Tagline: It Will Tear The Scream From Your Throat!
Directed by: Michael Wadleigh
Written by: Whitley Strieber
Actors include: Albert Finney
Genre: Horror
Length: 115 minutes
Banned: Nope
Country: USA
Review:
This had many things going for it, it is stylish (when things are through the eyes of the "murderer" we get cool cinematography), it's bloody and it's well acted and well made. It's about a series of disgusting murders ripping through New York (beautifully scenery) where the victims seem to be ripped open. If you've read the title there is no real mystery here unfortunately. What is a mystery is the actual reasoning here, I mean it's fully explained but unfortunately very very stupid. Motive is important and this motive I simply don't buy. A lot of this is Police investigation which again is pointless if you read the title. The acting is decent (I happen to like Albert Finney, and the effects are well done and everything too. It's just overall such a disappointment when you get to the conclusion that the whole thing feels a lot less good than it actually was. The Howling did it so much better!
Availability: On DVD
You are probably disappointed because the director, Michael Wadleigh actually was trying to make a political thriller with a moral tale rather than a horror film. I heard Wadleigh interviewed on NPR and he mentioned this. Also said the studio re-cut the film and removed a lot of footage he had intended to be in the film. The studios then promoted it as a horror film, to Wadleigh's chagrin. So, the end result was not what the director intended, and didn't quite hit the mark for what the studio was trying to sell. Would love to see the "director's cut" but I'm sure that no longer exists.
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