The Howling

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Year:	1981
Country of origin:	USA
Director:	Joe Dante
Genre:	A werewolf, she says.
Starring:	Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan
Rating:	3/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082533/
Tagline:	Imagine your worst fear a reality
Favourite line:	"Humans are our cattle."

Highly regarded cult classic that doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny.
Joe 'Gremlins' Dante's stab at a werewolf movie is a confusing affair. In every regard, this should work.
It's smart: smarter than your average horror movie, and that's a fact. 12 out of every 9 psychologists confirm it.
The effects are great.
Dated?
Yes but, unless you are the kind of slack-jawed dimwit who believes that 'there wor any gud filums mayd befour ninekeen nineky free' that shouldn't be an issue as, you know, special effects were possible before the advent of CG fucking I.
There's a decent line-up of cult luminaries, including Dee 'Critters' Wallace, Patrick 'Avengers' Macnee and Robert 'Voyager' Picardo.
The story is above par, too. Yet, somehow.....some....how, it doesn't hang together particularly well, and you find your mind wandering off, thinking about other things. How many olives can you fit into your mouth in one go?
If Macnee were wheelchair bound, would he have still worn a bowler hat in The Avengers?
All sorts of things that are nothing to do with the movie.
I've already touched on them, but another mention must go to the special effects, which are truly outstanding, and acted as precursor to the Oscar winning effects from An American Werewolf in London later that same year. The effects alone elevated this by one skull rating, else this would have hit a 2 for me.
I know, I know, fellow cultists, I am an unmentionable arse-sheriff, but there it is.
Disappointingly average horror fodder, then, despite the promise of its component parts.