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The Howling (1981)
The Howling (1981)
1981 | Horror
8
7.6 (9 Ratings)
Movie Rating
A fair few werewolf horror movies came out during the 80s, but whilst American Werewolf in London is generally considered to be the best of the bunch, The Howling definitely deserves a look in for that honour.

The plot takes a little while to kick in, but the slow first half actually allows the audience time to get to know the characters. Karen White (Dee Wallace) takes the lead, and is a hugely likable protagonist to carry the story forward. By the time the monstrous shenanigans kick off, you genuinely want her to win. Everyone else is a little disposable, allowing the rest of the focus to go towards werewolf characters, mainly Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo) and Marsha (Elisabeth Brooks), two characters that are sick of hiding their true nature, and want to live free, like wild animals should, feeding in humans and all. Unfortunately, the slow burn first half leaves little time to properly explore this aspect of the narrative.

The transformation effects are fucking great. Do they look dated? Sure, but considering that this released in 1981, the practical effects used are fantastic. I'm a fan of the bubbling effects in particular. When the transformation is complete, the aesthetic mostly avoids looking like a guy in a suit (not completely mind) and this is probably down to the make up work on the faces. The creatures look pretty damn mean.

A solid screenplay, a decent cast, and some great effects work ensure that The Howling stands out in a decade of gratuitous horror. Love it.
  
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Alison Brie recommended Alien (1979) in Movies (curated)

 
Alien (1979)
Alien (1979)
1979 | Horror, Sci-Fi

"This next one, there’s an actress tie-in. The next one is Alien. So, I clearly have a bit of a Sigourney Weaver fetish. I love the movie Alien. I wouldn’t say… I mean, I like sci-fi movies – I’m open to them – but I’m not a huge sci-fi buff, I guess. I really love watching the older sci-fi films that had the man-made special effects, the pre-CGI practical effects, and I think that Alien is one of the greatest examples of that. I think that movie is so cool. For the time when it was made, the effects, I think, hold up completely. You know, the scene with the alien popping out of the guy’s chest. It’s gripping. And also, it’s very dramatic as a film. It’s not as action-heavy as you might think it should be in your mind; because you’re setting up the whole thing, there’s a lot of silence. There’s a lot of people alone – you see them on their own. And obviously Sigourney Weaver is so incredible in it. I don’t think it was the first time I saw it, but the first movie that I saw in the Cinerama Dome at the Arclight was Alien, so I think it just cinematically took my breath away. You know, by that time, The Matrix is getting made, and you’re having these cooler effects and other things going on, and I still found it so admirable that something like that holds up and cinematically is so beautiful."

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The Ward (2010)
The Ward (2010)
2010 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Very poor
I've considered this film every time I've looked through horror films on Sky, mainly because it's John Carpenter, and I finally decided to give it a go this evening. Sadly I wish I hadn't bothered.

This film might have been made in 2010, but it looks a lot more like it was filmed when the film is actually set in the 60s. And I don't mean from a realism point of view either. It looks and feels that bad, the effects are awful - admittedly this is kind of explained during the ending but for me it was still no excuse for shoddy physical effects. Amber Heard is actually okay in this but sadly the rest of the cast are rather unremarkable. The wonderful Jared Harris is definitely underused. The whole film relies on poor effects and predictable and rather pathetic jump scares that aren't even scary. The horror aspect of this film is sadly lacking.

I didn't see the ending coming, but even when it did this sort of storyline has been done in much bigger and better films. And the final scene was rather pathetic and obvious.
Overall a very poor return for John Carpenter.