Jim McKrell | Through the Shattered Lens

It’s Tax Day, which means that it’s a good day to remember that the IRS is not your friend.

That can sometimes be hard to forget, with all the talk of making people “pay their fair share” and all the drama that seems to accompany any suggestion that federal bureaucracy should be reduced. Back in 2003, there was a big story about how the IRS was going to hire 3,000 new employees and it amazed me how the media tried to frame this as being a good thing to which no one could possibly object. Whenever I turned on the news, I would see government official bragging about how they were going to bring in even more IRS agents to make “the billionaires” pay their fair share. (They may say “billionaires” but one can be sure that those 3,000 IRS agents weren’t going to anyone near anyone who donated to the right people.) In the recent election, I was always amused by analysts who were shocked to discover that many voters, especially those were struggling to pay their bills, weren’t enthusiastic about the idea of a supercharged IRS.

The fact of the matter is that people hate the IRS. The IRS exists to make people’s live difficult. The IRS exists to take our money away from us, money that we earned but which we are apparently not worthy of keeping. The IRS is an agency that demands that you do you own taxes but then threatens to throw you in jail if you make a mistake. When people hear 3,000 new IRS agents, they imagine 3,000 more people looking to take their money and toss them in prison for forgetting to carry the one. I often think that if the IRS simply sent people a bill every year, people would actually get a lot less upset about having to pay taxes. I get a property tax bill from the country and I have no problem paying it because it gives me an exact amount. Instead, the IRS says, “We know how much you owe but we’re not going to tell you. If you pay too much, you won’t get a refund and if you pay too little, we’ll destroy your life.”

On days like this, watching a film like 1981’s Harry’s War can be a cathartic experience. The film stars Edward Herrmann (yes, the History channel guy) as Harry, a postman who was raised by Beverly Payne (Geraldine Page), an eccentric woman who collects military memorabilia and whose property is listed as being a church and is therefore tax exempt. In her will, Beverly has named Harry as her heir. Arrogant IRS district director Ernie Scelera (David Ogden Stiers) is convinced that Beverly is hiding a fortune from the IRS and he proceeds to harass both her and Harry in court until Beverly drops dead of a heart attack. Harry inherits Beverly’s property and also her tax bill. However, Harry has also inherited all of her military stuff and soon, he’s crashing Ernie’s press conference with a tank and then engaging in a lengthy stand-off with the government. The film is a dramedy and you never really doubt that Harry will somehow triumph (even if his victory is ultimately a symbolic one) but the film still reminds us of how quickly the government will turn on its citizens when it’s being defied and the final few moments bring to mind some of the worst ATF and FBI excesses of the past 30 years. That said, Harry is quick to point out that he’s not waging war on the government. He’s waging war on the unelected bureaucrats who have forgotten that civil servants are supposed to work for the people and not against them. “All that power in one place,” Harry says scornfully about the IRS and it’s hard to deny that he has a point. It’s hardly a perfect film but, in this day and age, it’s a film that will leave you cheering.

The 1981 film, The Howling, takes place at The Colony.

The Colony is a lovely place, a nice resort out in the middle of the countryside. It’s a place that celebrity therapist George Waggener (Patrick Macnee) sends his clients so that they can recover from trauma. It’s a bit of a grown-up version of the ranch to which Dr. Phil used to send juvenile delinquents. Of course, the Colony is full of adults and they’re an eccentric bunch. I mean, one of them — named Erle Kenton — is actually played by John Carradine! That’s just how eccentric the place is. Sheriff Sam Newfield (Slim Pickens) keeps an eye on the place but everyone knows that there’s nothing to worry about when it comes to The Colony. Dr. Waggner does good work.

Karen White (Dee Wallace) is a Los Angeles news anchor who was held hostage by a serial killer named Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo). While she was with Eddie, she was forced to not only watch videos of Eddie’s crimes but she also saw something happen with Eddie that terrified her to such an extent that she has blocked it from her mind. Karen was rescued by the police but she is haunted by nightmares. Dr. Waggner arranges for Karen and her husband, Bill Neill (Christopher Stone, who was married to Dee Wallace when they co-starred in this film), to spend some time at the Colony.

Bill loves the Colony, especially after he attracts the eye of Marsha (Elisabeth Brooks), the resort’s resident seductress. Karen, however, is less enamored of the place. The Colony feels off to her and she’s not happy about the howling in the distance or the fact that Bill has suddenly started to grow distant from her. Could it be that The Colony is actually crawling with werewolves and that Bill has become one of them? (It’s totally possible and, to The Howling‘s credit, it doesn’t waste any time letting us know that.) Karen’s friend, Terry Fisher (Belinda Balanski), and her boyfriend, Chris Halloran (Dennis Dugan), do some research of their own into Eddie Quist, The Colony, and whether or not werewolves exists and they meet a helpful bookstore owner named Walter Paisley (Dick Miller).

To understand the approach that director Joe Dante and screenwriter John Sayles take to The Howling, one needs to only consider the names of some of the characters. George Waggner. Bill Neill. Terry (which can be short for Terence) Fisher. Fred (or is that Freddie) Francis. Erle Kenton. Sam Newfield. Jerry Warren. All of these characters are named after horror film directors. This is the type of werewolf film where Chris Halloran has a copy of The Three Little Pigs sitting on his desk. Veteran actors like Kevin McCarthy, John Carradine, Slim Pickens, and Kenneth Tobey show up in small roles. Roger Corman mainstay Dick Miller plays yet another character named Walter Paisley and he kicks Forrest J. Ackerman out of his bookstore. Roger Corman himself plays a man making a phone call. After a werewolf is shot on live TV, the program immediately cuts to a dog food commercial and we see a blank-faced child telling his unconcerned parents that someone just turned into a wolf. The Howling was made by people who obviously love B-horror and that love is present in every frame of the film.

Like Dante’s Piranha, The Howling is a film with a sense of humor but it’s not a comedy. The werewolves are still impressive, even forty-two years after the film was first released. The character of Eddie Quist (“I’m going to give you a piece of my mind”) is a terrifying monster and the sight of his signature smiley face will fill you with dread, especially when it shows up in a place where it really shouldn’t be. The film cynically ends on a note of noble sacrifice that will apparently not make much difference, with the suggestion being that human beings are either too distracted or too jaded to realize that there are monsters among them. The Howling is a fast-paced and well-directed homage to B-horror and it’s still terrifically entertaining.