pity that it’s so shoddy overall and lacking creative initiative; the potential for boldness didn’t need to end with werewolf sex and a naked Elizabeth Brooks, whom I would immediately cast in Baywatch. 55% (05/03/2020)