I’d be lying if I said I understood what’s happening in this music video for “Werewolves of Christmas” by mysterious band The WOX. Werewolves? Christmas? Pool? Ludicrous dancing? Point Break references? And all this madness is for the benefit of The Prince’s Trust, a UK charity that helps “13 to 30 years old who are unemployed and those struggling at school and at risk of exclusion”. (more…)
Category: Film, Television & Music
Believe it or not, there are werewolf movies other than “An American Werewolf in London”.
Full Moon Features: Monster Dog
Thirty years ago this month (the IMDb isn’t any more specific than that), the utterly inept werewolf film Monster Dog had its Italian premiere, so it’s only right that it should be this month’s Full Moon Feature. (more…)
Watch werewolf short “Having a Drink” & pick up a DVD or Blu-ray
In November 2011 I shared details about a crowdfunding campaign for Having a Drink, a 15-minute werewolf film by Randy Smith. Now I’m happy to share with you the finished film, which you can watch in its entirety on Youtube. It’s also available for purchase on DVD and Blu-ray for the insanely low price of $3 and $5 CDN, respectively – perfect as a stocking stuffer for any werewolf fans you might be shopping for this Christmas. Here’s the trailer:
Here’s what the “Late Phases” werewolf looks like
Bloody Disgusting has some new exclusive photos from Adrian Garcia Bogliano’s werewolf movie Late Phases, including a direct look at the beast itself. (more…)
A close look at the werewolf makeup of “Wolves”
Today, Make-Up Artist magazine showcases Dave Elsey’s werewolf makeup for Wolves, the just-released werewolf film by David Hayter. Despite Wolves‘s “relatively modest budget”, Elsey and his team put a lot of time and effort into the design and execution of their werewolf makeups, and the article takes a close look at each wolfed-out character.
French survival-horror film “Cold Ground”
With the capering skeleton of Halloween locked away for another 11 months and the silhouette of Santa pawing at your frosty windows, you may be wondering the same thing I am: how can I get some werewolf horror up in this wintery weather? French director Fabien Delage and production companies Fright House Pictures and Redwood Creek Films have your answer: survival-horror film Cold Ground, which is the subject of an Indiegogo campaign to raise $12,000 USD to cover production costs.
The campaign describes the film as “Blair Witch meets the Descent in the snow” with “a distinctive 70s flair reminiscent of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. It will “deal with cattle mutilations, extreme environment survival as well as cryptozoology and the deadliest secrets of Nature”. Conspicuously absent from their marketing materials is any mention of “loup-garou” or “werewolf”, but one look at the poster or the footage from the campaign and it’s pretty clear what’s going on.
Cold Ground is scheduled for a January 2015 shoot in the French Alps, with creature design and gore effects by American company Dapper Cadaver and French makeup artist David Scherer. The campaign and its supporting materials have the look of an outfit that knows what it’s doing – the cast is solid, the budget is modest but sensible, and director Delage already has award-winning short film The Wild Diaries and ongoing TV series Dead Crossroads to his credit.
I’m not a big fan of found footage films, but this one seems like it’s got a solid foundation, some wicked-looking (probable) werewolves and a ton of snow. Have a look at the backer rewards (there’s some neat stuff in there) and contribute if you can!
No Worgen in “World of Warcraft” movie
It has long been a source of anguish for me that the film adaptation of World of Warcraft is being shot in my town, and even has a production codename based on the neighbourhood where I work. It makes me writhe with anxiety to think that literally minutes away from where I sit for 40 hours a week, there might be a warehouse or a closed set in which someone is doing insanely cool shit while wearing a practical Worgen suit. The fact that these things are purposely executed in a way that keeps nitwits like me (and our cameras) off the set seems like a poor excuse, especially for someone running a web site called “Werewolf News”. The Underworld films were shot here too, and yet I’ve never seen a Lycan suit in person. If I was a cop I’d have to turn in my damn badge.
This is why I’m less bothered than you might think by the news out of BlizzCon that the World of Warcraft film will be based on the original 1994 game, which contains zero (0) Worgen. There will be orcs, of course. Probably trolls and goblins as well, and I believe some of the heavier Horde units rode around on giant wolves, but as long been established on this web site, giant wolves are 1) not very interesting and 2) definitely not werewolves.
That doesn’t mean we’ll never see tailless bipedal werewolf people in a Warcraft film. If this first film succeeds at the 2016 box office (and how could it not? Films based on video game franchises always do well), it’s likely that they’ll expand the scope of any sequels to include plots and characters from more recent entries in the game’s universe. The introduction of the Worgen race was a major point of the Cataclysm expansion, so it’s not unreasonable to think they’ll have a presence in a future Warcraft film. For now, however, the big screen will remain Worgen-less, which is disappointing, but which also means I can stop hyperventilating whenever I see a film crew setting up on the edge of a wooded area.
Full Moon Features: Wer
Game of Werewolves aside, this decade has been disappointingly short on good werewolf movies, so I’m pleased to report that 2013’s Wer fills that void quite admirably. (more…)
“Wheelchair Werewolf”: 80’s VHS horror homage from Joe Avella
If you thought the departure of Halloween meant an end to trashy horror movies, think again. (more…)
New “Late Phases” trailer isn’t shy about its premise or its werewolf
Happy Halloween! You might remember Adrián García Bogliano’s werewolf film Late Phases from earlier this year, when it premiered at SXSW to pretty good reviews. You might also remember the irritation you felt (as I did) at not being in Austin, TX in March to actually attend SXSW and see the film. (more…)