MovieChat Forums > An American Werewolf in London (1981) Discussion > Wipes the floor with 'The Howling'

Wipes the floor with 'The Howling'

posted 3 years ago by seagal72 (1962)
10 replies | jump to latest

I can't understand all the Moviechat fawning around 'The Howling'?
'An American Werewolf In London' is superior in every way.
It has a straightforward plot.
It has better performances.
It's scarier.
It has far better effects.

I've not got any outright hatred against 'The Howling' (it's a fun, little genre pic) but most of it (bar a scene or two) is rather disjointed, badly paced and (to me) a lot lighter in tone than AAWIL. I keeping reading that the 'Howling' is a *REAL* werewolf movie (whatever that means?) despite AAWIL having a lot more in common with 'The Wolf Man' lore, than Dante's effort (which at times comes across a bit Dr Morreau-ish. AAWIL (despite it's moments of humour) concerns a young man cursed by a werewolf bite....Whereas The Howling is some backwoods conspiracy flick (that happens to have werewolves as it's big reveal)

AAWIL has amazing set-pieces, music and cinematography....The Howling (even in high-definition format) looks like a 70's TV movie. Other than the opening sequence in the peep-show, The Howling resembles an ABC Movie-of-the-week. It has a good cast (although so does AAWIL) but the material was weak. It's loaded with dull patches and degenerates into a hillbilly horror flick near the end.
For example, think of all the classic scenes in AAWIL:

The moors opening (very tense and scary)

The dreams sequences (wow)

Jacks appearances (his first is really startling)

The transformation (never bettered)

The murders (all genuine jump-scares....especially the London Underground sequence)

The scene in the zoo (funny)

The 'See You Next Wednesday' porn segment (even funnier)

Chaos at Piccadilly Circus (amazing set-piece)

And inbetween all these (and many more) great moments, it's got John Landis (at the height of his powers) great dialogue and nice pace (with little filler) Jenny Gutter nude and an amazing (knowing) soundtrack. Personally I think it's a lot more serious (despite it's rep) than 'The Howling' (and certainly a lot scarier) to be honest, I can't think of anything scary in 'The Howling'?

I've got nothing against 'The Howling' but I'd honestly love to know, what it does better than AAWIL in any way, shape or form?

[–] atd8vii (592) 3 years ago

Agree, I've never has and any gripe with The Howling either, I just find AAWIL to be a far superior movie.

[–] fzane (1105) 3 years ago

The Howling has no comic relief, and AWIL does. That is a HUGE difference, and comic relief has no place in a serious werewolf story. Usually it's the Brits that go on and on about their films like this one and 28 days later. These films are nothing special, but since Brits don't have many films, they rave, and rave about the ones they do have.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7701) 3 years ago

I like American Werewolf in London but dislike The Howling because the book it's based on is better.

[–] Drooch (5333) 2 years ago

Agreed. The Howling is a meh genre piece, AWIL is a unique masterpiece. A great tragic story with disturbing horror and hilarious comedy - all of which somehow blend perfectly, probably because the story and characters are captivating, the writing is superb, and it’s perfectly paced.

The best horror films transcend the genre, AWIL is no exception.

[–] millsey72 (10287) 2 years ago

Teen Wolf and the sequel wipe the floor with either of those movies

[–] mechajutaro (2788) 2 years ago

While TW did have that sequence with the blonde in her underwear

[–] ccr1633 (1523) 2 years ago

Totally different movies except for werewolves.

[–] [deleted] 2 years ago

The best werewolf movie I've seen, yeah. Wipes the floor with all of them!

[–] StinkyPoopyPants (3114) 2 years ago

My favorite werewolf movie is Dog Soldiers. I love An American Werewolf in London and The Howling as well.