Its f ing fantastic and very unique. Easily Tobe Hoopers very best work.
shareAgreed. It's an amazing film.
Grand production values across the board. A real special effects showcase. Nice cinematography. A brilliant OST. Great acting performances in particular from JoBeth Williams & Craig T. Nelson. It has insane nostalgic value as it vividly captures an idyllic suburban White American family in the early 80s. Magical film.
No way. The movie is ruined by too much Spielberg. That score drains away all spookiness. As does the mother’s constant “gee whiz” attitude even when she should be depressed. I wish Hooper had more control. It’s lame.
shareIt's a great film.
I've just rewatched and the only thing I'd say is that maybe it could / should have just ended with getting the daughter back?
The clown / skeletons seem more like adding some jump scare stuff just for shock value. The psychological creepiness and the horror of the mother's loss of her kid is slightly unraveled by it.
All in all though it's a brilliant film and beautifully shot at times, e.g. the husband & wife's embrace with the flickering light behind them...
I like that it wasn't ended after they got the daughter back. It shows how powerful and vengeful the evil spirit was that it was able to trick the clairvoyant and make it seem everything was fine. It made for a better climax that probably contains the more iconic moments of the film. Elevates it if anything.
share. It made for a better climax that probably contains the more iconic moments of the film.
The mud pool with the skeletons, the clown toy, the house imploding into the portal, to name but 3. It wouldn't be as great a film without these IMO.
share"The mud pool with the skeletons"
REAL skeletons, too! I'm not kidding, those were real rotting corpses that the woman was submerged with.
I did read this but I thought I also read that it was only a myth...I can't remember now. Cool if they really were as it just adds another layer of interest to the film's legacy.
shareIt's definitely a 9/10.
shareI much prefer Hooper’s Howling. This thing has excessive cutesy-ness. No cutesy in The Howling. Not 1 speck.
shareThe Howling was Joe Dante. Hooper did "Lifeforce" after this film. That was a horrible film. Not even the characterization that Hooper does well was in that one. It was just a plain old mess.
shareBetter than Texas CM? lol.
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