Console best movie i've ever seen.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

homelesperan First of all I like to say I'm a big fan of werewolves horror movies! The Howling (1981) is the sole best of the Howling movie series! The Howling (1981) is loaded with suspense, horror, terror (Great\Good Fear), a bit of sex and nudity (which comes with the territory of werewolves films often! 8), great costume and special effects. And most importantly of all, you'll see the best werewolf transformation in horror cinema history! Kudos\Bravo to the Makeup Department: Rick Baker ... special makeup effects consultant Joe Beserra ... makeup effects studio artist Rob Bottin ... special makeup effects creator Greg Cannom ... additional makeup effects Bill Davis ... assistant makeup artist Morton Greenspoon ... creative contact lens effects (as Morton K. Greenspoon O.D.) Tina Kline ... contact lens technician (as Tina Klein) Shawn McEnroe ... first makeup effects assistant Medusah ... assistant hair stylist (as Anne Aulenta-Spira) / assistant makeup artist (as Anne Aulenta-Spira) Art Pimentel ... second makeup effects assistant Margaret Prentice ... makeup effects studio artist (as Margaret Beserra) Josephine Turner ... special hair work / wig maker Gigi Williams ... hair stylist / makeup artist Kevin Brennan ... special makeup effects artist (uncredited) Steve LaPorte ... special makeup effects artist (uncredited) Bill Sturgeon ... creature effects crew (uncredited).And kudos\bravo to the cast & production crew of this film who made it the best werewolves movie ever! 8)

thelastblogontheleft Director Joe Dante wasn't known for much in the horror world besides his 1978 film Piranha when he dove into The Howling (based on the book of the same name by Gary Brandner, though it apparently bears only a slight resemblance to the original story) a few years later. It was one of many werewolf movies to crop up in the 80s (others include An American Werewolf in London, Teen Wolf, and The Company of Wolves) and certainly one of the most iconic. Its financial success was instrumental in him being chosen by Warner Bros. to direct Gremlins just a few years later.The story centers around Karen White (Dee Wallace), a news anchor in Los Angeles who is being stalked by serial murderer Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo in his very first movie role). She works alongside the police to lure him to a porno theater where he is fatally shot after revealing his true form to her. She suffers amnesia after the encounter and her psychiatrist (Patrick Macnee) encourages her to take a leave of absence to his secluded resort in the woods — called The Colony — with her husband (Christopher Stone) so she can rest and regain her memory. While there, she realizes this group of psychiatric patients all have one thing in common, and it's not their doctor…** SPOILERS! **A huge part of why I loved this movie so much was how self-aware it was — almost satirical at times. It is filled to the absolute brim with references, homages, and cameos. Roger Corman appears as a man waiting outside of a phone booth, while Forrest J. Ackerman is seen at the occult bookstore holding a copy of his own Famous Monsters of Filmland. There are endless subtle hints by fellow patients at The Colony — "I sleep like the dead" or "I figure another five years of real hard work and maybe I'll be a human being"– or workers at the morgue — "he didn't get up and walk out on his own" — or even Karen's own husband — mentioning several times about how he tries to stay away from meat, but voraciously inhaling exactly that when their friend Terry (Belinda Balaski) comes to visit, mentioning "I get hungry enough, I'll eat anything!". There are several cans of Wolf brand chili spotted throughout, a copy of Allen Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems casually laying on a desk, Bill reading "You Can't Go Home Again" after he's bitten, a TV playing the Looney Toons episode with the Big Bad Wolf. The list could go on, but I loved all of the little references here and there.The special effects are, understandably, one of the main things this movie is known for. Rick Baker (Squirm, Men in Black, Videodrome) was originally in charge of the monster makeup, but he actually passed to work on An American Werewolf in London (and created easily the best werewolf transformation of all time) and left his assistant, Rob Bottin, to work in his absence. Bottin already had The Fog under his belt, and rocked this job as well.He clearly learned well from Baker but had his own distinct style — Eddie Quist's transformation scene is one of the most terrifying things I've seen in a long time. The skin on his face bubbling like it was about to explode at any second, his hands stretching to impossibly thin fingers, his eyes rolling around in his head… shudder. I couldn't look away. Probably the only downside to that scene, if I had to come up with one, was how calm and unaffected Karen seemed — she sticks around, looking on quite casually, for the entirety of his gruesome change before she finally retaliates. I also enjoyed Bill's transformation scene in the woods (though that was very brief), as well as the severed arm of a werewolf attacker transforming back into its human form.I think, most of all, I loved the humanity that this movie brought to the werewolves. The duality of their persona can be disappointingly understated at times, but this film brought to light how conflicted some of them may be. Clearly some of the werewolves have a desire to get back to the ways of the past — "you can't tame what's meant to be wild, Doc — it ain't natural" — but some, maybe most of all Dr. Waggner himself, want to find a way to keep their urges contained. Him blurting out "thank God" as he's shot with a silver bullet was subtle but so meaningful.The greatest example of this was the ending itself. Karen, knowing she was bit and doomed to a life that she was so disgusted by, still wants to do the only thing in her power to try to warn others so they don't fall prey to the same beasts. Her willingly transforming ON LIVE TELEVISION as a single tear rolls down her cheek (and then being shot dead as families at home and drunks in bars watched, wide-eyed) was just the coolest damn thing… and all of the viewers barely batting an eye, chalking it up to advanced special effects, is as relevant today as ever.Absolutely one of the greats, both for werewolf movies and horror in general.

TheRedDeath30 I am a horror connoisseur. I watch a whole lot of horror movies. My favorite mini-genre of horror is the werewolf film. I have been obsessed with werewolves since I was a little guy. Unfortunately, I probably can't even come up with 20 great werewolf movies. Though Hollywood has glutted us with vampire and zombie flicks, the werewolf remains a rarity. I believe part of that is the struggle people seem to have to craft a unique werewolf story. The other part is the challenge of presenting a believable werewolf makeup that looks good. Joe Dante was able to accomplish both of these things (with help from Rob Bottin, of course).Dee Wallace (who is gorgeous in this movie) is a news reporter who has been receiving phone calls from a serial killer named Eddie Quist. She helps the police to set up a sting operation to try to capture Quist, but it doesn't go as planned and she is almost killed before the police save the day and kill Quist (or did they?). Now, she has memory blocks and nightmares, so her shrink advises her to go to a new age camp to get the help she needs. Only there is much more to this camp that it seems and it might just be a village full of werewolves.What Dante does well to begin with, story-wise, is to avoid the origin story. This was a prerequisite of most werewolf movies before this, that all followed the blueprint created in WEREWOLF OF London. Hero gets bit by werewolf, hero becomes werewolf, movie focuses on the tragedy of his/ her situation. Literally, they pretty much all followed that blueprint until THE HOWLING. By bringing us something fresh, Dante brought something new to the formula that has helped it to stand the test of time.Dante, also, crams this movie full of easter eggs for fans. Beginning with the casting choices. Kenneth Tobey (the hero of THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD) is a cop in the beginning. Patrick Macnee as the doctor. John Carradine as an aging werewolf. Slim Pickens as the sheriff. Even more so are the myriad werewolf references. Go through the list of character names and you will notice that almost all of them are named for directors of classic werewolf pictures. The backgrounds are full of little wolf references, from the books they read to the chili they eat, it's like a Where's Waldo of werewolf lore and so fun for a werewolf nut like myself to dig through each time.The makeup is maybe my favorite werewolf design of all time. Most early films used the "hairy guy" approach (think WEREWOLF OF London or THE WOLFMAN) where we get a guy on two legs with some extra yak hair. There was the cheap way out of using an actual dog (THE BEAST MUST DIE) or even AN American WEREWOLF IN London uses a creature that is basically just a dog. When I imagine a werewolf in my nightmares, neither are the monster I see. It should be an almost perfect amalgamation of the two creatures and THE HOWLING gives us that. Rob Bottin created something damn near perfect for this movie that I still haven't seen topped (DOG SOLDIERS comes close). If I have one nitpick it is the ears, which are too large, but I'm being too picky now.The film keeps the action tight and the suspense at a maximum. We start to realize that there are more than one monster in these woods and it adds a terror of not just the werewolf(s) at the door, but the very fact that the heroes are up against an entire colony, adding that one vs all mentality that brings a whole new level to the plot complexion. It all wraps up in one heck of a climax.There are weak spots, brought about mostly from the limitations of the budget. The animation in the sex scene is really bad. It was bad then and looks even worse now. The claymation used in the final chase is, also, very obvious. It's not EVIL DEAD bad, but it's not good either. Still, these small moments do not take away from the mastery of the special effects on display in this movie.It's a shame that the movie will, really, forever live in the shadow of AN American WEREWOLF. Being released in the same year as what is, admittedly, a superior movie it never got a fair shake, but this movie remains one of the 5 best werewolf films of all time and one of the greatest horror films released in the 80s.

Irishchatter What's all the fuss all about? Sure that blonde newscaster was just going into that sex room because she knew well that she wanted some fun with the wolf man. Also police going into a porn store and hearing her cries, seriously is this about a newscaster going undercover to finding the wolf man or is she gonna do pornography with him? I was just peed off after the first part so i just turned it off. It seemed this movie to me, didn't get the genre right. That's what made me less interested and even the acting too wasn't that great either. A better genre, story line and better actors might do the trick in being a good movie to watch on Halloween!