***Official 21st Annual HTF October Scary Movie Challenge 2020*** (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Flugel]

20. The Invisible Man Returns (1940) ***1/2

Sequel to the James Whale' original, starring Vincent Price as a man falsely accused of murdering his brother, who, on the eve of his execution, is given a dose of invisibility serum by his close friend (John Sutton), the brother of the original Invisible Man, and then sets out to find the real murderer and clear his name. But can he do so before madness and megalomania consume him? This one is lots of fun, fast-paced, with more neat special effects (courtesy of John Fulton), a good cast and what looks like a fairly hefty budget by Universal standards, featuring a variety of lavish sets and sleek cinematography, which really shines on the Legacy Collection Blu-Ray. Cecil Kelloway is delightful as the shrewd police inspector who puts two and two together immediately and doesn't waste most of the runtime disbelieving eyewitness accounts like you see in most horror films. I love how, when he first steps into Dr. Griffin's lab, he blows cigar smoke everywhere to see if the invisible fugitive is there. And, holy cow, was Nan Grey - who plays Price's faithful fiancee - drop-dead gorgeous.

21. Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951) ***

Another funny A & C romp lifts a lot of elements from The Invisible Man Returns, as freshly-minted dope detectives Bud and Lou are hired by boxer Tommy Nelson (Alfred
Franz), who's on the lam after being set up by a gangster (Sheldon Leonard) for the murder of his manager. Tommy's girlfriend (Nancy Guild), just happens to have a scientist uncle who has inherited Dr. Griffin's invisibility formula, and soon Tommy is running around town trying to clear his name, with the assistance of Bud and Lou. Some really good gags in this one, including a ridiculous but highly amusing scene with pudgy Lou in the boxing ring, knocking seven bells out of his opponent with a little help from his invisible friend. The "fixed fight" crime plot adds a nice new angle to the usual, rehashed invisibility gimmick. Not up there with the classic Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, but certainly one of the duo's best 1950s pictures.

 

[Michael Elliott]

The Savage Bees (1976) ***

Ben Johnson and Michael Parks play a sheriff and medical examiner who try to stop a deadly swarm of African bees. It's funny to think how many killer bee movies were made back in the day but this made-for-television film is one of the best I've seen. It certainly helps that Johnson and Parks are so much fun to watch but there are a couple effective kill scenes as well including one dealing with a man trying to avoid the bees in some water.

Terror Out of the Sky (1977) **

Made-for-TV sequel to THE SAVAGE BEES has another swarm of mean bees attacking people including some kids in a school bus. This sequel basically tries to copy what worked in the original film but everything just seems boring this time around. Dan Haggerty standing around smiling and acting nice at least led to some unintentional laughs.

Michael Lives: The Making of ‘Halloween’ (2008) ****

That NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET documentary that covered the entire series was 23-minutes shorter than this documentary! I stayed away from this 4 hour and 20 minute documentary for years because I didn't care for Rob Zombie's film but I actually loved this thing. It pretty much took us day-to-day during the production of the film and you really got one of the greatest looks at how a movie is made that I've ever seen. I really loved so much of this that I'm tempted to watch the actual film again.

Dante's Inferno (1924) *** 1/2

A mean-spirited father who puts money before everything reads Dante's Inferno and gets an idea of Hell. This film from Fox is missing a reel or two but at 50-minutes there's still a great story being told. The film borrows a lot from A Christmas Carol but what makes this film so great are the scenes in Hell. There are some great images of people burning a well as some full nudity, which certainly wasn't normal for this era. Fox would revisit this film later with Spencer Tracy but it's not nearly as effective as this one.

 

[Pete Battista]

Title: Event Horizon

Year: 1997
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson [Paul Anderson]
Writer: Philip Eisner (Writer)
Rating: Rated R : Strong Violence and Gore, Language and Some Nudity
Length: 96 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Stars:
Laurence Fishburne as Miller
Sam Neill as Weir
Kathleen Quinlan as Peters
Joely Richardson as Starck
Richard T. Jones as Cooper
Jack Noseworthy as Justin

Plot:
Its name: Event Horizon. The high-tech, pioneering research spacecraft mysteriously vanished, without a trace, on its maiden voyage seven years earlier. But a weak, persistent signal from the long-missing craft prompts a rescue team, headed by the intrepid Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne, The Matrix and Mission: Impossible III), to wing its way through the galaxy on a bold rescue mission. Accompanying Miller is his elite crew and the lost ship's designer (Sam Neill, Jurassic Park); their mission is to find and salvage the state-of-the-art spacecraft. What they uncover instead is state-of-the-art interstellar horror. Kathleen Quinlan (Apollo 13) and Joely Richardson (TV's Nip/Tuck) also star in this gripping sci-fi thriller.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Featurettes

My Thoughts:
While it is no Aliens this sci-fi horror definitely gives it a run for it's money. It is enough to satisfy this horror fanatic. It has a great cast that gave their all. As well as had some good effects. This film is a very good way to waste an hour and a half. I would defnitely recommend it.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5
1/2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

U- 4k UHD
B - Blu Ray Viewing
D - DVD Viewing
S - Streaming

Bold/Red = Denotes first ever viewing

Rating - Out of a possible 5

Night of the Demon - D - :
Nightmare Cinema - D -1/2
Invisible Man - U -
Lighthouse - S - 1/2
Vampires vs The Bronx - S - 1/2
The Lost Boys - B -
The Amityville Horror - B -
Fantasy Island - B - 1/2
Jeepers Creepers 2 - B -
Don't Knock Twice - B - 1/2
The Dead Don't Die - B -
Mostly Ghostly: Have You Met My Ghoulfriend - B - 1/2
Damned By Dawn - B - 1/2
Christine - U -
Good Boy - S - 1/2
Resicent Evil: Damnation - B - 1/2
Hocus Pocus - B - 1/2
It - B -
It: Chapter 2 - B -
Pet Sematary (1989) - U -
Pet Sematary (2019) - U - 1/2
Pet Sematary 2 - D - 1/2
Walled In - B -
Billy the Kid vs. Dracula - S - 1/2
Tales from the Hood - D -
Tales from the Hood 2 - B - 1/2
Midsommar - B -
Hubie Halloween - S -
The Thing ('82) - B -
Thirteen Ghosts - D -
Suspiria - D -
The Toolbox Murders - D - 1/2
Van Helsing - U - 1/2
Final Destination 2 - B - 1/2
Silver Bullet - B -
Event Horizon - B - 1/2

Total Watched: 36

 

[sleroi]

 

[BobO'Link]

Event Horizon is the movie I was wishing for when Disney released The Black Hole and instead got a glorified kiddie SF affair (some good visuals but lame as heck story).

 

[whacky blacky]

October 26

61. Gehenna: Where Death Lives (2016). FTV. Watched on DVD. 2.5/5. An old WW2 bunker is the setting of this one. This one wasn't too bad except for the Lance Henricksen role which lasted one phone call.

 

[Pete Battista]

Title: The Rage: Carrie 2

Year: 1999
Director: Katt Shea
Writer: Rafael Moreu (Writer), Stephen King (1947) (Original Characters By)
Rating: Rated R : Strong Graphic Horror Violence and Gore, Brief Strong Sexuality and Language
Length: 105 Min.
Video: Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio: 5.1, English: DTS-HD Master Audio: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: DTS-HD Master Audio: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: DTS-HD Master Audio: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Emily Bergl as Rachel Lang
Jason London as Jesse Ryan
Dylan Bruno as Mark
J. Smith-Cameron as Barbara Lang
Amy Irving as Sue Snell
Zachery Ty Bryan as Eric

Plot:
In this horrifying 1999 sequel, Rachel (Emily Bergl, The Knick) is a high school misfit who gets caught in the middle of a vicious prank orchestrated by a group of jocks that turns deadly. Once the police bring one of the boys in for questioning, his teammates target Rachel for squealing, and hatch a devious scheme to publicity humiliate her. But messing with Rachel is worse than playing with fire, for when her temper's crossed, it triggers a powder-keg of anger and unleashes horrifying powers that turn a wild teen house party into a wilder mad-house inferno! Also starring Jason London (Dazed And Confused), Rachel Blanchard (TV’s Clueless), Mena Suvari (American Beauty) and Amy Irving (reprising her role as Sue Snell from Brian DePalma’s original Carrie), this fast-paced, white-knuckle revenge fantasy takes telekinesis to the next level of terror!

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Deleted Scenes

My Thoughts:
This is another film I haven't seen in many years. While this film isn't much compared to the original I did enjoy this one. In my opinion it did a good job and making you like the characters you should and hate the rest. Some of the kills were really god. Especially the spear gun to the guy's crotch. Ouch! While it don't comare well to the first one I really don't see it deserving some of the hate I seen it get. I especially liked that they were abale to get one of the stars from Carrie to come back and reprise her role.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5
1/2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

U- 4k UHD
B - Blu Ray Viewing
D - DVD Viewing
S - Streaming

Bold/Red = Denotes first ever viewing

Rating - Out of a possible 5

Night of the Demon - D - :
Nightmare Cinema - D -1/2
Invisible Man - U -
Lighthouse - S - 1/2
Vampires vs The Bronx - S - 1/2
The Lost Boys - B -
The Amityville Horror - B -
Fantasy Island - B - 1/2
Jeepers Creepers 2 - B -
Don't Knock Twice - B - 1/2
The Dead Don't Die - B -
Mostly Ghostly: Have You Met My Ghoulfriend - B - 1/2
Damned By Dawn - B - 1/2
Christine - U -
Good Boy - S - 1/2
Resicent Evil: Damnation - B - 1/2
Hocus Pocus - B - 1/2
It - B -
It: Chapter 2 - B -
Pet Sematary (1989) - U -
Pet Sematary (2019) - U - 1/2
Pet Sematary 2 - D - 1/2
Walled In - B -
Billy the Kid vs. Dracula - S - 1/2
Tales from the Hood - D -
Tales from the Hood 2 - B - 1/2
Midsommar - B -
Hubie Halloween - S -
The Thing ('82) - B -
Thirteen Ghosts - D -
Suspiria - D -
The Toolbox Murders - D - 1/2
Van Helsing - U - 1/2
Final Destination 2 - B - 1/2
Silver Bullet - B -
Event Horizon - B - 1/2
The Rage: Carrie 2 - B - 1/2

Total Watched: 37

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

October 26: Morgan (2016) – 3 out of 5 – First Time Viewing

Lee Weathers is a risk-management specialist dispatched to a high-security genetic engineering facility to evaluate the program and decide on a course of action following an incident. The facility has successfully created a human child, called Morgan, fused with artificial DNA to enhance certain abilities. The ‘incident’ was Morgan viciously attacking one of the scientists. While the science team defends Morgan and her outburst, Morgan doesn’t make her fate any safer when things begin to escalate.

Morgan was the first feature film directed by Luke Scott, son of legendary filmmaker, Ridley Scott. Luke’s technique carries some strong echoes of his father’s framing and fascination with the artificial juxtaposed with the living. But what fails this film isn’t the framing, the cinematography, the performances, or even the great score by Max Richter, it’s the utter lack of surprise. Everything that happens in Morgan is expected, at every step, and even the revelation in the third act was telegraphed so loudly in act one that you have to wonder if they really thought they were giving us a surprising reveal at the end. It’s such a shame as the cast assembled is great, with the likes of Kata Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy, Paul Giamatti, Michelle Yeoh, Boyd Holbrook and Toby Jones doing good work.

There are moments of real promise here. The scene between Paul Giamatti and Anya Taylor-Joy, despite ending up exactly where you expect it to, contains some great dialogue and strong performances. This film needed more of that so that it could explore the ethical ramifications and moral obligations of what was going on at the facility. Instead it follows a narrow, familiar, well-lit path to its inevitable conclusion.

Great to look at, solid performances, but the story and plotting are so familiar and expected that it ultimately disappoints.

 

[sleroi]

10/26

29. Tarantula (1955) - first time viewing - ****

A 1950s giant creature feature. A solid entry in the genre with a pretty straight forward plot and likeable characters.

But what really stands out are the effects. Sure, there are a few scenes where they obviously imposed a close shot of a tarantula over a wide shot, and there is one obvious matte shot of an attack, but I never detected any miniatures or projection. 90% of the effects still hold up. There is an amazing shot in the beginning of several mid size creatures in cages in a lab. Behind bars and glass with the scientist walking in front of them. Really some amazing work for the times.

30. The Devils Rain (1975) - first time viewing - ****

So who knew that when you sell your soul to the devil your insides get replaced with candle wax?

The movie starts with credits over a series of ghoulish, evil paintings and maintains an eerie vibe throughout. William Shatner and Eddie Albert are solid, but Ernest Borgnine as Satans 300 yr old minister of life on earth is the reason to see this. He is fantastic. He even dons Rams Horns.

At just under an hour and a half it flies by and has a great ending.

 

[Malcolm R]

IT (2017)

After a series of disappearances in the town of Derry, Maine, a group of outcast friends discovers an evil being feeding on the fears, and the bodies, of the area kids. While it generally appears as a clown, Pennywise, it can manifest as anything that will scare you to death.

I've never really been huge fan of anything by Stephen King, books or movies. I've read several of his books, but have only ever really loved Needful Things. Most every other book has been a slog (though I recently read The Outsider which was pretty good). I find the films to be much the same. Many of them are just so bloated with unnecessary side plots and random oddities. Over the summer, I watched The Shining, Doctor Sleep, and Salem's Lot. None of them really grabbed me. This version of IT is probably among the adaptations I've enjoyed the most (along with the recent version of Pet Sematary). Though I just don't find clowns scary, and don't really understand why anyone would, so maybe that's part of the problem.

The production values here are excellent, and there are a handful of good scares (Stan's creepy woman from the painting is one). Bill Skarsgaard is very good as Pennywise. But the Richie Tozier character really irritates me. I just keep hoping Pennywise will take him away. And it's just so, damn, long. And this is only half (or less) of the story. I did also watch Chapter 2 over the summer, and was pretty disappointed with that, too.

 

[dana martin]

First Time Viewing

38. Strait-Jacket 1/2

38 films so far that I had never seen before, honestly i didn't think i would get this far along this year during the challenge, but i am happy for many of the new to me , films that I have gotten to see, some real gems that have just been collecting dust, even the wife has liked some of the less scary ones ( she doesn't do horror, she is a comedy girl)

After the less then scary Old Dark House, William Castle returns to form producing and directing from a script by Robert Blotch, who seems to have apparent issues with mother figures, think maybe he needed some kind of counseling. Joan Crawford gives a great latter-day performance looking full on Mommie Dearest mode, right down to a black wig that looks like Faye may have tried on later. Right down to the very obvious Pepsi placement on the counter so she can get her free advertising.

Castle does a great job of upping the ante that was set in Psycho, by giving an axe wielding Joan, Free reign to fully decapitate two people at the movies onset. By the way, a great uncredited cameo by a very young Lee Majors as her much younger husband with infidelity issues. Thinking about it now he had a hell of a start to his career, first Joan Crawford then moves on to working with Barbara Stanwyck for the next couple of years, not bad, then that marriage to Farrah, not a bad run there for a bit.

Solid early performance by a young George Kennedy, who looks so disheveled that he would have made a much scarier version out of Boo Radley. Great setup, a well measured pace, with twists and turns and gaslighting of poor Joan till the film reaches its climax, and really did the woman ever give a bad performance? Even more impressive is that it is just a solid film without any gimmicks, and damn fine storytelling.

next...

 

[sleroi]

10/26

31. The Beast With Five Fingers (1946) - first time viewing - ***

A rich Count dies and leaves his estate to his nurse, triggering a legal battle between her and the counts brother over the will. Soon after his death however members of both parties begin to die and the evidence points to the dead count as the murderer.

Peter Lorre, while billed third, is the star here. In his first scene he begins to lose his mind at the thought of the nurse leaving, and the score becomes ridiculously dramatic. It foreshadows a fun 3rd act where Lorre begins questioning his own sanity.

The rest of the film is a well acted, beautifully shot mystery. But Lorres performance it what elevates this film.

 

[Suzanne.S]

I just came across this on Eventbrite:

UCLA is showing The Vampire Bat (1933) with Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray on Thursday evening. It is free, but you have to register to get the link to the private Vimeo channel to watch. I am really excited to see this. I've watched their presentations before and they are always top notch.

The Vampire Bat (1933)

UCLA Film & Television Archive Virtual Screening Room

www.eventbrite.com

UCLA Film & Television Archive Virtual Screening Room
About this Event
RSVP to receive a viewing link on the day of the program. Please check your spam filter if you don't see an email by 12 p.m. on October 29.
-----------
Restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive with funding provided by The Packard Humanities Institute
The Vampire Bat (1933)
Everybody loves Dr. von Niemann (Lionel Atwill), clueless that his tales of medieval vampirism are a cover to murder the local proletariat to feed the artificial being he has created. Capitalizing on the moment’s spooky movie craze, Poverty Row producer Phil Goldstone packed the cast with genre luminaries—Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas—and staged them on cast-off sets from The Old Dark House and Frankenstein. It's foolish fun that plays like a midnight matinee from the old Shock Theater TV package. The UCLA Film & Television Archive restoration recreates the sensational Gustav Brock color sequence, unacknowledged and unseen since its first run.
Post-screening Q&A with author Victoria Riskin, daughter of Fay Wray.
B/w & color, 63 min. Director: Frank Strayer. Screenwriter: Edward T. Lowe, Jr. Cast: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas.
Restored from a 35mm composite acetate fine grain master and a 35mm nitrate print. Laboratory services by The Stanford Theatre Film Laboratory, West Wing Studios, Inc., Fotokem, Audio Mechanics, Simon Daniel Sound, DJ Audio, Inc. Special thanks to: Stanton Rutledge, Bill Broderson, Andrew Oran.
---
Questions? Email [email protected]

 

[John Stell]

Rating - Out of a possible 4

130) 10/26/2020 Dead of Night (1945)

1/2

Grand British anthology about architect summoned to country home for the weekend, only to realize he's been there before. The other guests then tell their encounters with the supernatural, including am ominous hearse driver, a ghostly game of hide and seek, a haunted mirror, a vengeful spirit, and an insane ventriloquist. Very entertaining, with mirror and final stories generating the most chills.

131) 10/26/2020 The Face of Marble (1946)

John Carradine is experimenting with brining the dead back to life, including his wife's dog, which he killed. Things start getting crazy when wife's servant, who knows about voodoo, tries to interfere. Lots of various plot threads don't make that pretty a picture when all is said and done. But this might be the first film to feature a ghost dog.

132) 10/27/2020 The Spiral Staircase (1946)

1/2

Mute woman is trapped one dark and stormy night in house where a psychotic killer is hiding, perhaps in plain sight. He has a thing about "imperfect" women. Top notch suspenser.

133) 10/27/2020 La Rebelion de los Fantasmas (1946)

1/2

A gaggle of ghosts try to prevent destruction of their home when plans are made to demolish it. Lots of super-imposed spirits, musical numbers, reversed-action shots, and the like in this fairly enjoyable comedy-horror.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

I just don't find clowns scary, and don't really understand why anyone would, so maybe that's part of the problem.

I don't find clowns scary either, Malcolm, but thought Bill Skarsgard's Pennywise was creepy as hell!

 

[Radioman970]

I'm still kicking. Planning to update sunday. things just got too crazy to post regular. not even going to talk about non-movie stuff. blah!

 

[BobO'Link]

Yesterday:

Another Poe title with little to nothing to do with the story. A wealthy judge coaxes the brilliant but eccentric neurological surgeon Dr. Vollin (Lugosi), who also has an obsessive penchant for Edgar Allen Poe, out of retirement to save the life of his daughter, a dancer crippled and brain damaged in an auto wreck. He becomes obsessed with the girl, schemes to kidnap her and get her fiance and father into his Poe inspired torture chamber. Karloff is a wanted criminal Vollin turns into a monster to guarantee his help.

Not all that bad and *does* have a brief dance interpretation of the poem while portions are read in voice over. Still, the Poe connection is tenuous at best. Lugosi, Karloff, and the torture dungeon are the main draws and pretty good.

This was quite a surprise when I first saw it. I'm not a Tom Cruise fan and really thought it'd fall flat. Surprisingly, it works quite well, but Cruise isn't truly the main star, at least in my opinion. That would be Brad Pitt. A very young Kirsten Dunst is frighteningly "mature" in her kid's body - forever. It's kind of a "Day in the Life of a Vampire" type movie and shows the horror of what "life" is like when you can't die and must feed on blood to live. The destruction of a vampire den is a highlight. Actually the entire "I finally got to see Paris" segment.

"Soy Sauce" - a drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit causes users to drift across time and dimensions. The drawback is some who come back are no longer human. In the midst of finding the "Sauce" an otherworldly invasion is underway. Mankind finds its hero in John and David, a pair of college dropouts who can barely hold down jobs.

A second viewing and I still don't quite know what to make of this one.

One of the better pairings of Karloff and Lugosi sees Karloff, a scientist, discovering a new type of radiation he calls "Radium X" during an African expedition. It's a miracle "drug" of sorts. But in his obtaining his samples, Dr. Rukh (Karloff) becomes too exposed and actually glows in the dark due to his exposure. An associate (Lugosi) develops a somewhat "antidote" which keeps Dr. Rukh alive but his touch is fatal to others. It also begins to affect his mental state, driving him into paranoid rages. He seeks revenge against the members of his expedition, who he accuses of stealing his discovery for their own glory.

Quite fun and entertaining. The glow effects are well done and the slow descent into paranoia is a great touch.

 

[Russell G]

Yesterdays viewing

071 10/25 Night of The Living Babes (1987) 3.5/5 Chuck drags his pal Buck to the newly opened “Mondo Zombie House” for some fun and games only to find out that the Madame has a sex change ray she’s itching to try. Porn director Gregory Dark took a time out from hardcore to do softcore tapes for DTV market and this one is a real gem. It’s knowingly dopey and over the top - the cover compares it to John Waters if you’re wondering the tone - but it’s all Greg Dark. This one plays better than most of his hardcore work as he doesn’t have to set up sex scenes so they can go extra crazy with the over the top with the plot. Andy Nichols carries the tape as Chuck and Michelle Bauer is just as good as his fed-up wife Sue. I’m probably rating this one higher than most, but it really is a sleazy, new wave gem.

072 10/26 So Sweet… So Perverse (1969) 3.5/5 The second of the Baker/Lenzi films finds a French cad getting mixed up in the affairs of the upstairs neighbour. This one tones down the sex of the ORGASMO but ranks as a top notch thriller with some pretty great twists to keep you interested and on your toes. To say more will be telling, but this one was another winner.

073 10/26 Mulberry Street (2006) 2/5 The tenants of a walkup in New York have to deal with mutant rats. This is one of those low budget horrors where you suspect the people behind it wanted to make any kind of film other than a mutant rat movie. Starts off as a character study type deal of life in the neighbourhood before getting into the rats. It’s fine once it gets going, but not engaging.

074 10/26 The Babysitter (2017) 3.5/5 McG brings his coke-fueled vision to DTV horror and it ends up pretty fun. A young boy too old for a babysitter finds out his sexy babysitter is up to bad things when he’s in bed. Story wise it’s no great shakes and pretty bananas, but McG goes for and it never slows down. I thought this one was a lot of fun.

075 10/26 Overlord (2018) 4/5 I loved this one. A commando squad in WWII crash lands into France on the eve of D-Day and discover the Nazis are up to vile experiments in the basement of the tower they need to take out. This might be the best Nazi-Zombie film I’ve seen. It plays like ALIENS with non-stop action and some legit tense moments. Highly recommended.

 

[dana martin]

First Time Viewing

39. The Howling

Oh, holy cow, I must have been brain dead my senior year of high school creeping on almost 40 years now, because that's when this came out and I'm just now seeing it. Joe Dante takes the werewolf legend and everything that Universal Studios did in the original 1941 film and gives it the complete refresh and work over treatment that it needed. By comparison with an American Werewolf in London, which I expressly do remember going to the theater to see somehow this slipped in amongst the cracks along with Wolfen.

OK one thing that really got to me is the special effects and the change, it's a different look from An American Werewolf in London, and that's a good thing the transformation is done a whole lot differently and it works, great for this movie.

Yep kids, the early 80s had a run of werewolf movies to keep pace with all their slasher flicks and apparently, I missed some really good things till now. First of all let me say that I am completely blown away in impressed by Joe Dante’s direction and every little inroad that he does as an homage To the original Universal classic, right down to a photograph picture of a young Lon Chaney Jr. In doctor George Waggners Office.

The cast is perfectly selected right down to having John Carradine as one of the elder members of the colony. The cameos throughout the film are completely thought out an utterly awesome, and who doesn't love Dick Miller? At this point I am kind of dreading watching any of the sequels because I don't believe that they will even come remotely close to how good this really is.

next...

 

[Malcolm R]

At this point I am kind of dreading watching any of the sequels because I don't believe that they will even come remotely close to how good this really is.

I wouldn't torture yourself by watching them all (there are seven sequels). Maybe just The Howling II, as I think that's the only film with any continuity from the first.

Howling IV: The Original Nightmare is supposed to be a more faithful adaptation of the original novel on which the first film was very loosely based, though the reviews of this film are pretty bad.