THE HOWLING (uk dvd)
special edition

Karen White (Dee Wallace), an undercover tv news reporter, is attacked by cannibal serial killer, Eddie The Mangler (a pre- Star Trek Robert Picardo), in a porn shop. Haunted by the incident, Karen is sent to the exclusive rest-resort, The Colony, by her psychiatrist (Patrick Macnee), along with her husband. But all isn't as it seems, for the Colony is actually home to a bunch of werewolves...

dvd review
The Howling's deserved reputation as a masterpiece of the genre has been affected by two things. Firstly, the succession of abysmal sequels, and secondly, John Landis' 1981 effort, An American Werewolf in LondonI. Typical, you wait years for a decent werewolf picture, and then two come along at once. For as soon as Joe Dante began work on this horror masterpiece, John Landis set about his own succesful horror pic.

Now, whilst I might go for American Werewolf every time, Howling is a brilliant film. It premiere's the superb special effects showcased by Rick Baker in Landis' picture - inflatable air bags under the latex "skin" that make up a large part of the werewolf transition scenes. Howling also contains a very sexy (and arguable bestial) scene, when two werewolves mate.

Dante supplants his straight-talking picture with a thread of humour. Constant references to werewolves via the television (clips from Warner cartoons, and The Wolf Man), knowing in-jokes (Dick Miller's cameo, reprising the character of Walter Paisley from Roger Corman's Bucket of Blood), cameos from the likes of John Carradine, and a female werewolf make-up that I wish was a joke!

Howling grips the viewer, taking them down a gentle path, defying expectation before revealing the werewolf threat proper. The dual investigation of The Colony and The Mangler come together through a strange coincidence, and we fear for White's life. The firey climax, and surprise ending provide a thrilling pay-off, and then there are some of the best werewolf transitions ever on screen. Even today's CGI-laden efforts cannot surpass the work of Baker and Rob Bottin.

If Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf hadn't destroyed all respect for the franchise, The Howling would be widely appreciated as one of the greats.

Don't take my word for it, go out and purchase your shiny special edition.

transfer
A fine transfer, anamorphically enhanced. Sound is fine, nice and clear, with some minor use of the surrounds. Picture is better than ever before.

extras
Whilst lacking the commentary from Dante available on the US version, the UK edition is a special one indeed. There's more than enough here to make up for its loss, and enough reason to chuck away your old beaten VHS copy.

"Welcome to Werewolfland" Documentary: 49 minute documentary from MGM. A thoughtful documentary taking us through the production process, and the anteceedants in horror film history. Includes Dante, DP John Hora, Dee Wallace, Christopher Stone, the producer, and Dick Miller.

Deleted Scenes: About 11 minutes of deleted material, including the infamous "hot tub" scene. Print is very scratchy, but very watchable.

Outtakes: Just over 12 minutes of trims and goofs. Its not everyday you get to hear John Steed say "Fuck". Dante's obviously had fun here, as some of the clips are cut with excerpts from The Wolf Man. There's also a strange outtake from Corman's Grand Theft Auto. Why, I have no idea.

Trailers: A couple of worn, faded, and crackly trailers. Teasers, very short.

Photo Gallery: About 130 shots from various aspects of the production.

RJES

PURCHASE R2 DVD

DISC:
Release Date: 18 October 2004 (UK)

Feature length: 87 mins
Year of 1st release: 1980
Rating: 18
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen
Audio: English Mono & 5.1; German Mono & 5.1; Spanish Mono, Italian Mono
No of Discs: 2
Region code: 2
Catalogue no: MP275D
Distributor: Momentum Pictures UK
Price: £19.99
Cast: Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, Christopher Stone, Kevin McCarthy, John Carradine, Slim Pickens, Elisabeth Brooks
Director: Joe Dante

SPECIAL FEATURES:
* Subtitles : English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish.
* Documentary
* Deleted Scenes
* Outtakes
* Photo Gallery
* Trailer & Teaser

see left for full details