Eddie Quist

Edward Quist, also known as "Eddie the Mangler" is a character in the 1981 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082533/releaseinfo] horror film "The Howling". He is portrayed by Robert Picardo.

History

Eddie Quist suffers from lycanthropy, as do his two younger siblings Marsha and T.C. At one point in their life, the Quists had been found by therapist (and fellow werewolf) Dr. George Waggner. Waggner was a reformist, believing that the old habits of preying on humans was a practice that could not fit in the modern world. He set up a secluded resort in the Tehachapi Mountains known as "The Colony", where other lycanthropes could retreat from the outside world and learn to channel and control their energies and violent impulses. The therapy proves to be problematic for the Quist siblings, particularly Eddie, who is more than comfortable with the "old ways".

Eddie leaves the Colony and moves to Los Angeles, California, where he uses his powers to rape and butcher women, earning him the nickname of "The Mangler". He soon begins to stalk television news anchor Karen White, which the LAPD exploits to their advantage. Having set an appointment in a porno theatre, Eddie forces Karen to watch a snuff film while hiding behind her in the shadows and transforming. Karen turns around and screams, prompting immediate action from the police who shoot Eddie as he is about to assault Karen. A seemingly fatal bullet wound to the head incapacitates him, but he is actually in a dormant state as his body regenerates the injury.

A few days later, Eddie escapes from the morgue and tracks Karen down. There, he brutally murders Karen's friend Terri Fisher while tape recording her screams after she discovers the truth. Later, he confronts Karen, angrily tearing out the bullet still lodged in his skull and graphically transforming in front of her. Before he can attack, however, Karen throws acid in his face and escapes. The now disfigured Eddie is met by Terri's boyfriend Chris Dugan armed with a gun which, unbeknown to him, is loaded with silver bullets. Eddie taunts Chris and begins to shapeshift. Chris fires his gun at Eddie's throat, killing him.

Personality

Eddie is a true sociopath who views himself as above the law of mere humans. This arrogance also manifests itself in his habit of taunting the police by leaving calling cards at his crime scenes in the form of yellow smiley face stickers. He delights in terrifying and tormenting his victims before killing them.

Little else of his personality is explored in the film, although his apartment in Los Angeles is filled with drawings of landscapes in his former home and portraits of people in varying stages of werewolf transformation. His cabin in the colony had similar pictures, as well as an assortment of animal flesh and bones kept as trophies.

Differences from the book

Quist's character differs a lot from the source in Gary Brandners novel on which the film is based on. In the book, his first name is Max and though he does sexually assault the leading heroine (albeit without police intervention), he is in no way connected to the werewolf community central to the story.

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