What actually happens
A sting operation at a very bad theater
Karen White is a Los Angeles television news anchor being stalked by the serial killer Eddie Quist. She works with the police on a plan to catch him, and agrees to meet Eddie in a sleazy porn theater. Eddie makes her watch a video of a woman being gang raped, and then asks her to turn and look at him. When she does, she screams. The police rush in and shoot Eddie. Karen survives, but she suffers from amnesia afterward. Her therapist, Doc Waggner, suggests that she and her husband Bill Neill go to the Colony, a secluded countryside resort where he sends patients for treatment.
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The Colony has a type
The Colony is full of odd people, and one of them, a witch named Marsha Quist, turns out to be Eddie's sister and tries to seduce Bill. When he turns her down, a wolf bites him on the arm as he walks back to his cabin. Karen hears strange howling at night and calls her friend Terry Fisher to the Colony. Terry spots a sketch Eddie left behind that ties the resort to him, and she has already found out that his body vanished from the morgue. Karen starts to suspect Bill of cheating on her. That same night Bill finds Marsha at a campfire in the woods. They have sex in the moonlight and both turn into werewolves.
Terry makes a phone call from the wrong office
The next day Terry investigates and is jumped by a werewolf inside Eddie's cabin. She gets away by chopping the creature's hand off with an ax. Then she heads for Doc's office and phones her boyfriend, Chris Halloran, who has been warned about what the Colony really is. While they talk, Terry searches for files on Eddie. When she finds the file, Eddie attacks her in werewolf form and she is killed. Chris hears it over the phone. He sets off for the Colony with silver bullets.
Eddie changes shape, and Karen changes the subject with acid
This is the scene people dread, and it comes near the end. Eddie, who is no longer dead, confronts Karen again and turns into a werewolf as she watches. In response, Karen splashes corrosive acid in his face and runs. When Chris arrives at the Colony, he meets the disfigured Eddie and Eddie's brother, who taunt him using Terry's corpse. Chris kills both with silver bullets while they are mid-transformation. Then the rest of the Colony's residents turn out to be werewolves as well, and they start to transform. Karen and Chris corral what is left of the werewolves, Doc among them, inside the barn, which they set on fire along with the rest of the Colony.
The ending, explained
As Karen and Chris drive away, a werewolf smashes into their car and bites Karen. Karen shoots it, and it turns back into Bill as it dies. Karen decides to warn the world and begins a special worldwide broadcast. As proof, she changes into a werewolf on air, and Chris shoots at her in front of the live audience. Viewers at home think it is a stunt done with special effects. Marsha escaped the Colony unharmed and watches the broadcast in a bar with a man who orders her a rare hamburger when the show cuts to a commercial break.
The post-credits ruling
Yes, there is a scene after the credits, so stay seated if you want to see it.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is The Howling scary?
Yes. The Howling is a 5 out of 10 with medium dread. It has jump scares and some graphic transformation effects.
How does The Howling end?
Karen and Chris burn down the Colony, but Karen gets bitten. She transforms into a werewolf on live television and is shot at, and the viewers at home think it is a special effect.
Does the dog die in The Howling?
No dog dies in The Howling. A pet dog appears at the beginning and nothing happens to him. Other animals, including cows and rabbits, do die.
Is there a post-credits scene in The Howling?
Yes. The Howling has a scene after the credits, so it is worth staying seated if you want to see it.
What are the people at the Colony in The Howling?
They are werewolves. Karen and Chris find out near the end of The Howling that every resident of the Colony turns into one, and Eddie Quist and his sister Marsha are among them.
