The Bite #49

Why THE HOWLING still Matters, Behind the Scenes on PAN’S LABYRINTH, and More!

March 12, 2019

In this Issue:

Horror History: Why The Howling Was Ahead of Its Time
Image of the Week: Feeding Faun
Tiny Bites – This Week’s Best Horror Headlines
The States of Horror: Texas + Utah
Things We Love: Terrifying Tracks
Hey, That’s Us! – Shudder in the News

HORROR HISTORY: WHY THE HOWLING WAS AHEAD OF ITS TIME

This month marks the 38th anniversary of the New York City premiere of The Howling, the first great modern werewolf movie (it beat both An American Werewolfin London and Wolfen into release by a few months).

The Howling features a wonderfully-pulpy script by John Sayles (who has a cameo in the film as a garrulous morgue attendant) and Terence H. Winkless, and is based on the novel by Gary Brandner. The film follows an intrepid reporter, Karen White (played by E.T.‘s mom, Dee Wallace), as she flees a traumatic encounter with a serial killer and heads to “The Colony,” a coastal resort that would be idyllic if it didn’t house a cult of werewolves, who promptly turn Karen’s husband (Christopher Stone, also Wallace’s husband in real life) into a lycanthrope.

The Howling is less about the story and more about Rob Bottin’s throbbing, grisly make-up effects. These were the early days of using bladders in facial prosthetics, and Bottin pulls out all the stops when Eddie Quist (played with delicious menace by Robert Picardo) transforms into a wolf.

As directed by Joe Dante (three years before he hit big with Gremlins), The Howling is also packed with black humor, an over-the-top score (including a very Gothic organ) by Pino Donaggio, a cast that includes genre stalwarts John Carradine, Kevin McCarthy, Dick Miller, and Kenneth Tobey, and cameos from Forrest J. Ackerman, Roger Corman, and Mick Garris.

Dante also filled his movie with affectionate nods to other werewolf classics: look for Henry Hull’s transformation from 1935’s Werewolf of London, a framed portrait of Lon Chaney, Jr., a cartoon clip of the Big Bad Wolf, a paperback copy of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl glimpsed on a desk, several scenes from 1941’s The Wolf Man, and a psychiatrist (played by Patrick Macnee) named “George Waggner”, which happens to be the name of The Wolf Man’s director.

Although The Howling is surprisingly light on gore, it has effective jolts and is still regarded fondly enough to merit a recent academic study, Lee Gambin’s Bram Stoker Award^®-nominated The Howling: Studies in the Horror Film. And its climactic scene — during which [spoiler alert!] a werewolf transforms and is then killed on live TV, leaving the world to debate the truth of what was broadcast — seems as relevant as ever in this age of mistrust in the news media.

The Howling has been unfairly overshadowed by those other early ’80s werewolf movies, and nearly four decades later deserves a whole lot more love and respect. Now that’s a transformation we can all get behind.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

Feeding Faun

Doug Jones, in full Faun make-up, breaks for a meal on the set of Pan’s Labyrinth.

TINY BITES

JORDAN PEELE’S KILLER REVIEWS, SWAMP THING STAR RETURNS & MORE

The first reviews of Us from SXSW say Jordan Peele “is not a one-trick pony” and “has officially cemented himself as one of the most important horror directors of this generation.”

Controversial horror classic I Spit on Your Grave is getting a direct sequel 40 years later, bringing back original star Jennifer Hills and writer/director Meir Zarchi.

Some film franchises are pretty obvious, but then there are these 8 horror movies you might not realize are connected.

Saturday Night Livespoofed Scream. It was funny.

The latest Brightburn trailer makes superheroes terrifying.

Why Midsommer will bring back daylight horror.

A 243-year-old talking gargoyle has been surprising travelers at Denver International Airport.

Here are the best, worst, and weirdest adaptations ofDracula.

Adrienne Barbeau, star of Wes Craven’s 1982 Swamp Thing movie, will have a role in the upcoming Swamp Thing TV series.

Meanwhile, a new graphic novel from DC Comicsreboots Swamp Thing as Swamp Kid.

Horror icon Barbara Crampton celebrated International Women’s Day by sharing a massive list of female horror stars. And going behind the camera, here are 15 amazing female-directed horror films.

THE STATES OF HORROR: TEXAS + UTAH

By Sam Zimmerman

Today’s States of Horror take us on a satanic road trip over to the great Salt Lake.

Texas: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre/Race with the Devil

First, let’s pay tribute. There’s none more Texas than Tobe Hooper’s immortal The Texas Chain Saw (two words) Massacre. Seminal, southern and deeply regional in its perspective and independent spirit, it is a) one of the great films, b) one of the great horror films and c) certainly one of the great Texas films. But what is left to be said about this brilliant work? Not much!

So let’s shine a light on another trip through Texas hell, Jack Starrett’s satanic car chase, Race with the Devil. Starring Peter Fonda and the god of grit, Warren Oates, Race with the Devil is one of those special gems, a one-of-a-kind dusty hybrid of horror movie and road movie. Oates and Fonda co-star with Loretta Swit and Lara Parker as a pair of couples heading off on an RV trip to Aspen. But first there’s quite a lot going on in Texas, where the film was set and shot. The group, who started in San Antonio, witness a murderous ritual and end up in an extended highway cat-and-mouse with a satanic cult, on their way up to Amarillo. Tough, fantastic and featuring one of the best horror finales, Race With the Devil simply rules.

Utah: Carnival of Souls

The 1960s saw an interesting and terrifically regional movement within independent cinema: that is, filmmakers whose day jobs consisted of more industrial work (educational and commercial films) moonlighting with dark, lasting horror. Maybe the most prominent example is George Romero and what became Night of the Living Dead. Then of course there were folks like William Girdler and Larry Yust. One of the very best however, is the nightmarish, celebrated Carnival of Souls. All the cooler, for being director Herk Harvey’s sole narrative feature film (basically all others are documentary and industrial).Carnival of Souls was specifically inspired by Harvey’s driving past Salt Lake City’s Saltair Pavilion. He brought on friend and colleague John Clifford to build a story around the inspiration that was to end with ghouls dancing in the pavilion’s ballroom. And so it did. Carnival of Souls, about a young church organist stalked by a ghoulish presence, remains one of the most thrilling examples of dreamlike terror. A proper classic.

THINGS WE LOVE: TERRIFYING TRACKS

Screams aren’t the only horror movie sounds which frighten us — nothing can amp up the fear as much as the right spooky soundtrack. And nobody knows that better than Aaron Lupton and Jeff Szpirglas, co-authors of Black Wax: Horror Soundtracks on Vinyl, a new hardbound 240-page book highlighting the backstories behind those terrifying tunes. Featuring interviews with composers such as John Carpenter, a foreword by Mick Garris, rare full-color artwork, and (accompanying some editions) vinyl pressings of rare tracks, there’s no better way to relive the aural thrills of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Halloween, and other horror hits.