The Howling (1981) – WTF Happened to This Adaptation?

Not all of the classic Universal Monsters were based on classic stories. While Frankenstein and Dracula came from the minds of Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker, The Wolfman, and previously Werewolf of London, was based on folklore dating back centuries rather than fiction. While the character has had a hard time coming back into the limelight with the disappointing Wolfman from 2010 and even more disappointing Wolf Man from 2025, the myth has done well for itself even while not being as in the public favor as the Zombie or Vampire. Those original films may not be based on books but that didn’t stop writers from creating their own stories or studios from adapting them. This includes the likes of Hammer Studios Curse of the Werewolf being adapted from The Werewolf of Paris and The Wolfen getting turned into the 1981 movie Wolfen. Speaking of 1981, there were two other rather small werewolf movies released that year called An American Werewolf in London and The Howling. The latter is actually loosely based on the first of three novels from author Gary Brandner and its… well let’s look at it. Never trust Robert Picardo as we find out what happened to this adaptation.

The Movie

Steven Lane, an avid horror reader and theater owner turned producer, saw a quote from one of his favorite authors on a new book. The book was The Howling by Gary Brandner and the quote was “if you haven’t read Gary Brandner, you’re missing a treat” from none other than Stephen King. Since Lane was a massive King fan, he looked into getting the film rights for a movie adaptation. He tracked them down to Warner Bros who hadn’t done anything with the IP in a couple years. A director named Jack Conrad had been sold the rights recently and so Lane partnered with Conrad and a smaller studio Avco Embassy to get the movie made. Avco, of course, would help release some of our favorite John Carpenter movies of the early 80s like The Fog and Escape from New York but we would later find out they were not great about profit sharing, something that would lead to the fun hot mess that is The Howling II.

A director for the movie was chosen and it would be Joe Dante who had impressed with his work on Jaws-inspired eco-horror Piranha in the late 70s. Dante isn’t talked enough about for his horror output and while I wouldn’t classify him as a master of horror (though Showtime sure did when they created their two season run of that show), he has a great resume. Piranha, The Howling, Gremlins 1 and 2, his segment of the Twilight Zone movie, and The Burbs all solidified him as an all timer but even other stuff like Innerspace, Matinee, Small Soldiers, and later The Hole and Burying the Ex kept him relevant. He is one of the few of the old guard still around and does a lot for younger creators as well as preservation. Original scripts were submitted by Terence Winkless and Jack Conrad but Dante had recent collaborator John Sayles completely rewrite it for shooting even though Winkless did enough to still get credit.

Sayles would become a two-time Oscar nominated writer and director in his own right of things like Eight Men Out, Matewan, and Lone Star while also making acting appearances in roles ranging from cameos like the morgue assistant in The Howling to a sportswriter in Eight Men Out. His version of the script is vastly different from the source material while keeping the bare bones of the story the same. The main cast is filled out by Dee Wallace, Christopher Stone, Robert Picardo, and Dennis Dugan with a slew of smaller parts to classic character actors like Kevin McCarthy, Patrick Mcgnee, Slim Pickens, John Carradine, and Dick Miller with Elizabeth Brooks playing Marsha, one of the main villains. Dante was also able to work in both Roger Corman who gave him his start and Forrest Ackerman who gave him his love of monsters.

The special effects were surprisingly drama filled as originally Rick Baker was going to do the werewolf effects, something he would win his first and last Oscars for with An American Werewolf in London and The Wolfman but left to work with John Landis on the former which he had promised to do many years prior. It worked out for him and his Oscar as well as the audience because Pablo Picasso left Claude Monet in charge and the fabulous Rob Bottin ended up making the effects and makeup for The Howling. The movie effects also used stop motion and traditional animation at times which makes it feel very Dante. The movie was released on March 13^th, 1981, with a budget of just under 2 million and would make close to 20 million back at the box office while getting mostly decent reviews. It would be followed by seven sequels and has had a remake in development for some time now.

The Book

Gary Bradner was a screenwriter and novelist born in Michigan in 1930 who traveled a lot during his younger years. He would graduate from the University of Washington but take on a litany of other jobs before turning to fiction. These included amateur boxer, bartender, technical writer, and surveyor but he would eventually get his first novel published in 1975. Actually, three of them with The Aardvark Affair and The Beelzebub Business which were both part of his Big Brain series of novels and The Players which was a standalone book. Two years later he would have his most famous work published with The Howling that would go on to spawn two literary sequels. The first book would get the most attention with both a Stephen King quote attached and it being his first optioned book, but he would write and publish all the way until 2012 before passing in 2013.

Brandner did not care for The Howling movie adaptation and Joe Dante didn’t help his assessment either by saying that the film improved the source material. It differs wildly and even though Brandner was highly involved in the screenplay for the second movie at first, he had to leave to finish writing the third and final book in the series. While his book vision never fully made it on to the big screen, the fourth movie is the closest in terms of following the plot more. Parts of the third book would also make it into the sixth entry entitled The Freaks where both deal with werewolves in a circus setting. Other works that would be adapted or at least attempted would be Walkers which was made into the TV movie From the Dead of Night, Cameron’s Closet which would be made into a movie of the same name, and we almost got Floater which was optioned by the great Empire Pictures from Charles Band and had Tobe Hooper attached.

What is the Same?

The Howling follows Karen and her husband looking to get away for a while after she is the victim of sexual abuse. They go to a secluded resort area that is filled with a cast of colorful locals both also at the resort to relax but that also just live in the area. Karen’s husband begins an affair with a hypersexual woman whose name starts with the letter M and is bitten by a wolf that makes him irritable but also slowly changing into a deadly werewolf. It is discovered that the entire resort and some people in town are all werewolves and Karen, and her husband’s friend Chris shows up with silver bullets to save the day. The two fight off and kill many of the attacking werewolves including Karens husband and eventually burn down the entire area.

What is different?

The book isn’t short, but it isn’t super long either so think of Sayles and Dantes movie as an expanded edition to Brandner’s work. While the above is a very stripped-down version of the book, there isn’t a whole lot else on the page that is different in a major way. Names are different of course, besides Chris and Karen, and the main werewolf female dies in the book but is the stinger ending of the movie. Well, she is resurrected in the second novel but for our purposes she is killed off at the end. Other than that, it’s really what the movie expands upon. On screen, Karen is a reporter who is trying to help the police trap Eddie Quist, who is a serial killer that is stalking her. He catches up to her and almost has his way with her before the police intervene and he is killed, kinda. In the book, Karen is sexually assaulted and that’s why she needs to go to the resort to relax and recover.

At “The Colony” as it is known in the movie, after Karen’s husband is attacked, she calls her friend Terry out to investigate the Colony and Terry find ties to Eddie there before Eddie appears very much alive and transforms into a werewolf before killing her. This is the reason that Chris comes out in the movie because he is Terry’s husband and hears her die on the phone. When Chris shows up, he helps kill Eddie with silver bullets and much of the ending takes place the same way. Chris and Karen fight off all the werewolves and even kill Karen’s husband but in the book, they kill the one that was having the affair while in the movie Karen is bit by her husband before he is killed. This sets up the difference in endings. The book ends with Chris and Karen driving away from the burning retreat while they hear howling from the remaining wolves and Karen is alive and well. The movie has a bit Karen knowing that she will turn into a werewolf and wanting to show the world that the creatures exist. She goes onto her news channel and changes on live TV before Chris kills her. The nation thinks it’s just special effects, except for Marsha, who is the movie version of the sultry werewolf who sleeps with and turns Karen’s husband. She just watches on and smiles.

Legacy

The book is a really well done one, even if it has tropes you can see from a mile away. It’s short and is original enough that it got two sequels. You can get the trilogy together in one handy paperback and I would highly recommend diving in, as this and all other horror fiction should be read and preserved. That being said, come on, this is The Howling. The movie would have been the best werewolf movie of the 80s if it wasn’t released the same year as John Landis put out his horror comedy. Even that is subjective, as I know plenty of people that prefer Dante’s wolf extravaganza. The rest of the series is flawed but fun and I’m going with the movie and the movie’s legacy over Brandner’s very well written story. Do yourself a favor and pick up the 4K from Scream factory and then watch the rest of the series on a Tubi marathon because that’s where they live now. The on screen presence has much more bite than its origins.

A couple of the previous episodes of WTF Happened to This Adaptation? can be seen below. To see the other shows we have to offer, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!

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