Lycanthropes rejoice! Joe Dante's groundbreaking werewolf effort has finally received the special-edition treatment with this extensive MGM/UA release. Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, MGM/UA has done a commendable job in presenting the film. The transfer offers well-balanced colors, accurate skin tones, and, in frequent nighttime scenes, solid blacks with little to no digital artifacting. Likewise, a newly mastered, closed-captioned English Dolby Digital audio track brings the film to life as never before heard on home theater systems. Offering dynamic sound that will have nervous viewers peering over their shoulders in terror, the ominous howling of the colony's mysterious residents sounds as if it may be coming from somewhere a little to close for comfort outside viewer's windows. With as much work as MGM/UA has put into presenting a pristine image, it's the extras (located on the flip side of the disc) that will truly have longtime fans venturing into the light of the full moon to seek out this particular release. A commentary track featuring director Dante and stars Dee Wallace Stone, Christopher Stone, and Robert Picardo is lively and affectionately reminiscent, and in addition to humorous anecdotes, offers insight into the creative process and the manner in which the film was streamlined during the editing process. "Unleashing the Beast: The Making of The Howling" is broken up into numerous segments, and offers everything from revealing interviews with screenwriter John Sayles (discussing the film's departure from the novel and the psychology of werewolves) to the story of how director Dante came to be involved to study the origins of the werewolf mythos. The title of its companion piece, "Making a Monster Movie: Inside The Howling" may seem a bit misleading given that not very much making-of info is present, though interviews with Dante and star Patrick Macnee do offer some interesting meditations on the components of a truly effective horror film. An interview with make-up effects artist Rob Bottin is surprisingly brief considering the film's groundbreaking visual effects. Deleted scenes are mostly incidental with the exceptions of some group therapy scenes that would have lent the film a decidedly more psychological angle, and outtakes offer the usual cut-ups and flubbed lines in addition to some hilarious bladder-bursting makeup mishaps. A pair of nightmarish theatrical trailers are well-presented in widescreen format, and galleries of production and publicity photos offer an enticing glimpse behind the scenes and a close-up look at Bottin's impressive creations. A fun, fact-filled insert rounds out the disc nicely with some interesting trivia concerning the film.
Customer Rating
5
Love horror movies
on August 20, 2007
Posted by: OHBilly
from Somewhere, Texas
Love this one because its the best werewolf movie ever made.