The Beast (1981)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The animal |
| Original title | The Howling |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1981 |
| length | Cinema (24 fps ) : 91 minutes DVD (25fps) : 87 minutes Rough cut version: 100 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Joe Dante |
| script |
John Sayles , Terence H. Winkless |
| production |
Jack Conrad , Michael Finnell |
| music | Pino Donaggio |
| camera | John Hora |
| cut | Joe Dante, Mark Goldblatt |
| occupation | |
| |
| chronology | |
|
Successor → |
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The Beast is an American horror film from 1981 directed by Joe Dante . The film is based on the 1977 novel The Howling by Gary Brandner .
content
The television reporter Karen is forced by Eddie, who is constantly following her, to watch a video showing a young woman being raped. When the police arrive, they shoot Eddie and Karen is traumatized. To find her way back to life, she goes to the therapy center of Dr. George Waggner, which turns out to be a colony of werewolves. They do not want to coexist peacefully with the people, and soon her life is in danger. Marsha Quist, one of the female werewolves, turns Karen's husband into one of hers during their passionate sex. Eddie isn't dead either, he's a werewolf too. Karen and a friend end up destroying the colony, but Marsha escapes, and Karen transforms into a werewolf in an attempt to warn the world about the existence of the breed.
Trivia
- The budget for the film was about $ 1 million and grossed $ 17,985,893.
- Robert Picardo , who played the role of Eddie Quist, later starred in the television series Star Trek: Spaceship Voyager . When one of the writers on this series, Brannon Braga , found out about this film, he wrote an episode ( Darkling , English: character elements) in which Picardo's role turns into a nasty version of himself (similar to a Mr. Hyde ). Picardo wears the same mask in this role as in this film.
- The names of many characters are allusions to well-known horror directors who have all made werewolf films, among other things. In detail: "Dr. George Waggner" = George Waggner (made the werewolf film Der Wolfsmensch ). "Bill Neill" = Roy William Neill (turned Frankenstein meets the wolf man ). "Terry Fisher" = Terence Fisher (turned The Curse of Siniestro ). "Fred Francis" = Freddie Francis (turned The Death Cards of Dr. Schreck and The Legend of the Werewolf ). "Alder Kenton" = Alder C. Kenton (turned Frankenstein's house and Dracula's house ). "Sam Newfield" = Sam Newfield (made The Mad Monster ). "Charlie Barton" = Charles T. Barton (turned Abbott and Costello to meet Frankenstein ).
- John Carradine , who plays "Alder Kenton" here, had actually starred in the two werewolf films directed by the namesake of his role, Alder C. Kenton , both times in the role of Count Dracula .
Reviews
The animal received a 70% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 33 reviews. It was rated 6.6 out of 10 in the Internet Movie Database .
prisma-online found the film to be a "technically perfect flick that is able to cleverly transport the" Gothic horror "into a modern world and also takes an ironic stance on the werewolf tradition."
The lexicon of international film wrote that the film was on the one hand "a satire on the power of the mass media" and at the same time a "suggestive horror film" that was "between" Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf "and classic" werewolf "films" and among them he "takes an ironic position in numerous allusions". Criticized were "overly applied psychologizations" and the "effects that often become independent in their trick technical perfection", through which the film "loses a lot of its effect".
Awards
- In 1981 the film won a Saturn Award in the Best Horror Film category.
- He received a nomination in the categories of Best Make-Up and Best Special Effects .
Sequels
The film resulted in seven sequels:
- 1985: The Tier II ( Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf )
- 1987: Wolfmen ( The Howling III )
- 1988: Howling ( The Howling IV - The Original Nightmare )
- 1989: The Howling 5 ( Howling V - The Rebirth )
- 1991: Final Attack ( The Howling VI - The Freaks )
- 1995: Howling: New Moon Rising
- 2011: Blue Moon - Born a Werewolf ( The Howling Reborn )
The Howling - Resurrection , distributed in Germany as the eighth part of the series, is the 1998 direct-to-video film The Strangers , which has no connection with the original series.
Web links
- The animal in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The animal at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- The animal in the film headquarters
Individual evidence
- ↑ OFDb
- ↑ Rotten Tomatoes
- ↑ IMDb
- ↑ prism-online
- ↑ The beast. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .