Howling at the Moon Blondes: An Examination of A Howling in the Woods, Moon of the Wolf and The Initiation of Sarah. By Brian Kirst
Much like the Pre-Code movies of the 1930’s, the horror television films of the 1970’s and 1980’s often pushed the limits. Movies such as Duel (featuring Dennis Weaver battling Steven Spielberg’s ominous vehicle of death) and Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (wherein Kim Darby discovers her home infested with destructive fireplace dwelling demons) relied on an odd sense of dread and an often joyous suspension of disbelief.
A Howling in the Woods’ spine is comprised of the firm sense of bewilderment that director Donald Petrie invests in it. Liza Crocker (Barbara Eden in her prime) returns to her small town to discover her father is missing and that a young local girl has been mysteriously murdered. The townspeople greet her like she’s an unwanted stranger while everyone finds themselves distinctly unnerved by the howling hound keeping pulse on the tense emotional climate with his inexhaustible baying. Petrie allows a thick sickness to permeate the atmosphere of this production – particularly involving the savage murder of the young girl. There is a true pathology at work here, made all the more gothic by the slowly unfolding mystery and the haunted silence of things left unsaid. This sultry unease is contrasted by the cool, light beauty of Eden.
A Howling in the Woods, originally presented on NBC in November 1971, was also a landmark of sorts. It was one of the first two hour television films (with all others generally running an hour and a half) and it reunited popular I Dream of Jeannie co-stars Eden and Larry Hagman. It also boasts a surprisingly effective early performance by Tyne Daly as the young girl’s distraught mother and this spooky exercise is further accented by Vera Miles’ smoky, ultimately duplicitous work as Eden’s seemingly concerned stepmother.
1972’s Moon of the Wolf could almost work as a modern political allegory wherein those in power turn out to be the most deadly corrupt and untrustworthy. It is also almost instantaneous easy to figure out whom the werewolf haunting Sheriff Whitaker’s (an agreeably gruff David Janssen) town truly is. Most amusingly, this hairy flick ends with a deliciously ridiculous confrontation between the fair (and frantic) Barbara Rush and an actor in extremely obvious beast makeup.
Moon of the Wolf boosts a deliriously over-the-top performance from Geoffrey Lewis who is involved in the film’s one scene of abundant violence. Other Hollywood veterans like John Beradino (as the philandering, lonely local doctor) and Royal Dano also add a characteristic flavor to this mysterious Cajun flavored stew.
Donald Petrie, again, directs here. He brings out a smooth pace and layered performances. Unfortunately, while there are as many kept secrets in Moon of the Wolf as there are in A Howling in the Woods, the abbreviated running time does not allow Petrie to set as strong a mood. Instead, this more a of nostalgic time waster with some surprisingly contemporary parallels.
The original The Initiation of Sarah was broadcast in 1978 and this Carrie influenced shocker has since become a cult classic. While featuring an expected over-the-top performance from Shelley Winters, Kay Lenz, quietly and effectively, starred as Sarah. The picked upon Sarah soon develops her psychic powers (with Winters’ character’s help) and eventually uses them against the college girls whom have tormented her. Part of Sarah’s revenge scenario involved a vengefully hot shower sequence with the young Morgan Fairchild (whom was rumored to be actually nude for the scene). Much like its specific inspiration, the original Sarah featured a surprisingly downbeat ending.
In the recent ABC Family remake, all of that subtlety is lost. Trying for a camp sensibility (and possible sequels), this The Initiation of Sarah also features a much more horror specific concept. The sorority that Sarah and her twin sister Lindsay are destined to join is really a coven of powerful witch like creatures who survive – surprise, surprise – on virgin’s blood. There are some effective transformation sequences and some minor bloodletting scenarios. The back story, also, has a strong sense of manipulative horror. More than anything (for better or worse), though, this is PG fluff.
It is fun to watch Jennifer Tilly take over on the Shelley Winters role. A scene where Tilly shoves herself into a formfitting mini-skirt to impersonate one of the college vamps is the definite highlight of the production. JoAnna Garcia (best known as a good girl on Reba and drunken, "golden shower" Christie from American Pie 2) definitely relishes playing the head villainess and Tessa Thompson manages a few powerfully bitchy moments as her main sidekick. In a tribute to the original production, Morgan Fairchild returns to utter some deliciously catty barbs as Sarah and Lindsay’s "mother". Unfortunately, the actresses playing those sisters are nowhere near as powerful as the original portrayers – Lenz and Morgan Brittany.
Still, to truly compare remakes to their original sources is an almost futile gesture and at the very least, this The Initiation of Sarah ends with a hysterically solemn campus march involving Tilly’s young coven of good witches. Their determined faces are shadowed majestically by director Stuart Gillard and their firm stroll is highlighted by a cover of T Rex’s "Children of the Revolution" ultimately proving that something is still quirkily right in contemporary television land.
