Call of the Wild...

I'm a werewolf person.
By which I mean I much prefer werewolves to vampires. (See this post.)

I recently discovered that one of the best werewolf flicks came from a book. Yep, The Howling began as a novel by Gary Brandner. It's a series, in fact. Well, given that a remake of The Howling is coming (and yes, despite my feelings on remakes, this one seems warranted) I decided I should read the book just in case they actually go to the source material for inspiration. Oh, who are we kidding... I'd want to read it anyway.

As it seems to be as scarce as a real wolf-man, I procured a used copy of it and it just came in the mail. I'm pretty darn excited.

I recently showed the original movie of The Howling to Buttercup. She liked it very much, and agreed that it's one of the best lycanthropy flicks. It's been a great while since I saw it. Thus, my perceptions of it had gotten a bit skewed. For instance, I didn't remember that some parts (one of which had been my favorite of the entire film) were accomplished back in the day [1981] via animation! That's not to say there isn't miraculous and deliciously horrifying special effects otherwise. What's more, said favorite part doesn't look like I remember. Still cool, though. (If you're wondering, it's a very brief shot toward the end when we see a trio of werewolves, kind of in shadow.)

I've read up on it, and apparently the movie has some noticeable differences from the book. (Imagine that!) So it will be very fun to see how it all plays out from the mind of the one who originally conceived it. Apparently the movie called Howling IV: The Original Nightmare is not so much a sequel than a more faithful adaptation of Brandner's novel. I did not see any of the movies beyond the second, for which the term "abomination" is too generous. It's possible I saw clips of others.
At any rate, I'm ready to let the fur fly and delve into the real story of The Howling. Maybe, just maybe, Hollywood will do it justice. And if not, chances are it will be one hell of a ride no matter what. I'm hoping they have a similar design for the werewolves, for the 1981 film's remain my favorite and are still how I picture werewolves to this day.