Halloween Nostalgia: THE HOWLING, REVENGE OF THE WEREWOLF QUEEN

EDITOR’S NOTE: In an effort to post more reviews on Pop Culture Podium, I’m going to a shorter format. I’ll comment on a comic, and make a recommendation to buy or not buy a particular book rather than elaborate at length about the merits or non-merits and the ten-point rating scale. For readers who prefer the latter format, I will still post extensive reviews and include the rating system. For now, I’m just trying to achieve a little more balance. Pop Culture Podium is essentially a one-person endeavor, so I don’t have unlimited time to devote to this (even though I might welcome that).

Reading this brought back fond memories of the 1981 cult film THE HOWLING, which served as the launchpad for the film career of director Joe Dante (PIRANHA) and helped land him the lucrative gig to produce GREMLINS for Spielberg. I’ve got to look for this one on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Shudder and watch one more time.

In that little gem, which spawned seven sequels (no need to see them, just watch the cool original) television news anchor Karen White is stalked by serial killer Eddie Quist. After a near death experience, Karen is prescribed rest at a remote mountain resort by a psychiatrist. She, along with her co-workers and friends, soon learn that the residents are all werewolves, including Quist and the doctor.

Karen manages to escape, along with cameraman Chris Halloran (who loses his girlfriend to the monsters), and they either kill the werewolves with silver bullets or destroy them in the fire which burns down the resort. Of course, one werewolf escapes destruction, the angry wife of Eddie Quist (Marsha). The movie ends in dramatic fashion, as Karen reveals during a news broadcast that she has been turned, makes the transformation to werewolf on camera, and is shot and killed by a grieving Chris.

It’s a cool movie with some good special effects work by Rob Bottin, but suffered a little at the box office as THE HOLWING came out the same time as AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS and WOLFEN. (Two other great movies! WOLFEN is an unappreciated hoot.)

THE HOWLING: REVENGE OF THE WEREWOLF QUEEN #1 -4 (Space Goat Publishing, 2017 release and now available as trade paperback) Mickey Neilson, writer. Jason Johnson, artist. Mlilen Parvanov, colorist. Taylor Esposito, letterer. www.spacegoatpublishing.com

The story picks up in the months following the end of the first film (and would have made a great movie sequel) as Chris Halloran awaits his trial for the on-camera murder of Karen White.
He’s not sleeping, plagued by nightmares, and some of his co-workers who also witnessed the transformation of Karen are equally troubled. When one dies in a car crash and another commits suicide, Chris suspects that something is up and begins to investigate.

Meanwhile, the surviving werewolf Marsha, in human guise as a very sultry femme fatale is on the hunt for an arcane relic, leaving a trail of dead bodies in her wake. She’s zeroing in on a final confrontation and reassembling the other survivor wolves. Will Chris expose the threat and garner enough support to succeed in putting these monsters down before his trial begins? Will the colony of werewolves prevail under their new queen? You’ll need to read this to find out.

The story is well-paced, suspenseful and Chris becomes an empathetic character as writer Neilson peels back his mindset to share what he’s thinking and going through. Johnson’s art is expressive, the action scenes are colorful and brutal. There are plenty of decapitations and limb rendering to satisfy gore fans.

I RECOMMEND this to all fans of THE HOWLING film, and lovers of werewolf lore and horror comics. For those others who enjoy a good scary story this is WORTH YOUR CONSIDERATION.