THE HOWLING ON DVD: PRE-SPECIAL EDITION VERSIONS

By Daniel Bento

July, 2003

For those who have already read THE HOWLING HORROR: TRAGIC RELEASES OF A MOVIE (available in this website), it’s no news that THE HOWLING in its original conception has been lost after a sea of conflicting home releases. None of them could be beforehand considered the most faithful to whatever people saw in theaters back in 1981, and the final result was, inevitably, an incredible confusion. As an implication, there can’t be certainty anymore whether the transformation scene was meant to take place at night or sunset, as both ways were seen on home video (and that’s dramatically more than the small and expected variations distinct releases of a movie might reveal if one compared with the other). With the exception perhaps of Image Collector’s Edition Laserdisc release (1995), THE HOWLING has been victim of what seems to be a non-sense joke in home entertainment. And even that Laserdisc, good as it might be, in no condition could be taken as if it were the true face of the movie. Yes, its transfer had Joe Dante’s supervision. Nevertheless, one never can tell the degree of artistic freedom a home entertainment company gives to a director/supervisor. Moreover, in 1995 he was quite a different artist than in 1980, which is, of course, unavoidable.

The conflicting patterns first seen in the VHS era still form today at least two basic faces of THE HOWLING, one brighter and browner/redder, other darker and bluer. No matter what version (or format) you have seen at home, it belonged to the former or the latter. Which one was seen in theaters (if any of them), that’s truly hard to answer.

Unfortunately, the confusion kept going after the VCR days for there were at least five different looking DVDs of the movie in early 2003 (plus the so-called “Korean Special Edition”, a mislabeled “bare-bones” bootleg released in 2002). As different patterns have survived even DVD’s technical improvements and the market’s quality requirements, it’s not an absurd to think that somehow the confusion regarding THE HOWLING could have started not only with home video transfer processes but also with pre-print sources. Here it is an objective indication of that:

That difference in the opening credits is not necessarily related to color and lighting divergences as both basic patterns (the “solar” warmer-brighter and the “lunar” colder-darker) could be found with or without “Wescom productions”. Nonetheless, those alternative credits do prove that THE HOWLING had dissimilar sources.

The “Wescom productions” credit appears in the MGM Pre-Special Edition anamorphic DVD (NTSC RC1 “bare-bones”, released in 2001). This release has as extra material only a messy alternative trailer (at least in comparison with the Laserdisc Collector’s Edition, approximately a minute longer) and the movie itself goes toward the brighter pattern, slightly reddish, reinforcing the appeal of Terry’s murder scene (or “Terry’s sunset”, like Director of Photography John Hora beautifully told me once). The transformation scene that follows looks like if it took place at the end of dusk. The MGM Special Edition DVD (2003, not discussed in this article) has nothing to do with this release, though the company is the same: it presents a new transfer, supervised by Joe Dante.

Beach party – MGM “bare-bones” DVD

Terry’s sunset – MGM “bare-bones” DVD

Eddie’s arousal – MGM “bare-bones” DVD

The MGM “bare-bones” has a lot in common with the Japanese DVD release, starting with the “Wescom” credit. Also, both have the alternative trailer, but the one found in the latter has a better look (less grainy and discolored despite the fact that some scratches indicate a common origin). Regarding the movie itself, it’s hard to tell for sure whether their print source was the same or not. On the one hand, they seem to have similar warm colors. On the other hand, THE HOWLING looks somewhat darker and with more saturated greens in the 2002 Tohokushinsha anamorphic DVD. It might look eventually brighter only because of better brightness/contrast presentation (as the American “bare-bones” isn’t very good in that matter). Among the five different looking Pre-Special Edition DVD releases here considered, the Japanese has the best compression (Power DVD 4.0 indicated up to 9.80 mbps against second place MGM “bare-bones” with 8.89 mbps) and apparently the best picture sharpness. Moreover, it has a big surprise, the movie’s teaser, never released on home video before.

Nevertheless, there’s a major flaw in it, the only thing that prevents it from being the best Pre-Special Edition DVD release. In spite of being a NTSC DVD RC2, for no apparent reason its source was in PAL system. That has been proved as not only has this version the PAL disadvantage (scenes run 4% faster, the pitch almost a halftone higher), but also the NTSC one (less smooth frame flow). Moreover (and a bit nitpicking), there are “jumping frames”, typical of the conflict between those systems: periodically, the Japanese DVD mix two frames of the original source into one, which is not really noticeable anyway (at least at normal speed playing; slow motion or frame advance show it all right).

Beach party – Japanese DVD

Terry’s sunset – Japanese DVD

Eddie’s arousal – Japanese DVD (darker in comparison with the MGM “bare-bones” DVD)

Teaser – Japanese DVD

Two frames occasionally mixed (two faces and two arms) – Japanese DVD

Here they are, separated – MGM “bare-bones” DVD

Those two releases and the “bare-bones” Dutch DVD (the Dutch without the “Wescom” credit) are the ones that remind most the 35mm print The Howling Unofficial Site exhibited in October 2001 (important to note: that print showed the “Wescom” credit). The basic differences between the 35mm material and its closest counterpart among the Pre-Special Edition releases — the MGM “bare-bones” — were that the former was a bit darker and a bit redder than the latter. It was surprising that the Collector’s Edition Laserdisc had not much in common with it at all, but old Kodak Eastman 35mm reels could have faded and become red.

The PAL RC2 Dutch DVD (released by Bridge Entertainment Group in 2000) seems not to have the red tones the MGM “bare-bones” reveals, but on the other hand it is lighter, for the yellows are detached and the blue colors turn out to be somewhat lessened. Hence, the beach party scene gets a different mood as the blue shadows just vanish and the fire obtains presence (during the posterior sex in the woods scene the yellows of the fire explode too much). The Venetian blinds’ projections on the wall during the transformation scene incredibly become a kind of icy grey-beige, as if it happened earlier in the daytime. The Dutch DVD can be understood as the most radical example of the brighter pattern:

Beach party – Dutch DVD

Terry’s sunset – Dutch DVD

Definitely and more than ever still sunset – Dutch DVD

It’s not difficult to notice that the aspect ratio differs comparing the MGM “bare-bones” (and the similar Japanese DVD, both 1.85:1) with the Dutch release. In this matter, the Dutch DVD is better by far as it kept the 1.66:1 originally intended for the film.

Two opposite versions (from different companies) can be found in the wonderful German DVD market (PAL RC2). The first (Best Buy Movie, released in 2000) is THE HOWLING’s darkest and bluest version, really “bare-bones” (warning: not even English language audio track available). The second (Best Entertainment, 2001, with English and German audio languages) appears to show the same print source the Collector’s Edition Laserdisc did (even the same scratches are there!), presenting some of its extras and also an exclusive additional trailer, the German. It’s interesting to notice that the first German DVD seems to present THE HOWLING as it was seen originally in German theaters (feel free to write us about your memories regarding this movie’s color and lighting in the theater, no matter where in the world you saw it), that is, dark, blue and with the German title DAS TIER inserted in the beginning of the movie. Possibly, the lighting and the color of the version seen in Brazilian theaters were a bit like that, too (but one should not forget that, already in the eighties, movies still tended to look a bit darker than they should in most cinemas of many Countries, like Brazil and Mexico, for instance).

DAS TIER title insertion – First German DVD (Best Buy Movie)

Perhaps the artists behind THE HOWLING would not like very much the second German DVD for it has the deleted scenes strategically implanted in several points of the movie, showing no concern for the original edition. Because of that, its running time is longer, but the problem is that the differences between the deleted and the effective material are more than noticeable, especially because of scratches, fading, discolor processes, bad sound and even artistic result. However, it allows DVD users to watch the high praised Collector’s Edition Laserdisc transfer and most of its extras. Besides, that creative editor’s impulse is at least worth seeing (especially for those interested in the original script). Not exactly a Special Edition, an abnormal one, yet very interesting.

The first German DVD, with the “Wescom” credit, shows us the simplest aspect ratio among all the releases: it’s nearly a full 1.33:1. The entire filmed area (or almost) appears with no matting. Even though that’s certainly wrong, it makes us see more picture space and more werewolf details. As the unintended area is free of microphones and other defects, the final result is very absorbing (it’s like a special feature itself):

A rare opportunity to see a good portion of Eddie’s fingers – First German DVD

Dark and blue – First German DVD

The second German DVD (without “Wescom”), a more balanced example of the dark and blue pattern, keeps the desired 1.66:1:

Second German DVD (Best Entertainment)

Blue and violet – Second German DVD

Clearer than the First German DVD – Second German DVD

The German trailer shown on the second German DVD really makes one suspect that the color and lighting discrepancies among all versions might be related not only to different transfers, but also to different matrices. After all, DAS TIER’s trailer, which curiously shows the transformation scene almost entirely, is very dark and blue, just like DAS TIER’s full-length movie seen on the first German DVD (it’s important to remember that those DVDs are from different companies):

DAS TIER trailer – Second German DVD

Dark and blue atmosphere in DAS TIER trailer – Second German DVD

Hence, comparing two different presentations (the entire movie in the first German DVD and DAS TIER trailer in the second) one can be even more assured that the source material for the German prints was very dark and blue. And perhaps not by coincidence the first American VHS releases also looked that way (Twentieth Century-Fox Video and Embassy Home Video), thus suggesting a similar origin (correct or deviated?).

That makes things harder: in case there were already radically different looking prints when THE HOWLING was exhibited in the theaters around the world (the German DVDs and some Brazilian fans’ contradictory memories suggest that both Countries got something different than the brighter pattern), it's not surprising that the differences continued on VHS and Laserdisc, as unfortunately they continue on DVD.

It might be interesting to take a look at these DVD releases at the same time (visit the versions section for more):

First German DVD

Second German DVD

Japanese DVD

MGM “bare-bones” DVD

Dutch DVD

It’s probably impossible to discover the reason why so many different patterns exist. It seems that the seventh art is more ephemeral than everybody thought and that the director and cinematographer’s worlds can’t be fairly registered within a disc. After two decades, even their “supervision” in new releases would not guarantee too much: there are company demands, peoples’ memories are tricky and sometimes an artist wants to review his own work. That it is essential for movie lovers to see a movie as it was intended to be seen originally, and that this subject needs a last and authoritative word, all this is just undeniable. But how that word could come to life after such confusion?

Well, who knows, maybe one day the best werewolf movie ever made runs again the theaters, restored (additional scenes wouldn’t be bad), leaving no mysteries about itself. Before that, it’s better to put things clear: THE HOWLING will be remembered as a classic anyway. That’s why it would be nice to know which face (if any) is its truest one.

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