The Howling
Director: Joe Dante Run Time: 91 min. Format: 35mm Rating: R Release Year: 1981
Starring: Christopher Stone, Dee Wallace, Dennis Dugan, Patrick Macnee
A Los Angeles news anchor uncovers a colony of shapeshifting werewolves in Joe Dante’s THE HOWLING.
After news anchor Karen Dee assists in the plot to capture the man who’s been stalking her, a rather traumatizing endeavor, she is sent to a secluded countryside resort to treat her amnesia. Unfortunately this place, called “The Colony,” houses a pack of shapeshifting werewolves who are hell bent on turning Karen, her husband, and her friend into one of them. Along with another werewolf movie released the same year, An American Werewolf in London, Joe Dante’s The Howling features a graphic transformation scene, albeit much sexier, but the creatures were designed to lend a much more nonhuman aspect. Fun fact, it’s also the film that lead Dante to direct another bunch of unruly monsters…Gremlins!
Part of Nitehawk’s March BARK AT THE MOON series.