Above you see two colorful Japanese posters for The Howling, Joe Dante’s 1981 werewolf thriller starring Dee Stone, Patrick Macnee, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers hero Kevin McCarthy. As werewolf movies go, The Howling was a bit of a gamechanger simply because the principle werewolf was more terrifying than any that had been put on screen to that point. It looks more than anything like a ten-foot tall Wile E. Coyote, with a long crooked snout, and devilish ears that stick out from its head like horns. Covered with wiry hair and perched upon long canine legs like a walking dog, the brute physicality of this beast is cringe inducing. On the other hand, the ancillary werewolves might make you laugh. The filmmakers obviously wanted to genderize the creatures, which led to the idea of making the female wolves somehow cute. Instead they end up looking like Ewoks. The giallo-styled soundtrack might also be jarring for modern audiences. We love it, even though it’s right in your face like doggie breath.

But the film is definitely worth watching these thirty-six years later. The plot involves a television reporter whose investigation into serial killings in New York City result in her—seemingly in random fashion—spending time in a rural retreat to recover from emotional trauma. There she realizes a coven of werewolves rules the woods. Dante went for a slow build-up to the big reveal, and when that first encounter came it forever recalibrated the werewolf genre. Today some of the balloon effects may look quaint, but objectively they’re more visceral than anything computer graphics have managed thus far. Other effects, including a brief animation, aren’t as convincing, but no movie is perfect. The Howling is a landmark, and our only regret is we were never able to see it in a cinema (though that may change if ever our local horror festival screens it). The film premiered in the U.S. in March 1981, and first howled across Japan today the same year.

In retrospect, maybe this solo hiking trip wasn’t the best idea. Oh well, I’ll be fine. But next year: Burning Man.

Hmm. So she disappeared down there in that bizarre nimbus of light? I think it’s about time for my donut break.

Okay, okay! Let me just find the leash and we’ll go. Geez—sometimes I can’t tell who’s the owner and who’s the pet.

Arooooooo! Bacon! Bacon! Bacon! Baaaaacooooon!
 

So, you loaded this with the silver bullets, right? Right? Baby, did you hear me?

Well, the thing is, werewolfing helps me relax. Fronting my speedmetal band is really stressful.

I think the night went bad after the third Jäger shot. Could be worse, though. Garth got a tribal tattoo on his calf.

Man, these beasts are seriously horr— Whoa. Single white werewolf at twelve o’clock. Bitch got some fucked up teeth but I can work with that.