The Howling – Steelbook Edition

Summary

With his film Piranha, Joe Dante had proven that he was capable of producing a very profitable feature on a limited budget. For his next film,  Joe had the opportunity to adapt the Gary Brandner novel The Howling into a feature film. In order to make the film work on screen, Joe called upon screenwriter John Sayles to help him fix the previous screenplay. The resulting film became one of Joe Dante’s best loved films. Released a few months before An American Werewolf in London, the transformation sequence performed by Rob Bottin was one of the best of its kind until that film was released. I first watched The Howling about four years ago around Halloween, and I was pleased to see that Shout!Factory was giving the film a new release in a steelbook.

As the film begins, TV journalist Karen White (Dee Wallace) walks the seedy adult district of early Eighties Los Angeles. There has been a serial killer named Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo)that has been contacting her and she has agreed to help the police to bring him in by meeting with him. Unfortunately the surveillance by the police and news station loses track of her. When she meets with the killer in a pornographic store, she is attacked by the serial killer. She only recalls a glimpse of his face before he is shot by the police. The attack causes severe trauma for her and her lover Bill (Christopher Stone) decides that she should undergo therapy. Her psychiatrist, Dr. George Waggner (Patrick Macnee) suggests that they go to the colony – a communal village in Northern California – to get their lives back in order. Their love life suffers from her inability to make love without thinking of her recent trauma. Upon arrival at the Colony, Bill begins to develop an attraction towards the mysterious Marsha Quist (Elisabeth Brooks.) There may be more than meets the eye to the denizens of the Colony. It is not long before strange things begin to occur for Bill and Karen and their relationship will be tested in ways they could not have imagined.

The Howling has gained a good reputation amongst horror film lovers. This is probably to do with the way that the film manages to change gears from a grimy slasher feeling at the beginning of the film to a Wicker Man meets werewolves vibe for the latter two thirds of the picture. The film is not very scary, but it is really interesting and entertaining. The Howling also features a pretty sexy scene in it that will make most people blush. The writing by John Sayles is a big improvement over the writing in the original novel. With Joe Dante capably directing, the film manages to create a really unique experience for the viewer.

The acting in the film is pretty good, with great cameos from actors as diverse as Slim Pickens, Dick Miller, and Patrick Macnee, and strong lead performances by Dee Wallace and Christopher Stone. I love that Dick Miller once again plays Walter Paisley in a Joe Dante film. Dee Wallace caught the eye of Spielberg with her role in the film. The make-up effects by Rob Bottin still look really nice. The score by Pino Donaggio is excellent and effectively navigates the different moods of the film. 

At the end of the day, The Howling is a fantastic entry in the horror genre. It’s a little bit more sexually explicit than some horror movies, and less gruesome than most. I’ve rewatched the film a few times over the last few years, and it gets better with each viewing.

Video

The new steelbook of the film utilizes the same exact transfer as the prior Blu-ray release from 2013. When I looked at them side by side, they seemed to look the same. The good news is that the film still looks fantastic! Until we get a 4K scan, this is still the definitive presentation. Shout!Factory did a fantastic job on the transfer of the film using an MPEG-4 AVC encode of a (then) new 2K restoration from Studio Canal. Colors and fine detail are very good overall.

Audio

The audio treatment of The Howling sounded good in 2013 and still sounds good on the new steelbook. This is a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix, but the sound design was originally set for stereo so the track has just been expanded slightly. I did not detect any audio drops, hiss, or pops. The Pino Donaggio score benefits from the added channels and the jump effects work a little better in surround.

Supplements:

Howlings Eternal with Steven A. Lane – a new piece for this release. A semi-hilarious walk through the admittedly much lesser sequels. Pretty funny where this series decided to go.

Cut to Shreds with editor Mark Goldblatt- another new piece with the film editor. Pretty good, although it is a bit dry.

Interview with Co-writer Terrence Winkless – this screenwriter didn’t go on to have a career as interesting as his co-writer John Sayles, but his memories are pretty interesting. He also confirmed the Roger Corman cameo in the film.

Unleashing the Beast-Making of The Howling – a fantastic piece that MGM must have included on prior DVD releases. Interviews with the producer, director, and cast about the film. This supplement is extensive and very solid.

Horror’s Hallowed Grounds: a Look At The Film’s Locations 

Making a Monster Movie: Inside the Howling – an archival piece from 1981 with cool retro interviews with Joe Dante and others. Pretty cool to see these people at this point in their careers.

Interview with Stop Motion Animator David Allen – this is a little bit hampered by the fact that they used very little of his footage. I am typically really interested in this type of stuff, but not in this case.

Deleted Scenes with Film Audio – also available with directors commentary. These are for the completists. Not necessary, but there are a couple funny scenes.

Outtakes  – looks like a fun set!

Photo Gallery 

Theatrical Trailer 

Audio Commentary with Joe Dante, Dee Wallace, Christopher Stone, and Robert Picardo – a very fun and lively commentary where they laugh and reminisce about their time together. A fun track.

Audio Commentary with the novelist Gary Brandner – the actual novelist talks about what inspired his novel and what he thinks of the adaptation which was very loose with his material. This is pretty fun and interesting.

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5 

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 5/5

Overall – 4.5/5

The Howling remains a fan-favorite horror film for good reason. It has a unique viewpoint and some strong writing by John Sayles. The Howling was a success upon its release and paved the way for Joe Dante to work with Spielberg on Twilight Zone:The Movie and Gremlins. Scream Factory has provided the same great looking transfer of the film and great supplements as their prior release of the film from 2013 for the steelbook. The steelbook is really attractive but not different in any way from the prior release, so fans should make their purchase based on which artwork they prefer. The Howling is still one of the most enjoyable horror films from the Eighties and this is one case where the adaptation is actually superior to the source novel.

Note: when first published I mentioned that Roger Corman had produced the film. This was incorrect!