Werewolf links, news, and reviews
After a pretty lively week, Werewolf News is going back on a bit of a break until August 2nd – I am headed to the heat and humidity of Chicago. I’ve got some cool stuff lined up for when I get back, though, including the introduction of a special guest column that will run for the better part of a year.
See you next Tuesday!
I was recently given a link to a new blog called Andronica’s Wolfish Thoughts. The link arrived in an email from Andronica herself, surname Llewellyn, although after reading the blog I suspect her writing might be found under a few other names as well – some of them from antiquity. I’ve just spent the last 30 minutes reading the blog, from oldest post to newest (there are only four at the moment), and I’m honestly flummoxed. The best I can do, I think, is give you the “facts” as presented in her writing.
In all seriousness, I have no idea who’s writing this blog or where it’s going, but it’s well-researched, well-written (especially the latest post, A Roman Werewolf at Maria Theresia’s Court) and the writer is doing some serious world-building. Take some time to read it through, check out her equally well-crafted Facebook page and follow her on Twitter (if that’s your thing [and it should be]) at @LadyAndronica.
Here’s another crowd-sourced werewolf project I thought was worth sharing: an independently produced short film about werewolves called Lose Your Soul. I’ll let writer/director Ray Fawcett tell you a bit more about it.
This script has been a labor of love for a handful of us, it was written and inspired during a military deployment to Kuwait. We arrive home in August, and want to make this project impact those who have been seeking out a horror film with some depth. It’s a film with issues of separation, letting go and loss much like we have done in the last year of this deployment… Our project is small, but has a lot of heart. We really would like to see it get off the ground, and have its beating heart and passion presented to everyone’s computer screens and local film festivals.
To learn more about Lose Your Soul and help contribute to its production, visit its project page on IndieGoGo.
Bloody Disgusting has another one of those exclusives they’re so good at nabbing: Universal’s upcoming direct-to-DVD Wolfman followup has dropped the name Werewolf and is now untitled, and here’s the story screenwriter Michael Tabb is developing:
The new film will take place in a 1901 Romania with the lead character, “Daniel,” caring for his sick mother and attending medical school. Daniel is then recruited to join a group of nomad bounty-hunters tracking down “a disturbing presence” terrorizing the town. Daniel and “Charles” quickly bond and must work together to uncover who this new breed of werwolf is. From what I’m being told, this sequel is very “whodunit”.
This doesn’t sound very “compelling” to me, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and “see”. Dropping the generic Werewolf name is a good move, though.
According to its Facebook page and a post on Fangoria, British horror-comedy Strippers Vs. Werewolves has wrapped and will be released sometime before Spring 2012. The last time I posted about this film I was pretty mean, but I think I had just cause: there were no details on casting or story, and the poster/concept art was… not encouraging. But all of that has changed, and (as I’ve so often done lately) I am retracting some of my shitty comments.
A new poster has been released, which Fangoria describes as “Ali Bastian as stripper Danni, aiming a shotgun at Martin Kemp as werewolf Mickey”. It looks fun, and it’s certainly more evocative and stylistically interesting than previous posters.
On the casting side of this, I’ve spotted two names that I’m kind of excited about: Robert Englund and Alan Ford (bonus points if you can guess which werewolf movie Ford was in without looking at his IMDB page). Also appearing: Barbara Nedeljakova, Sarah Douglas, Adele Silva, Lucy Pinder, Ali Bastian, Steven Berkoff, Nick Nevern, Danica Thrall, Simon Phillips, Billy Murray and Joe Egan.
And what’s the film about, other than the obvious?
When werewolf chief Mickey is accidentally killed in a strip club the girls who work there have until the next full moon before his bloodthirsty wolfpack seek murderous retribution…
Okay, yeah, I’d watch that. Would you?
Yes you would.
Werewolf News lurched its way onto the web in 2008, and it’s had the same design the whole time – a design I sketched out on a DoubleTree notepad while stuck on a flight from Colorado. After three years and over 500 posts I thought it might be time for a redesign, so here it is! I’ve centered the layout, reduced the clutter, improved the typography (no more white text on black), moved the commenting system to the Disqus platform (don’t worry, all your old comments are still here) and generally tidied things up. There will be a few more tweaks and improvements over the weeks to come, so if you find anything that looks particularly broken, please comment on this post and I’ll have a look. Thanks, and I hope you like it!
Okay, now that I’ve caught your attention with a sensational headline that appeals to your baser instincts, here’s a chance to redeem yourself by exercising your philanthropy and love of werewolves at the same time (philycanthropy?). Anathema is a horror comic project by writer Rachel Deering, artist Alan Quah Chris Mooneyham and colourist Jorge Maese.
The story focuses on a huntress named Mercy Barlowe, who falls in love with the daughter of a local reverend. When the romantic nature of their relationship is discovered, the reverend cries heresy and vows to see both women tried as witches. Mercy escapes, but the reverend’s daughter is sentenced to burn. The agony and torment of the burning lures wicked creatures from the darkness, who attack the village and steal the souls of the dying women. Mercy vows to track the evil beings to the ends of the earth and vanquish them to reclaim her lover’s soul, even if it means taking on dark powers of her own.
What sort of dark powers might Mercy take on, do you think? Hmmmmmmm. What web site are you on right now?
They are looking to raise $6,000 through Kickstarter by Friday September 2nd, which will pay for the first issue’s art and printing costs. That sounds pretty reasonable to me! As with all Kickstarter projects, the more you contribute the more sweet stuff you get in return. You were pretty quick to follow the link here, so you must be totally jazzed to help out, right?
Werewolf News reader Komodo recently brought this delightful project to my attention, saying it was interesting but maybe not worth its own post. I think it has just the right amount of esoteric 80’s monster movie kitsch for a Monday morning. I’ve added a few links to Komodo’s text to help those who are, like me, unfamiliar with the world of the daikaijū.
In the mid eighties, when Toho was gearing up to release its first Godzilla film after a decades-long hiatus, the Godzilla fandom received a massive boost in activity. Part of this was the release of fan films, most of which are sadly forgotten and unavailable. One of these films was a little movie called Legend of the Superbeasts: The Wolfman Versus Godzilla.
Considering this was a fan film made in the eighties, the suits are very high quality in my honest opinion. The Godzilla suit was based on the 1962 Kingugoji, infamous as being the version of Godzilla who fought King Kong. The werewolf suit is a bit cheaper looking but I can easily imagine it being something that Eiji Tsuburaya would create were he asked to create a werewolf suit.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to locate anything more about the film and it remains lost to history. It’s pretty old news among the Godzilla fandom, but I think it’s rather unknown among werewolf fans.
It’s not even 9:00 yet and my day is complete. Thank you, Komodo! If anyone out there has anything more on Legend of the Superbeasts: The Wolfman Versus Godzilla, do the right thing: share it with us!
Images from Toho Kingdom Forums.
Just a heads-up: the site will be getting a visual and functional overhaul over the week, and things might look a little weird in the meantime. For instance, I upgraded the commenting system over the weekend, but it’ll look a little weird until I can theme it properly. Don’t be frightened.
Nothing too earth-shattering here, just some sweet art to check out on a lazy Friday when you should be working. Yes, you. No, Google Reader doesn’t count as work. Anyway. Dread Central has a sneak peak at the cover of Bela Lugosi’s Tales from the Grave issue #3, which comes out this October. To quote Kris Straub (who wasn’t talking about this, but I love how he says this line in TMH so whatever): you’re gonna like it.
Did you like it? I liked it. Billy, you’re fucked. I’m looking forward to reading this. Check out Monsterverse for more details on the “Tales from the Grave” series – their site is still showing issue #2, but hopefully they’ll update it soon.
If you’re curious, David Hartman is responsible for this deliciously malevolent cover, and I recommend you check out his site for even more excellent horror art (hint: frequent werewolves).
via Dread Central
