MovieChat Forums > The Howling (1981) Discussion > why victims don't run while werewolves c...

why victims don't run while werewolves change

posted 13 years ago by PhreeRaddicalz
13 replies | jump to latest

We know too much. We're the audience and seen and know it all. They are in the story in a world of naivity (sp.?) and disbelief. In old school films werewolves were fairly new.

Victims don't runaway, because it's a shocking, mesmerizing, and intriguing thing to watch.

Dee Wallace's character couldnt even get a scream out at first, she was so afraid..... and then blocked out the attack.

A werewolf encounter is a scary, traumatic thing that might be hard to register if we did not have the luxury of watching it on television for so long.

How many people freeze when a gun is pointed at them?

We dont all react the same way to the same thing. We're not all commandoes and hop to counter measures when faced with a dilemma.... especially one as exotic as a werewolf emerging from its human flesh prison.

you lose -Team America, World Police

[–] Dream_Demon 13 years ago

That's a good explanation.

Welcome to my Nightmare- Freddy Krueger

[–] akroagate 13 years ago

I don't know...the last time I encountered a werewolf I ran away. I sh*t myself first, of course, but then I ran.

Time of your life, huh, kid?

[–] riddick_pcg 13 years ago

I would guess it is the whole deer caught in the headlights things. Too scared to move.

[–] MonteCarloMan 13 years ago

I could see Dee Wallace was petrified by the sight of it...afraid that one sudden move would cause the werewolf to lash out or chase her down before the transformation was complete.

[–] OrcaBreeze 10 years ago

I don't know...the last time I encountered a werewolf I ran away. I sh*t myself first, of course, but then I ran.

Totally would have done this too!

[–] zorn24601 13 years ago

Good explanation. Faced with what we think to be impossible, we'd be unable to look away.

What I want to know is, why was she even still there when he started changing? She's standing in a room with Eddie the Mangler, a serial killer she knows damn well is supposed to be dead. Shot so full of holes he whistles when the wind blows. Now here he is, back from the dead. If I were her, I'd be setting land speed records hauling my ass out of there. I'd jump through the frakking window if I had to.

[–] Hey_Sweden 12 years ago

Well said. I think, on some level, many of us, faced with such a sight, would be fascinated even if our brains were screaming at us to get the *beep* out of Dodge. In the back of our mind we'd be thinking, "Well, *there's* something you don't see every day..."

I often hear people complain about a human action or reaction in a film and loudly say, "*I'd* never act that way, this is what I'd do..." but unless the person has actually been in that situation they *can't* know for sure. We never know just how we might act / react in certain situations unless / until they happen. Some people have great survival instincts, and can quickly think on their feet, and some can't.

[–] pcsarkar 12 years ago

Firstly, its supposedly mesmerizing.. horrific.. paralyzes the senses. Has any one run after seeing a poisonous snake baring its fangs at them? No. Firstly, its mesmerizing, and secondly, your inner instinct tells you that running is pointless. The snake or wild beast, or the fearsome supernatural werewolf in this case, can out-run you anyway.

[–] Barloq 11 years ago

I might agree with this if she didn't run away immediately after it was done. Obviously this is the only real explanation, but it's a contrived one.

Kill the trolls!!!

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] mlaughlin22 10 years ago

Werewolves are sopposed to be a myth or fairy tale
I think she froze to the point she could not think of running .
and as one person says a person changing is not something you see everyday .
Fear and curious at the sametime .

Fix the error reports on this site

[–] doubl3 7 years ago

In this movie I was wondering why the officer shooting werewolves just stood there a longgggg time while one would change over. Then wait for it to come after him. Then finally shoot. He could have easily shot it while it was changing. lol.

[–] missnat (1172) 6 years ago

Fear and shock of seeing a werewolf I'd imagine.