The Howling
The Howling is a 1981 American werewolf film directed by Joe Dante.
Rob Bottin was 21. Released months from American Werewolf and between them they finished the subgenre.
goreledger editorial rating: 7/10 · Read the review
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Released months before An American Werewolf in London and beaten to the punch on the transformation by a matter of weeks, which has unfairly overshadowed it ever since.
Rob Bottin was twenty-one. His approach is the opposite of Baker's: faster, wetter, more theatrical, with the snout pushing out in a long slow bulge that is more disturbing than it is anatomical. He worked so hard on it he was hospitalised.
The film around it is a satire, which people forget. The werewolves have retreated to a Californian self-help retreat run on encounter groups and personal growth, and Joe Dante plays that for exactly the laughs it deserves.
There are seven sequels. There is no reason to watch any of them.
Goreledger editorial rating
7 / 10
Overshadowed by its near-twin but arguably stranger: a satire set in a self-help retreat, with a faster, wetter transformation than its rival's. Dante plays it for the laughs it deserves. The seven sequels are not worth the trip.
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Goreledger editorial profile
Describes the film, not its quality: high gore means very gory.
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Trailer
The sleeves
The same film, sold as a different film in each territory. Click any of them.
Where to watch
Australia
Germany
Finland
UK
USA
Legal sources only. Availability data from JustWatch via TMDB.
Checked 9 Aug 2026
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Adjacent
WATCHcanonAn American Werewolf in London
Rick Baker won the first Academy Award for Best Makeup for a transformation that hurts to watch.
WATCHknownWolfen
Not really a werewolf film. Something older is hunting in the ruins of the South Bronx.
WATCHknownThe Company of Wolves
Angela Carter adapting herself. Nested fairy tales about what adults tell girls about men.
WATCHcultThe Werewolf and the Yeti
Paul Naschy in the Himalayas. On the list almost certainly because somebody read the title and stopped.
WATCHcultWhen Animals Dream
A Danish coming-of-age werewolf film, and the transformation is puberty in a fishing village that already knows.
WATCHcanonDog Soldiers
A squad on exercise in the Highlands versus werewolves, and it is closer to a war film than to horror.
- Next in Werewolf: The Company of Wolves (1984) →