This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Joe Dante’s classic werewolf flick, ‘The Howling‘. In 1981 Joe Dante was set to carve out his own space from a crowded wolf scene in the cinemas that included ‘An American Werewolf in London‘ and ‘Wolfen‘. Dante did not disappoint as the film did well at the box-office ($17.9 million) and spawned seven sequels. The movie also cemented Dante and producer Michael Finnell careers as it gave them box-office credibility for their followup, ‘Gremlins‘. Currently Netflix has plans to remake The Howling.

At the time of 1981, Dee Wallace was a talented up-and-coming actress that had won the lead role of Karen White, a news anchor in the The Howling. A film based on a novel by Gary Brandner. Her wonderful performance in the cult classic put Dee on the radar as a leading lady for studio movies. She followed with lead roles in Stephen King’s 1981 novel adaptation ‘Cujo‘ and Steven Spielberg’s classic ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial‘. Today, Dee is still making films as a producer/actress and has ventured into becoming an author with a collection of self-help books.