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Passes the Bechdel test

The Howling

1981. Directed by Joe Dante, written by Gary Brandner and John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    5 women characters. 8 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 6 scenes out of 328.
  3. Yes 3. About something besides a man
    In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

Poster for The Howling

The film

In a red light district, newswoman Karen White is bugged by the police, investigating serial killer Eddie Quist, who has been molesting her through phone calls. After police officers find them in a peep-show cabin and shoot Eddie, Karen becomes emotionally disturbed and loses her memory. Hoping to conquer her inner demons, she heads for the Colony, a secluded retreat where the creepy residents are rather too eager to make her feel at home. There also seems to be a bizarre connection between Eddie Quist and this supposedly safe haven. And when, after nights of being tormented by unearthly cries, Karen ventures into the forest and makes a terrifying discovery.

Released
10 Apr 1981
Genres
Horror
Rated
R
IMDb
6.5 / 10
Metascore
68 / 100
Awards
2 wins & 3 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Karen 132 lines, woman
  2. Roy 69 lines, man
  3. Chris 49 lines, man
  4. Terry 38 lines, woman
  5. Donna 33 lines, woman
  6. Boc 23 lines
  7. Marsha 19 lines, woman
  8. Jerry 16 lines, man
  9. Doc 15 lines
  10. Sam 15 lines, man
Full cast, 36 people
  • Dee Wallace as Karen White
  • Patrick Macnee as Dr. George Waggner
  • Dennis Dugan as Chris
  • Christopher Stone as R. William 'Bill' Neill
  • Belinda Balaski as Terry Fisher
  • Kevin McCarthy as Fred Francis
  • John Carradine as Erle Kenton
  • Slim Pickens as Sam Newfield
  • Elisabeth Brooks as Marsha Quist
  • Robert Picardo as Eddie Quist
  • Margie Impert as Donna
  • Noble Willingham as Charlie Barton
  • James Murtaugh as Jerry Warren
  • Jim McKrell as Lew Landers
  • Meshach Taylor as Shantz
  • Robert A. Burns as Porn Store Patron
  • Kenneth Tobey as Older Cop
  • Dick Miller as Walter Paisley - Bookstore Owner
  • Don McLeod as T.C. Quist
  • Bill Sorrells as Kline
  • Ivan Saric as Jack Molina
  • Steve Nevil as Young Cop
  • Sarina C. Grant as Hooker
  • Wendell Wright as Man at Bar
  • Herbie Braha as Porno Cashier
  • Joe Bratcher as Radio Man
  • Chico Martínez as Man on Street
  • Daniel Nunez as Liquor Cashier
  • Michael O'Dwyer as Drunk
  • Roger Corman as Man in Phone Booth (uncredited)
  • John Sayles as Morgue Attendant (uncredited)
  • Jonathan Kaplan as Gas Station Attendant (uncredited)
  • Forrest J. Ackerman as Bookstore Customer (uncredited)
  • Robert A. Burns as Porn Store Patron (uncredited)
  • Michael Chapman as Man at End of Bar (uncredited)
  • Mick Garris as Man with TV Guide (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 7 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 19% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 328

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 794
8 to 14714
15 to 21212
22 to 2863
29 to 3500
36 to 4224
43 to 4933
50 to 5612
57 to 6324
64 to 7033
71 to 771514
78 to 8410
85 to 911519
92 to 982011
99 to 10502
106 to 112139
113 to 11942
120 to 12630
127 to 133109
134 to 14011
141 to 147147
148 to 1541014
155 to 16189
162 to 16835
169 to 1751510
176 to 18210
183 to 1891915
190 to 19684
197 to 20310
204 to 21030
211 to 21700
218 to 22400
225 to 23162
232 to 23856
239 to 24522
246 to 25201
253 to 25954
260 to 26674
267 to 27311
274 to 28007
281 to 28721
288 to 29401
295 to 30100
302 to 30820
309 to 31569
316 to 32223
323 to 32821

The evidence

  • Straight from the script
  • Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scenes

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
KAREN: This reminds me of a college mixer -- DONNA: It seems like a miracle, but when you see the doctor in action you'll be a believer.
KAREN: Pretty lively. DONNA: Don't worry, honey. People are just blowing off some steam tonight. The Colony isn't one of your touchy~feely outfits. In fact it gets prett… KAREN: Is it like- is it a real tight group or what? Doc never told me much about it. DONNA: There's not a whole lot of peer pressure or anything, if that's what you mean. I mean, we're all just people here.
DONNA: ’ Why feel embarrassed? You heard something outside, why shouldn't you tell the police? Haven't you ever done assertiveness training? _ KAREN: No. DONNA ; Before I hooked into Doc, I did it all- EST, TM, Scientology, Iridology, primal _ Screamers, you name it. Seems like a long time…
DONNA: I sleep like the dead, KAREN: We ran a documentary. at the station once, about wolves - the howling sounded kind of like that. 49a. 196 .
KAREN: You scared the shit out of me. MARSHA: Have you been playing tennis? KAREN: Yes? MARSHA: Is that fun?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 52 are women's.

239 lines from women, 222 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

5 women and 31 men in the cast. 8 women and 14 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 16 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 51% of the words (2,527), men 49% (2,425). Women have 52% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

Exhibit E: the test the other way

Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.

Conversations between two named characters

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 18% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Joe Dante (man)
Written by
John Sayles (man), Terence H. Winkless (man)
From the novel by
Gary Brandner (man)
Produced by
Jack Conrad (man), Michael Finnell (man)
Shot by
John Hora (man)
Edited by
Mark Goldblatt (man), Joe Dante (man)
Music by
Pino Donaggio (man)
Costumes by
Jack Buehler (gender not listed)
Cast by
Susan Arnold (woman), Judith Weiner (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Costume & Make-Up

    2 women, 3 men, 5 not listed

  • Production

    2 women, 6 men

  • Camera

    0 women, 1 men, 3 not listed

  • Other crew

    1 women, 3 men

  • Art

    0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed

  • Directing

    1 women, 2 men

  • Sound

    0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed

  • Writing

    0 women, 3 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 31 on average. Men: 51 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Elisabeth Brooks 29, Dee Wallace 32, Belinda Balaski 33

Men

Robert Picardo 27, Dennis Dugan 34, Christopher Stone 38, Patrick Macnee 58, Slim Pickens 61, Kevin McCarthy 66, John Carradine 74

Exhibit H: the money

It made 18.0 times what it cost.

Budget
$1 million
Box office
$18 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 328 scenes and 571 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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