The Howling (1981)

United States of America

Horror

AVCO Embassy Pictures, International Film Investors, Wescom Productions

Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, Christopher Stone, Belinda Balaski, Kevin McCarthy

Joe Dante

Terence H. Winkless, John Sayles

Taglines: Imagine your worst fear a reality

adultery, based on novel or book, shapeshifting, secret society, woods, murder, serial killer, cabin, werewolf, psychiatrist, hunting, newswoman

After a bizarre and near fatal encounter with a serial killer, a newswoman is sent to a rehabilitation center whose inhabitants may not be what they seem.

Reviews:

Author: Geronimo1967
"Karen" (Dee Wallace) is an investigative reporter with a local television channel who is focussed on a local serial killer. When the police corner and kill this man, it has a curiously profound effect on the woman and she loses her memory. Needing a change of scenery, she heads to the remote "Colony" where rest and recuperation are the order of the day. Initially welcoming her, though, she soon becomes suspicious that all is not right with her colleagues and the nocturnal activities in the surrounding forest seem to only make matters worse for our increasingly paranoid (and tired) heroine. Venturing into the woods might offer her the only opportunity to finally put her fears to bed - but there is a risk, and that risk might still involve the man she knows to be already dead! The story here is quite good - and the audio effects department do well to develop and sustain quite a decent sense of menace as "Karen" finds herself in her new, remote and creepy, home. The acting, though - well Wallace just isn't very good, nor is "Avengers" regular, and not terribly versatile, Patrick Macnee who comes across very much as a fish out of water as the supernatural elements take over and the quality of the film falls away. The use of dialogue in the latter part of the film is sparing, and that is more effective as the darkness, shadowing and Pino Donaggio score do engender some sense of peril but I just wanted a better, more engaged, cast. Worth a watch, though - it does keep you guessing for a while.