The Howling (1981)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1981
Running Times: 91 mins
Format: colour     35mm
Ratio: 1.66:1
Sound: mono

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Avco Embassy Pictures / International Film Investors / Wescom Productions
Producers: Daniel H. Blatt, Jack Conrad, Michael Finnell, Steven A. Lane
Associate Producer: Rob Bottin
Production Manager: David C. Thomas
Location Unit Manager: Jack C. Smith
2nd Unit Manager: Peter Manoogian

SCRIPT
Script: John Sayles, Terence H. Winkless
Novel: Gary Brandner

DIRECTION
Director: Joe Dante
2nd Unit Directors: Jack Cummins, Jon Davison
1st Assistant Director: Jack Cummins
2nd Assistant Director: Nancy King

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: John Hora
2nd Unit Camera Operator: Stephen Posey
1st Assistant Camera: Norman Cattell
2nd Assistant Camera: Ronald Raschke
Gaffer: John C. Murray
Electrician: Matia Karrell
Best Boy Electric: Roger Sassen
Key Grip: Kurt Young
Grip: Douglas Cragoe
Best Boy Grip: Ted Rhodes
Grip Electrician: Rick Sands
Stills: Laurel Moore
Lab: CFI

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editors: Joe Dante, Mark Goldblatt
Assistant Editors: Kent Beyda, Alan Toomayan

MUSIC
Music: Pino Donaggio
Conductor: Natale Massara
String Band: The Round Oak String Band
Songs: Chris Carney (Rocky Mountain Waltz); Joyce Fienhage, Rick Fienhage (Howling Chicken)
Music Coordinator: Marshall Lieb

SOUND
Production Sound Mixer: Ken King
Boom Operator: Douglas Vaughan
Re-Recording: Glen Glenn Sound
Sound Effects: The Provision Company

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up / Hair: Gigi Williams
Assistant Make Up / Hair: Anne Aulenta-Spira
Hair Department Head: Medusah
Wig Maker: Josephine Turner
Costume Designer: Jack Buehler
Wardrobe Supervisor: Nancy G. Fox

SPECIAL MAKE UP EFFECTS
Special Make Up Effects: Rob Bottin
Special Make Up Effects Consultant: Rick Baker
Special Make Up Effects Unit Line Producer: Steve Shank
Make Up Effects Studio: Joe Beserra, Margaret Beserra
Additional Special Make Up Effects: Greg Cannom
1st Make Up Effects Assistant: Shawn McEnroe
2nd Make Up Effects Assistant: Art Pimentel
Special Hair Effects: Josephine Turner
Creative Contact Lens Effects: Morton Greenspoon
Contact Lens Technician: Tina Klein

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Roger George
Special Mechanical Effects: Doug Beswick

VISUAL EFFECTS
Stop Motion Animation: Dave Allen
Love Scene and Main Title Animation: Visual Concept Engineering, Peter Kuran
Titles and Opticals: Jack Rabin and Associates Inc

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Robert Burns
Set Designer: Steven Legler
Property Master: Ivo Cristante
Production Illustrators: Frank Ventrola, Richard Heskox
Art Assistant: Mary Church

MISCELLANEOUS
Script Supervisor: Jeanne Rosenberg
Production Accountant: Susan Gelb
Production Associate: Donald P. Borchers
Production Assistants: Allen Alsobrook, Frank Capra III, John Ott, Mark Tarnawsky, Sherri Lubov, Stephan Kertesz
Assistant to Producer: Terry Smulen
Insurance: Bob Jellen, Albert G. Ruben and Company Inc
Television Technical Advisor: Michael Takacs

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special Thanks: Forrest J Ackerman; Gary Graver; Jamie Anderson; Jane Alsobrook; Jonathan Kaplan; Michael Chapman; Mick Garris; Paul Bartel; Roger Corman

STUNTS
Stunt Coordinator: Roger Creed
Stunts: Carmen Babnick, Bruce Barbour, Marneen Fields, John Moio
Utility Stunts: Conrad E. Palmisano

CASTING
Casting: Susan Arnold, Judith Weiner
Extras: Extracast

CAST
Dee Wallace (Karen White)
Patrick Macnee (Dr George Waggner)
Dennis Dugan (Chris)
Christopher Stone (Bill Neill)
Belinda Balaski (Terry Fisher)
Kevin McCarthy (Fred Francis)
John Carradine (Erle Kenton)
Slim Pickens (Sam Newfield)
Elisabeth Brooks (Marsha Quist)
Robert Picardo (Eddie Quist)
Margie Impert (Donna)
Noble Willingham (Charlie Barton)
James Murtaugh (Jerry Warren)
Jim McKrell (Lew Landers)
Kenneth Tobey (older cop)
Don McLeod (T.C. Quist)
Dick Miller (Walter Paisley)
Steve Nevil (young cop)
Herb Braha (porno cashier)
Joe Bratcher (radio man)
Bill Sorrells (Kline)
Mesach Taylor (Shantz)
Ivan Saric (Jack Molina)
Sarina Grant (hooker)
Chico Martínez (man on street)
Daniel Nunez (liquor cashier)
Michael O'Dwyer (drunk)
Wendell Wright (man at bar)
Forrest J Ackerman (bookstore customer (uncredited))
Roger Corman (man in phone booth (uncredited))
John Sayles (morgue attendant (uncredited))
Beverly Warren, Bill Warren (extras (both uncredited))

PLOT SUMMARY

TV reporter Karen White investigates a series of brutal sex murders and is savagely attacked by the culprit, Eddie Quist who's subsequently shot dead by the police. Karen and her husband visit a coastal retreat, The Colony, to recuperate but soon find that it's home to a whole brood of werewolves.

CAPSULE REVIEW

Dante continued in the light hearted mood he created for Piranha (1978) with this witty and very accurate parody of old-time werewolf movies that arrived at a time when Hollywood was rediscovering the joys of lycanthropy. Bottin's outstanding effects, the in-joke littered script and Dante's confident, inventive direction combine to create a gem of a film, rather unfairly overlooked in favour of its contemporary, An American Werewolf in London (1981).

AVAILABILITY

Canada
Theatrical Distributors: New World-Mutual

France
Theatrical Distributors: Studio Canal

Germany
DVD Distributors: Best Buy Movie

Netherlands
Theatrical Distributors: DEG Sale Company B.V.

USA
Theatrical Distributors: Avco Embassy Pictures
Video Distributors: Embassy Home Entertainment; MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc
Laserdisc Distributors: Embassy Home Entertainment; Image Entertainment Inc; MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc
DVD Distributors: MGM Home Entertainment (1004817)

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Australia
Rating: R

Canada
Rating: R

Finland
Rating: K-18

France
Rating: -12

Norway
Rating: 18

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: 18

USA
Rating: R

West Germany
Rating: 16

AWARDS

1981
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, USA (Saturn Awards)
Best Horror Film - winner
Best Make-Up (Rob Bottin, Rick Baker) - nominated
Best Special Effects (Dave Allen, Peter Kuran) - nominated

TIMELINE

1981
January
21: France – theatrical release

April
10: USA - theatrical release

September
11: Finland – theatrical release
21: Sweden – theatrical release

2003
August
26: USA - DVD release (MGM Home Entertainment (1004817))

POSTER TAGS

Imagine your worst fear a reality

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Aullidos – Spanish title
Hurlements – French title
The howling - ulvonta – Finnish title
Das Tier - West German title
O Uivo da Fera – Portugese title
L'ululato – Italian title
Varulvarna – Swedish title

LINKS

SEQUELS
Howling II (1985)
Howling III (1987)
Howling IV: The Original Nightmare (1988)
Howling V: The Rebirth (1989)
Howling VI: The Freaks (1991)
Howling: New Moon Rising (1995)

INCLUDES FOOTAGE FROM
The Big Bad Wolf (1934)
The Wolf Man (1941)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
The 54th Annual Academy Awards (1982)
Heartstoppers: Horror at the Movies (1992)
Terror in the Aisles (1984)
Unleashing the Beast: Making The Howling (2003)

SEE ALSO
A Bucket of Blood (1959)
Critters (1986)
The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
Dog Soldiers (2002)
Dogma (1999)
Face of the Screaming Werewolf (1964)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
Gremlins (1984)
Legend of the Werewolf (1975)
Scream (1996)
The Thing From Another World (1951)
Werewolf of London (1935)
The Wolf Man (1941)
Wolfman Chronicles (1991)

REFERENCES

BOOKS

John Carradine: The Films by Tom Weaver (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co (1999) ISBN: 0786406070)
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KEYWORDS

acid, adultery, amnesia, axes, bestiality, book into film, bookstores, burned alive, doctors, hunting, journalists, mirrors, monsters, news reporters, phone booths, psychiatrists, reporters, scientists, secret societies, serial killers, silver bullets, television reporters, werewolves, woods

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009