Continuity mistake: When the two station reporters are showing Eddie's drawings to George Waggner, the drawings change position on the desk between shots. (00:16:00)
The Howling (1981)
Directed by: Joe Dante
Starring: Dennis Dugan, Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Robert Picardo, Christopher Stone
Continuity mistake: When Karen finds Terry's corpse, there is nothing visible on her, and half her body is shown. In the next shot a white blanket is suddenly on her body, all the way up to her neck. (01:03:15)
Continuity mistake: After Karen has a nightmare on the couch, Bill comes in and comforts her. Karen's grip on Bill's shoulders changes between shots. The position of her head changes too. (00:13:30)
Trivia: While giving a lecture at the Hollywood Scriptwriting Institute, director Joe Dante trash talked the novel "The Howling" on which the movie is based. One person in the audience raised his hand and asked, "So, you don't like the book, huh?" with Joe stating, "No, not really." The man responded that he was the one who wrote the novel. To Joe's surprise, the man in the audience was Gray Brandner, the author of "The Howling."
Trivia: Many shortcuts had to be taken due to the incredibly tight budget. For example, the infamous final shot of the sex-scene being hand-drawn animation was done because the crew ran out of time and money and couldn't get the shot done in live-action. Additionally, Karen's final transformation was not seen, and her transformed face is only seen in extreme closeup because the effects crew ran out of money and could only afford to make a small puppet head for the scene.
Trivia: The man who is sitting on the couch with his wife watching the werewolf transformation on the news broadcast is a cameo from Mick Garris, director of such films as "Critters 2" and "Psycho IV: The Beginning." He also directed "Making a Monster Movie: Inside 'The Howling'".
Donna: Haven't you ever done Assertiveness Training? Before I looked into the Doc, I did it all - EST, T.M., Scientology, iridology, Primal Scream... I don't know, I figure another five years of real hard work, and maybe I'll be a real human being.
Charlie Barton: Sorry to scare you, ma'am, thought you was a cowjacker.
Boy watching TV: Wow.
Mother's voice (offscreen): What are you kids watching?
Girl watching TV: The newslady's turned into a werewolf.
Question: Why did Erle try to kill himself?
Question: Was it the colony's idea to turn Bill into a werewolf or did Marsha choose to do it of her own free will? I think it's the former because nobody seems to be angry at Marsha for doing it.
Answer: I think they were purposely brought there to both join the colony. Marsha, who desired Bill, was impatient and bit him. As for not being mad at her, the Colony was slowly turning to her leadership, instead of the Doctor's compassion treatment.
Why would the colony want Bill and Karen to join them?
Question: This question applies to both this movie and Howling 4. Was there some kind of hypnosis involved that made the husbands of the protagonist want to stay in the communities after they were bitten by a werewolf?
Answer: Whether it be dog or wolf, the primal instincts take over. Every creature, in nature, has an urge to seek out their own kind. When the husbands were bitten, they are consumed with the desire to hunt, kill and mate.
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Answer: He hated the way they were living. Acting human, hiding who they truly were, integrating into "normal" society. He wanted to be wild and free. When they were feared and worshiped.