Unleashing the Beast: Making 'The Howling'

This 54 minute documentary on "The Howling" can be found on Side B of the special Edition DVD of the aforementioned movie. It goes into detail about the origins of the movie, how they had to re-write the screenplay multiple times, the psychological aspect of the film, how they choose to update the werewolf myth. Joe Dante talks about "Hollywood Blvd." and "Piranha" briefly, as well as the casting of the various actors and actresses. Dee Wallace comes off as a bit of a loon. And much more. I liked this documentary, you can watch it in 5 parts or in one lump sum. It was MUCH better then the 8 minute promo piece that's on the same disk.

My Grade: B

Unleashing the Beast: Making The Howling (2003)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

This five-part documentary was included with the Special Edition DVD release of THE HOWLING back in 2003. At just under 50-mintues, the documentary is broken down into five parts with Joe Dante, Dee Wallace Stone, Belinda Balaski, John Hora, Michael Finnell, Robert Picardo, John Sayles and Dick Miller being interviewed about the making of the film. It's clear that no one involved thought they'd be discussing the movie twenty years after it was released but the film has stood the test of time and remains a cult classic today even though it constantly has to go into debates among fans whether it or AN American WEREWOLF IN London is better. The documentary covers how Dante was able to get the film made (he walked from JAWS 3 PEOPLE 0) and how little money and time they actually had. Dee Wallace Stone, who seems a tad bit "off" at times, talks about how she got involved and how she also managed to get her then fiancé hired. The fourth part of the documentary takes a look at the special effects and how they were created. We hear about how Dante had to go back to the studio and ask for extra money so that additional effects could be done and we even get to see some animation that was eventually left out of the film. Dante is also great to listen to because he's got a great knowledge about previous movies so hearing him discuss earlier werewolf movies was fun and hearing Sayles talk about the various in-jokes was also great. Other subjects include the surprise hit the film became and Dante even talks a little about the various sequels that would follow. If you're a fan of THE HOWLING then this documentary offers up quite a bit of information about the making and it's always nice seeing the people involved with the film two decades later.