The Howling [DVD]

Very atmospheric film with excellent special effects for the time. Well worth seeing.

Multi languages and subtitles including English. The 2nd disc has special features.Looking dated now and not as enjoyable as seen in 1981 nevertheless it's still an interesting film with a style of the late 20th century (kind of looks like Dallas and Dynasty).I've been watching 'The Americans', a spy thriller series set in the Regan years of the 1980's and good though it was they couldn't quite recreate the awfulness of that period --- big hair, big cars, pretty and manicured people. It's here in all its glory and should be appreciated as the film plot is great. It's just not executed that well.Needed editing differently as the film jumps in certain scenes. Continuity problems as a result.The werewolf transformations are good but look weak compared to Carpenter's 'The Thing' of the following year. And they don't match the iconic 'An American Werewolf In London' for pure horror in my view.It's still a most viewable film but in parts is in danger of giving us a laugh in all honesty. I think that's what I mean when I say 'dated'.

Its amazing the things you notice many years later, that you didn't notice the first time you saw a movie like this. What am I referring to? the scene where Karen throws acid at Eddie as he transforms for instance, I mean seriously? why would a doctor have an open beaker of acid in his office? I realise its for plot convenience, but would it not have made more sense to have a coffee machine instead?And then there is the climax, where the sole remaining male protagonist herds the werewolves into the barn at gunpoint, before using the gun to lock the door by sliding it through the handles. He and Karen then set the barn on fire before running to a car to get away, and lo and behold, he still has his gun!!! I know I'm nit-picking, but they obviously didn't care about attention to detail back in 1981.Don't get me wrong, these are not complaints, just rather amusing observations, and I did enjoy the movie, even now after all these years, and surprisingly, it has aged very well. Admittedly it does take a while to get going, but the werewolf transformations are well done, and suitably creepy too. Who would have thought that a werewolf movie from 1981, could still scare in this day and age?

is a 1981 American horror film directed by Joe Dante. It is based on the novel of the same name by Gary Brandner. The film stars Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, and Robert Picardo.The Howling was released in the United States on March 13, 1981, and became a moderate success, grossing $17.9 million at the box office. It received generally positive reviews, with praise for the makeup special effects by Rob Bottin. The film won the 1980 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film while still in development, and was one of the three high-profile werewolf-themed horror films released in 1981, alongside An American Werewolf in London and Wolfen.Its financial success aided Dante's career and prompted Warner Bros. to hire Dante (as director) and Michael Finnell (as producer) for Gremlins. A series consisting of seven sequels arose from the film's success. A remake is in development for Netflix, with Andy Muschietti set to direct.Differences from Brandner's novelThe plot and characters of the film deviate from the original novel in many ways:In the novel, Karen White is called Karyn Beatty, her husband is called Roy Beatty (as opposed to Bill Neill in the film), and neither Karyn nor Roy work in television.In the novel, Karyn is raped by a man in her apartment, whereas in the film she is saved by the police before being attacked by a werewolf in an adult bookstore.In the novel, Karyn's psychiatrist is only briefly mentioned, while in the film he is a major character by the name of Dr. Waggner.In the novel, Karyn goes to recuperate at Drago, a mountain village in California; in the film she goes instead to "the Colony", a health resort run by her psychiatrist Dr. ⁠Waggner.Karyn's rapist in the novel is named Max Quist and he is an ex-con who has no involvement with the village of Drago or its inhabitants. In the film, Karen's (attempted) attacker is named Eddie Quist and is already affiliated with the Colony before he meets Karen.Marsha Quist's name in the novel is Marcia Lura, a shopkeeper in Drago, and she is not a relative of Max Quist.In the novel, Karyn and Roy bring their pet dog Lady with them to the village, and she is killed later on; in the film they have no dog, nor any pet.The werewolves in the novel are described as resembling actual wolves (but greater in both size and ferocity). The werewolves of the film are more anthropomorphic, and can walk on their hind legs; standing over seven feet tall.The werewolves in the novel are never seen in the daytime; in fact, they transform every night once the sun has gone down. The werewolves in the film can transform at will at any time of the day or night, and are indeed seen during daylight hours.In the novel, the character Chris Halloran is Roy's best friend. In the film, Chris works with Karen and Bill at the television station. Karen's friend Terri (Chris' girlfriend, who also works at the station) is an original character for the film and is not featured in the novel at all.In the novel, Karyn escapes from Drago physically unharmed (albeit mentally traumatized) and survives after being rescued by Chris Halloran. In the film, she gets bitten by her husband Bill after he transforms into a werewolf, prompting Karyn's later transformation into one herself and Chris' shooting her with a silver bullet, both on live television (leading to the film's ambiguous ending as to whether the shot struck true, as the television news program broadcasting these events to the public is cut at the critical moment)One of the best Werewolf movies out there and is truly a classic despite what you make of the sequels.

Con una imagen excelente y un audio maravilloso , al igual que en otras no cuenta con doblaje al español ni subtítulos en español pero como digo si se es fan adelante

Pretty near complete in its Blu-Ray packaging, this re-issue of Joe Dante's 1981 gem THE HOWLING features a nice transfer of the original film negative and a whopping horde of extras that will have fans giving their howls of thanks every time there's a full moon. THE HOWLING is a creepy film, but there's practically as much comedy and cinema buff in-jokes as there are moments of fright, but Rob Bottin's transformation effects in this picture are just about unequaled in terms of their quality (what baffles me is that 1981 had three great werewolf pictures in cinemas, and today there are none to speak of; oh well, the good old days). I imagine that the Eddie Quist transformation scene was pretty shocking for viewers in 1981, and really the effects work here remains pretty imaginative today. While scary in concept, THE HOWLING is constantly messing with your head, throwing in a parade of jokes and quasi-humorous references to other movies, and even featuring cameos (Roger Corman, Mick Garris, co-writer John Sayles, and Dick Miller spring to mind) that make you go "Oh!" in the middle of the picture. Of course, there is the sexy and visually arresting Elisabeth Brooks to capture your eyes here, as well as some interesting werewolf characters (like Slim Pickens!) to make you gasp every now and then. While a fun movie, THE HOWLING lacks a great deal of action that might have made it even more intense, but what survived the cutting room floor is pretty good. While the movie has become a staple of the genre for horror fans, its real contributions have to do with the effects on display and the unusual concepts found in the movie itself, and how Dante cleverly reworks the genre for a new (and more tolerant) generation. While I personally didn't find the picture all that offensive (there is a high-concept werewolf sex scene that is fairly explicit but not overly shocking, and apparently this is the one scene that author Gary Brandner enjoyed from the movie), there are moments that will definitely make fans of the original 1941 WOLF MAN wince. But compared to other werewolf-themed films, this one goes a long way towards redeeming itself by not taking its efforts too seriously, and by providing some pretty freaky moments overall. And the ending is, well, a scorcher!While some of the extra content included on Scream Factory's new release can be found elsewhere, the company has yet again gone above and beyond the call of duty in presenting us fans with some really nice extra content. Chief amongst these new offerings is an exemplary interview with effects creator David W. Allen (I want one of those werewolf figurines!) in which he explains why his work for Dante was not used in the movie (with the exception of about two seconds worth of footage that comes near the end) and how he went about designing his own werewolf creatures under contract for the picture (best of all is the cut footage in which we get a glimpse of Allen's unused work). But the extra that caused me to spring for this new release was the audio commentary with author Gary Brandner, moderated by DVD producer and filmmaker Michael Felscher. While the old 2-disc DVD set put out under the MGM banner had some strong extra materials, it did not include any information about the source novel (other than the producers saying that they had decided to throw the back out and start over with a fresh script!) and this was a dramatic oversight in my opinion. While it is true that books belong to a completely different world than that of the movies, the story's source is important for understanding where the initial ideas themselves hail from. And the commentary track on this Blu-Ray is a whopper of an item if you ask me. The only thing that could have improved it would have been a video interview with Brandner, but the audio itself is great--probably even people who may not care about the writing of books (or movies) will find it an enjoyable listen. Brander is fairly open when talking to Felscher (he claims that he was on a "skyrocket to mediocrity" after the original Holwing novel was published, hilarious) and he offers some insights about what it is like to work for the "Hollywood people" and to have his novels translated onto film. He also mentions that his novel "had a better story" than the Landis-concocted mesh that was used as the basis for AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, and I agree with him on this point. Brandner's source material does in fact make the picture a bit stronger than it would have been without a more solid story to build its script upon. Brandner's own opinion about director Joe Dante is not so flattering, but he does say that the man made a good movie and it did undoubtedly put Brandner on the map (so to speak) as well. I have not read the original Brandner novel yet, but it is clear from the get-go that Dante's movie is less an adaptation than a completely original take on the werewolf mythos. This extra is, in my opinion, a collector's item. I also have to mention that the making-of documentary material here is equally great, explaining the complete making of the original picture and even covering (briefly) the making of the many sequels that are still going on to this very day. I also would be remiss if I do not offer my opinion that Dee Wallace Stone was magnificent in this movie, paving the way for herself as a future scream queen in horror cinema (following up this performance with another strong turn in Lewis Teague's CUJO). But overall I also have to say that the entire cast seemed to be having a good time with this movie, and viewers in turn will also have a good time watching them.Scream Factory's presentation of THE HOWLING on Blu-Ray should become a standard-setter for future releases. The original artwork and the newly commissioned artwork included in this package is fantastic, and the wealth of extras doesn't hurt either. The TLC given to the picture and sound transfer is also quite nice. If you want to know why a lot of us love the work that Scream Factory is doing, simply pick up a copy of this release. It pretty much speaks for itself. A+ (for the whole package)

Der inzwischen in die Jahre gekommene Werwolf-Film "The Howling" wurde in Deutschland unter dem Namen "Das Tier" in den Kinos gezeigt und ich war damals wie heute begeistert. Konnte nicht verstehen, dass er immer im Schatten von "American Werewolf" stand, der zugegebenermaßen aufgrund der teilweise spaßigen Elementen und den gut gemachten Tricks auch empfehlenswert für den Fan ist.Doch zurück zu "The Howling". Die Story fängt eigentlich schon mittendrin an, man sitzt mit einer Reporterin anfangs relativ schnell in einem schlüpfrigen Porno-Kino, in dem sie sich mit einem vermeintlichen Killer alleine treffen will (naja). Die Funkverbindung bricht natürlich zusammen, so dass sie letztlich mit dem Killer völlig isoliert im dunklen Kino ist und dieser ihr etwas zeigen will....Nur soviel, sie überlebt das und kommt in ein Sanatorium, das lustige Überraschungen bieten wird und den Werwolf-Fan unruhig auf seinem Stuhl/Sessel hin und her rutschen lassen wird.Die Tricks sind handgemacht, zur damaligen Zeit sicher die besten, die man sehen konnte und lassen CGI-Verwandlungen a la Underworld oder Vampir-Werwolf-Liebesfilmchen von heute ganz schön alt aussehen. Da die Story ein bisschen was von Rosemaries Baby hat, die Mistviecher klasse aussehen und richtig böse sind bekommt der Film von mir 5 Sterne. Zu den zusätzlichen Gimmicks kann ich Euch nichts sagen, da ich sie noch nicht gesehen habe.

"The Howling" is one of the best werewolf movies that came out in the 1980's. The film is renown for its great makeup effects by acclaimed makeup effects creators Rick Baker, Rob Bottin and Greg Cannom. The film though starts at a very slow pace in the beginning has a very intense climax and an eerie ending. Dee wallace and Patrick Mcnee give some sparkling performances in this film. The sequels that came following this movie were not successful as this one. Directed by Joe Dante, this movie still remains one of the successfull horror movies of all times.The movie has been digitally remastered in Video and Audio for the DVD edition. It has a 5.1 remastered Dolby Digital audio and for its age the movie looks clear with its good Video transfer. Thanks Amazon for the excellent packaging and a fast delivery!!!

Una cover preciosa la verdad, lastima ke por aki no las editen tambien asi.. y vuelvo a decir ke es una pena ke no venga doblada al castellano..