The Howling works well as a gore/pure horror/comedy movie. The special affects, although riveting, aren't as amazing as some say. The areas this movie is strong in is atmosphere, character development, and some great shocks.
The first half of the movie takes a long time to set up the characters and situations. Dee Wallace plays Karen White, who is traumatized by a rapist. Her psychiatrist advises her to go to a vacation area in the woods. She brings her husband and two friends. What they don't realize is that the area is a coven for werewolves, and the "normal" looking vacationers are actual werewolves. Wallace, her husband, and friends are all terrorized by the lycanthropes.
(Spoilers)The second half of the movie picks up considerably. The best scenes in the movie is where one of the female werewolves lures Wallace's husband in the woods to have sex with him and makes him a werewolf in the process. The special affects start working well here, but get slightly overdone by the end of the sex scene. Another scene is where Terri(Wallace's friend) stumbles in a deserted creepy cabin where she finds pictures of the killer who terrorized Wallace. A werewolf spots her snooping around and chases her. The ending is pretty good, if not a bit hokey.
The acting and gritty, tense atmosphere work very well, and the chase scenes are excellent. The special affects are sometimes excellent, but sometimes very fake looking. There are some slow parts, but the end result is very good. Recommended definitely for all horror fans.
The first half of the movie takes a long time to set up the characters and situations. Dee Wallace plays Karen White, who is traumatized by a rapist. Her psychiatrist advises her to go to a vacation area in the woods. She brings her husband and two friends. What they don't realize is that the area is a coven for werewolves, and the "normal" looking vacationers are actual werewolves. Wallace, her husband, and friends are all terrorized by the lycanthropes.
(Spoilers)The second half of the movie picks up considerably. The best scenes in the movie is where one of the female werewolves lures Wallace's husband in the woods to have sex with him and makes him a werewolf in the process. The special affects start working well here, but get slightly overdone by the end of the sex scene. Another scene is where Terri(Wallace's friend) stumbles in a deserted creepy cabin where she finds pictures of the killer who terrorized Wallace. A werewolf spots her snooping around and chases her. The ending is pretty good, if not a bit hokey.
The acting and gritty, tense atmosphere work very well, and the chase scenes are excellent. The special affects are sometimes excellent, but sometimes very fake looking. There are some slow parts, but the end result is very good. Recommended definitely for all horror fans.