One of horror’s greatest werewolf movies – The Howling from Gremlins director Joe Dante – also offers one of the genre’s most iconic endings with the survival of antagonist Marsha Quist. Elisabeth Brooks masterfully plays Marsha, a naturist and werewolf, who happens to also be the sibling of Eddie Quist and T.C. Quist. Unlike most of the werewolves in the film, who are killed after their “Colony” burns down, Marsha is revealed to have survived – and even outlived her two brothers.
The 1981 classic concludes with Marsha watching the television broadcast where the film’s protagonist, Karen White played by Dee Wallace Stone, is transformed into a werewolf herself before being killed on live TV. It’s a powerful ending that leaves viewers with the notion that the evil is not gone. Because not only does Marsha survive, but the viewers of Karen’s television broadcast are unconvinced that she’s really a werewolf, allowing Marsha to continue living her life in the shadows.
Of course, the Howling film franchise takes a wild turn after this original installment. Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf is the only film to follow the events of the original. Though it also features a different cast and crew, with only one returning character. Interestingly, there were plans for Elisabeth Brooks to return as Marsha for the sequel, but things didn’t work out. Reports cite possible health issues and a refusal to do full-frontal nudity as Brooks’ reasons for not returning. As such, the new character Mariana was introduced with some notable similarities to Marsha.
The Return of Marsha Quist
Regarding the original film and its story, however, what happened to Marsha Quist? Fortunately, there is an answer, though it wasn’t until 2017 that fans learned what really happened. This answer came in the form of the limited comic book series The Howling: Revenge of the Werewolf Queen. The comic’s story takes place just weeks after The Howling with Chris Halloran attempting to prove the existence of werewolves after Karen’s death while Marsha begins plotting revenge for the death of her brothers and the Colony.
The story even goes a step further. Marsha Quist doesn’t simply want to kill Chris or those tied to him and the destruction of the Colony. Rather, Marsha begins a plot for werewolves to take over the food chain, allowing them to rule the planet. It’s an ambitious goal but one that suits her character’s ambitions in the original movie. After all, she never agreed with Dr. Waggner’s beliefs that werewolves should try to live alongside humans or in secret.
The Howling: Revenge of the Werewolf Queen eventually culminates in an epic battle between humans and werewolves. Marsha naturally leads the side of the werewolves, with some impressively gory and disastrous results, and fans might even get to see the return of a few other characters thought to be dead. For fans that can track down the out-of-print comic, it’s definitely worth a read, especially if you wanted a true direct sequel to Joe Dante‘s The Howling.
Sadly, Elisabeth Brooks passed away in 1997 after a battle with brain cancer. She was only 46-years-old, and while she didn’t get to see how much of a legacy The Howling would continue to have even to this day, fans will forever remember her contributions to the genre and one of the greatest werewolf movies ever made. It’s nice to know that even without Brooks, her character Marsha Quist remains popular and even supported her own comic book spin-off series. Hopefully one day we can not only get another chapter in the Howling franchise – but one that also has the foresight to pay tribute to Brooks and her role as Marsha Quist, one of the greatest werewolf villains in cinema history.
