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31 days of horrorHorror

The Howling (1981): Joe Dante’s overlooked horror gem

14 October, 2015 — by Matt Owen0

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While The Howling is a scary movie often remembered (quite rightly) for it’s less serious moments, there’s a core of pure horror lurking here, powered by Rob Bottin’s absolutely spectacular transformation effects, which still hold up well more than 30 years later. 

John Landis has often recounted a call from a slightly panicked Rick Baker, worried that his own upcoming work on An American Werewolf in London was about to be upstaged. 

While Baker’s efforts may have taken the historical plaudits, Bottin’s work gave a new form to werewolves, taking them from brutish, Oliver Reed-inspired types with ripped shirts to graceful, deformed and terrifying creatures.

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For god’s sake woman, move over, I’ll get the suitcase closed

The terror is also balanced out by some very dark satire. Joe Dante warming up for Gremlins with some great potshots at a wide range of targets, including new age lifestylers and corporate media in particular. It’s worth stopping to think about that peepshow scene again. Here’s a TV company so desperate for ratings that they’ll use a star reporter as bait for a killer. Little does she know of course that bait is a little too descriptive a word.

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What? No I’m fine to drive man.

As always it’s not perfect, and some elements (particularly Elizabeth Brook’s extremely 70s brand of sexiness) haven’t aged well, but it’s a lot of fun while still delivering on the scares, and deserves to remembered for bringing werewolves bang up to date without needing to resort to the shittiness of later entries in the series. I mean, The Marsupials. What the hell were they thinking?

For more horror films to watch over Halloween, check out the grim serial killer thriller Tony.

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