The Howling(1981)

This movie is directed by Joe Dante who directed Gremlins 1 and 2, Explorers, Innerspace and The 'Burbs. This is based on the novel of the same name which was written by Gary Brandner. It stars horror favourite Dee Wallace and Patrick Macnee. There are six sequels(YES 6!!!).

Karen White(Dee Wallace) is a TV reporter who is being stalked by a serial killer. She cooperates with the cops to catch him and they do, shooting him in the process. Karen is left with amnesia afterwards and she is very shaken by it. She goes to a therapist, Dr. George Waggner(MacNee) who sends her and her hubby to a colony where his patients can be treated while they relax. They decide to go.

When they arrive, they are met by some strange characters. There is a nymphomaniac called Marsha Quist(Elisabeth Brooks) who tries her best to seduce Karen's husband. He doesn't want to have anything to do with her. As he is going back to his cabin, he is bitten by some wolf-like animal. He goes back to find Martha and they have sex, during which they both change into werewolves. Karen calls her friend, Terri(Belinda Balaski) to come and see what is going on as she is bewildered by her husbands behaviour. Terri discovers a connection between the serial killer who was following her and the colony. Karen wonders what her husband is hiding. Terri comes to the colony and she looks around for some clues to what is happening there. Unfortunately for her, she is attacked by a werewolf, but not before she calls her boyfriend, Chris(Dennis Dugan) who discovers about the werewolves and decides to get himself some silver bullets and kick some werewolf butt!

Meanwhile, Eddie, the serial killer who Karen thought was dead is at the colony. He transforms into a werewolf while Karen watches in horror. Luckily for her, Chris arrives and shoots it with a silver bullet. What they don't know is that everyone at the colony is a werewolf(Oh-oh!). They have to try and escape from them, which they eventually do and they burn the colony to the ground. That isn't the end of this story, though. Karen vows to tell the world about the existence of these werewolves and she tells people on television. To prove that it is true, she transforms herself into a werewolf live on TV and Chris shoots her with a silver bullet. She had been bitten at the colony before escaping. No one really knows if this was real or just special effects. We also find out that there was one survivor from the colony- Marsha Quist. There are a lot of sequels, but the next one is Howling 2-Stirba- Werewolf Bitch which pales in comparison to this. I will review that in a later post. I enjoyed this movie a lot and I am going to give it 8/10.