The Howling is a movie in love with movies. Watching it, one comes away with the purest of joy, a celebration of past horror movies to come without ever talking down on the past, unlike post-modern teardowns like Scream. In a werewolf packed year that also gave us the seminal An American Werewolf in London and the near-forgotten Wolfen, it still stands out as something unique and different while whore heartedly embracing the past.

In Los Angeles, KDHB news anchor Karen White (Dee Wallace, The Hills Have Eyes, E.T., Cujo, Critters, Popcorn, The House of the Devil) has become the story, as she’s being stalked by Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo, Legend, The ‘Burbs, Innerspace), a serial killer who leaves behind a smiley face as his calling card. Cooperating with the police, she agrees to be part of a sting operation to catch him inside a scummy, scuzzy, 70s porn theater. He forces her to watch a video of him raping and killing a girl, then makes her turn to face him. Whatever she sees freaks her out so badly, she blocks it out of her memory, PTSD-style. Just before Quist can kill her, the police open fire, killing him.

Karen’s therapist, Dr. George Waggner (Patrick Macnee, John Steed from The Avengers) has a private resort named The Colony where he sends his patients. She and Bill, her husband, schedule a visit and meet all manner of interesting folks, like Erle Kenton (John Carradine, star of more movies than this article will ever be able to catalog), an old man who keeps yelling that he wants to die, and Marsha Quist, a sex maniac who tries to seduce Karen’s husband. When he tries to run away from her feminine wiles, a wolf attacks him.

Karen’s had enough, so she calls in her friend Terri (Belinda Balaski, who has appeared in nearly every one of director Joe Dante’s movies), who connects Eddie Quist to The Colony. This isn’t the best detective work. After all, his sister is there.

Later that night, Bill returns to meet Marsha in the woods and fully transforms into a werewolf. She does too and they make hot, hot, hot werewolf love next to a fire. For budgetary reasons, this scene is animated and looks fake as fuck when compared to the fine effects work that Rob Bottin did on the film.

The next morning, a snooping Terri is attacked by a werewolf, but she chops its hand (paw?) off with an axe. She calls her boyfriend, Chris (Dennis Dugan, 1973’s The Girl Most Likely To..., to later direct almost every Adam Sandler movie, such as Just Go with It), but before he can save her, she’s attacked and killed by a full werewolf version of Eddie Quist. Her boyfriend hears all of this and heads to The Colony, armed with silver bullets, arriving just in time to save Karen, who has, in turn, throw acid into the face of werewolf Eddie.

Just as they kill off Eddie, everyone else in The Colony transforms into wolves. Karen and Chris respond by burning it down. She resolves to tell the world about the werewolves during a live news broadcast. How does she do it? By transforming on live TV before Chris shoots her. I always wondered about this — why exactly does he kill her? She seems perfectly in control of her wolf powers. Maybe he just can’t deal. Maybe after his girlfriend got bitten in the throat by Eddie, he hates all werewolves. It just always makes me question this part of the film.

After all that, the public doesn’t believe any of it. It had to be special effects. Even worse, the bad guys kind of win, as Marsha escapes the fire to do more evil.

Based on Gary Brandner’s novel, John Sayles worked with Dante to provide a script that is as self-aware as their previous film Piranha. It starts like a grimy 70s cop drama and then transforms, mid-film, into a monster movie, then takes you back into the sensational world of local news before its tragic ending.

The film is also packed chock full of great character actors of the past, like Carradine, Slim Pickens and Kevin McCarthy (the human hero of Invasion of the Body Snatchers). Plus, there are some awesome cameos, like Roger Corman and Forrest J. Ackerman.

As I mentioned before, this is a film that adores the horror films of the past. From the photo of Lon Chaney Jr. on Dr. Waggner’s wall to the fact that almost every character is named for a director of a werewolf movie, this film is filled with trivia.

Seriously, here are the character names, what director they reference and the films they are famous for:

George Waggner: Lon Chaney Jr.’s The Wolf Man

Roy William Neill: Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man

Terence Fisher: Nearly every major Hammer movie, including Curse of the Werewolf

Freddie Francis: I could go on and on and list Freddie’s finest work, like Tales from the Crypt, Tales that Witness Madness and Trog, but for this movie’s sake, his name references 1975’s Legend of the Werewolf. PS — Francis would go on to be the noted cinematographer of Glory and The Elephant Man.

Erle C. Kenton: 1945’s House of Dracula, which mixes all the Universal monsters, including John Carradine as Dracula, Chaney as Lawrence Talbot, Lionel Atwill as Police Inspector Holtz and — thanks to footage cut from different films — four actors playing Frankenstein’s monster (Glenn Strange, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr. and Eddie Parker).

Sam Newfield: The Mad Monster is his werewolf movie, but he also directed some insane films like I Accuse My Parents, Queen of Burlesque and 273 other films — the dude was so prolific that he used two other names so audiences wouldn’t notice how many movies he made in one year!

Charles Barton: The silly part of me would consider The Shaggy Dog as the reason Dante selected his name. The realist knows that its for Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, which features Chaney again as Lawrence Talbot.

Jerry Warren: Face of the Screaming Werewolf, which features Chaney as “The Mummified Werewolf.”

Lew Landers: The Return of the Vampire and Cry of the Werewolf would both qualify him.

Jacinto Molina: Who we all know and love much better by his real name, Paul Naschy. Naschy played werewolves — who were often named Waldemar Daninsky — in Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror, Assignment Terror, La Furia del Hombre Lobo, The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman, Doctor Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo, Curse of the Devil, Night of the Howling Beast, Night of the Werewolf, The Beast and the Magic Sword, Licántropo: El Asesino de la Luna Llena, El Aullido del Diablo, A Werewolf in the Amazon and Tomb of the Werewolf.

The coroner also tells about the case of Stuart Walker, which is the same name as the director of the first American werewolf movie, Werewolf of London.

Much like Famous Monsters, this film is in love with puns. from Ginsberg’s book Howl at the phone booth, Slim Pickens eating a can of Wolf chili, Bill reading a Thomas Wolfe book and the Big Bad Wolf chasing Porky Pig in a Looney Tunes cartoon. There’s even a clip from The Wolf Man during the closing credits!

All of this detail doesn’t get in the way of a great story and awesome effects. Bottin does a great job here with the transformation sequences, even though some of the final ones had to be done inside Dante’s office in super close up, as they had totally exhausted their budget. Rick Baker was originally assigned to the film, but left to do An American Werewolf in London. I wonder if there were any bad feelings as a result.

Of course, there are around 90 sequels to this movie. And I’m certain I’ll cover at least two of them — at least one with Sybil Danning — soon. But if you haven’t seen this film…you should. Like now.

You can watch this on Shudder or grab the blu ray from Shout Factory.

Following the success of Dawn of the Dead — and the cottage industry that it brought to Italy with the near insta-sequel Zombi 2 and many lesser rate retreads — George Romero made another play to escape the horror genre with an incredibly personal film — Knightriders.

Inspired by the Society for Creative Anachronism — one need only drive near the Pittsburgh Zoo on a Sunday to see them practice their swordplay — Knightriders is a retelling of the Arthurian myth with several forks in the road along the way. It’s also about the search for love, a topic dear to Romero’s heart at this time, as he would take a break from filming to marry his second wife, Christine Forrest.

King William (Ed Harris, The Right Stuff, The Abyss, Creepshow) leads a group of knights that follow the ideals of King Arthur and chivalry while jousting on motorcycles (Samuel Z. Arkoff is the one who got Romero to trade horses for bikes in he film, which truly sets it apart).

While not a horror film, Knightriders holds true to one of Romero’s main tropes: the struggle to maintain the values of the past against the realities of the modern world. William struggles to lead the group. While constantly injured, he keeps himself front and center. And his dreams are haunted by a black bird.

Bontempi, a new promoter, has new ideas for the traveling troupe. Even after Billy spends the night in jail for refusing to pay off the local cops, several of the knights want new leadership. Even William’s queen, Linet, admits that her love for him isn’t why she stays with the group.

Turns out Morgan, the leader of the bikers who are dissatisfied with William, wants the crown. As played by Tom Savini, Morgan chews the scenery with raw sexuality and menace, versus the kindly king that William embodies. Morgan isn’t afraid to push that air of danger further, fighting unruly crowds after his wins (Stephen King and his wife appear in one the movie’s crowd scenes as he was in Pittsburgh writing Creepshow with Romero at the time).

William finally meets the black bird — a rider has the black eagle crest of his chest plate — defeating him but becoming more injured in the process.

Soon, everyone leaves — Morgan and his riders follow Bontempi, as even William’s most trusted knight, Alan, leaves with his new girlfriend — who is simply using him to act out against her abusive parents. Alan must come to terms with the fact that he truly loves Billy’s queen — shades of Lancelot and Arthur.

Alan and Morgan agree — there can only be one king. After a long battle, Morgan assumes his rightful claim to the throne with William’s blessing and tears up his contract with Bontempi.

William leave the group, seeking out the corrupt cop that put him in jail at the start of the film. After besting him in a fight and giving his sword to a young boy who idolizes him, he takes off for the highway. But blood loss and his accumulated injuries get the best of him — dizzy and weak, he cannot see the truck that takes his life.

Whew. Knightriders is a complex film, packed with great performances and a cast packed with Pittsburgh drama standouts mixed in with Hollywood greats like Harris. Throw in oral storytelling legend Brother Blue as Merlin and you get quite the team in front of the lens.

Obviously, this is one of the more personal films Romero lensed, second only to perhaps Martin. William’s goal of “slaying the dragon,” staying true to his values and vision despite the promise of more money (and less control) echoes the issues that the success of Dawn would bring Romero’s way. The first film of three financed and released through United Film Distribution (Creepshow and Day of the Dead complete the trilogy, as it were), this would Romero’s golden era of independence. Romero certainly took his time making this — there is a rumor that the original cut of the film clocked in at what can only be a hyperbolic 17 hours!

On the salesmanship front, Knightriders boasts an amazing poster, with art from Boris Vallejo, that boldly places Romero’s name — ala Martin — above the title. The auteur has arrived and this is his statement. However, it seemed audiences just may not have been ready for it.

Knightriders is personal for me, as I’ve spent so much of my life as a pro wrestler — a “sport” that some would deride and heap disdain on, but one where I’ve always seen the opportunity to tell stories in a medium that is matched by few others. The fact that William cannot just be Billy and escape the character he created for himself — I’ve seen and witnessed and lived this myself. The lure of another promotion, of better money, of recognition, of wanting to work for a promoter who doesn’t constantly put himself over while building a cult of personality around himself — it’s as if Romero was part of every locker room that I have been in.

Thanks for joining us for this week of Romero films. It’s made me remember prime moments of my zombie and Pittsburgh film obsessed teen years — waiting for releases like Heartstopper and Two Evil Eyes. After a few weeks of some other films and taking a break, I can see plenty of merit when it comes into tackling the films that came after Day of the Dead, like Bruiser, Creepshow and Land of the Dead.

PS – I get very emotional about films. Just the site of this sign made me get a little case of the vapors. Hopefully it moves you as much as it moved me.

What can you say about Fulci that hasn’t already been said? I wonder that as I begin writing this in the middle of a rainy night. This isn’t a post that’ll change anyone’s mind about his work and the relative artistic merits (or total lack of them). But it’s one of my favorite films and I’d like to opine on it for awhile. Please indulge me.

The film starts in flashback — 1927, Louisiana, the Seven Doors Hotel. A mob is convinced an artist is a warlock, so they crucify him, opening one of the Seven Doors of Death — allowing the dead into our world. Coincidentally, Liza — our heroine from New York City — inherits the hotel and her renovations reopen the door.

From there on out, Fulci says, “Cazzo la tua realtà” and embraces his worst impulses. The only way I can fully explain the craziness of this film is if I just list each insane moment in one long paragraph. Joe the plumber — not the political one — discovers a flooded cellar and gets his eye ripped out (if you’re playing a Fulci drinking game based on injuries to eyes and women, prepare to be the most inebriated you have ever been). A blind woman, Emily, and her dog, Dickie, inform Liza that she should stop. Joe’s wife and daughter try to claim his corpse, but the mother has her face slowly — “Sempre così lentamente!” I can hear Fulci yell from his director’s chair — burned off by acid and her daughter becomes one of the undead (zombies appear, drink three times) until she is shot by a bullet that sends her entire head spraying all over the screen in one of the most shocking scenes in pretty much all of film. Emily tells Liza to never enter room 36, but she does and discovers the ancient book Eibon and the still-crucified artist. Oh hey — Emily isn’t real — she’s trapped in the past and reaching out to us now, but her dog goes bad and tears her throat out. A dude falls off a ladder, gets paralyzed and the slowest death ever — a face eaten by spiders — occurs. Joe the plumber rises from a bathtub in a shot that rips off (pays homage to) 1955’s Diabolique and pushes a woman’s head through a nail, her eye being destroyed as a result (twice in one movie!).

Whew — so much happens that you may feel like you’re in a dream. That’s the way I see this film — a voyage from one terror to another, as one experiences nightmares that don’t seem to end. I see a lot of similarities to Jodorowsky in Fulci’s work. There’s no nuance — it’s all eyeballs popping, faces exploding, death upon death — but it’s there.

Fulci saw this film as having the closest to a happy ending that he would film. I’m not certain I agree — but it certainly is memorable. And if you haven’t seen it, why should I spoil it for you? I was ready for 2016’s The Void — a movie that could be a spiritual successor to this film — to end exactly the same way.  There’s also a reference in 2015’s Fulci loving We Are Still Here, as the handyman who unleashes the evil in the house is named Joe the Electrician.

This film was butchered — irony? — for years, with a heavily censored version playing in the U.S. as Seven Doors of Death. It wasn’t until the efforts of Grindhouse Releasing that the uncut version was finally shown in American movie houses. Fun fact — Grindhouse’s Bob Murawski is a film editor who used a shot from the spider bite sequence in the spider bite dream sequence of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man.

Even the original title of the film — …E tu vivrai nel terrore! L’aldilà (…And You Will Live in Terror! The Beyond) — is great. I’ve written before about how evangelical I can get when discussing a movie that I really love. I promise that if you ever speak to me in person about The Beyond that my eyes will get crazy and I will grow very animated and make a big deal out of a film that Roger Ebert famously derided by saying, “The movie is being revived around the country for midnight cult showings. Midnight is not late enough.”

It doesn’t matter — we cannot choose what we love. For pure atmosphere, dread and Fabio Frizzi’s incredible music, I end up watching this film quite often. Please try it for me. You can make fun of me afterward and I’ll still try to sell you on it.

UPDATE: The Seven Doors of Death cut of this movie is streaming for free on Amazon Prime. Watch it on Shudder instead.

While Alien is by no means a wholly originally film — just watch Bava’s Planet of the Vampires — its success has begat a spawn (Deadly Spawn, too) of imitators. I’ve made it my insane mission to watch as many of them as possible — I can guarantee that at least one or two of them will be much better than the last outing — the space turd known as Prometheus.

One of the first rip-offs — I say it in a nice way — was 1981s American TV movie, The Intruder Within.

Back in the day, Starlog was hyping this film as an almost sequel to Alien. With the popularity of the film, folks were ravenous to see more chest bursters in action. That said — this has nothing to do with the original other than stealing just about every single plot point.

Instead of space, this film goes to a more terrain — yet not less remote — location: an oil rig packed with folks like Chad Everett (TV’s Medical Center, Mulholland Drive, Airplane II) as our mustachioed hero, Jennifer Warren (Mutant, Slap Shot) as his love interest and fellow rig worker, Joseph Bottom (The Black Hole) as the villain, Rocke Tarkington (Ice Pirates) and Paul Larsson (The Blaster from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome!). It’s worth noting that every conversation the characters have — pre-alien — is about hooking up. They’re far from the mainland and feeling the urge to just get it on because all the drilling is getting them hot and bothered.

I hesitate to even write the plot to this, as I could just write the plot for Alien: crew finds eggs, someone goofs about and pays the price, the monster starts stalking the ship, hijinks ensue. Again — this film is hypersexualized, as one of the first monster attacks is more rape than attack. And there’s always a KY jelly like substance leaking out of everything. It’s also pretty bleak — the raped crew member dies after she gives birth to a full-sized alien and just about everyone dies pretty horribly — if off-camera, as this was still broadcast TV.

There’s also one well-done section of the film that explains that whatever the creature is, it predates the Biblical Flood and has lived beneath the ice for millions of years — very Lovecraftian themes that are never followed up on, sadly. Plus, being the ’80s, there’s a subplot about the oil company Zortron and how they may want the creature and eggs more than the oil (again, a plot point taken straight from Alien) and some character work about cheating spouses.

The actual creature suit is pretty nice and holds up well to being in the light. It was created by James Cummins, who also contributed to House, DeepStar Six (I’ll be getting to that one), Enemy Mine and The Beast Within. It’s very Giger-influenced to the point that many people incorrectly report that Giger worked on it. That said, it’s pretty strange to see an alien climb a ladder!

For all the exposition, set-up and character development, this movie ends just when it seems like it’s picking up steam. Who knew all it takes is a flare gun to defeat an alien? It certainly surprised me! The Intruder Within got to the party early, but it’s not the best of movies — filled with blocked off TV movie direction, too dark camerawork and a short running time. That said — it still has some charm and you can find worse ways to spend 100 minutes.

Originally posted at http://www.thatsnotcurrent.com/xeroxenomorphs-1981s-the-intruder-within/