Six years before she was viciously mauled to death by lycanthropic serial killer Eddie Quist in The Howling, Belinda Balaski nearly met a similar fate at the paws of The Werewolf of Woodstock. (more…)
Category: Film, Television & Music
Believe it or not, there are werewolf movies other than “An American Werewolf in London”.
Animated short “CARN” shows savagery’s bloody consequences
This prize-winning animated short film by Jeff Le Bars – submitted as his final project at Ecole d’art Emile Cohl – is a perfectly-executed morality tale, gorgeous to look at and exquisite in its brutality. I can’t really discuss it without spoiling the story, so please watch it and then let’s talk about it in the comments. Suffice it to say every frame is beautifully designed, the sound and music (by Sylvain Livenais) are perfect, and there are two smash cuts in it that are so fucking harrowing I’ve watched it a half-dozen times and still get goosebumps.
You can see more of Le Bars’ work on his web site. I’m cold, so cold.
Bigfoot Vs. Werewolves comic “Savage” coming to theatres
Did you know that in 2009, Shadowline / Image Comics published a comic miniseries that pitted against each other a pack of werewolves, Bigfoot, a psychotic monster hunter and a shoe salesman? I sure didn’t, which just goes to show how much potentially excellent werewolf content is out there, waiting to be discovered by people with short attention spans (that’s me, I’m talking about me). Savage was written by Jeff Frank & Steve Niles and drawn by Mike Mayhew. It ran for four issues in 2009, and it was good enough that even two years after it came out, folks were speculating that it would make a great film.
Now it seems that those folks are probably going to get their wish. As originally reported by TheWrap, the film rights to Savage have been acquired (excited face!) by the guys responsible for Agent Cody Banks and the Twilight films (concerned face).
Pathbender’s E. Thompson (“Hansel and Gretel Get Baked”) and John Adams will produce the movie, while Outlier’s Mark Morgan (“The Twilight Saga”) will executive produce.
I want to say something snarky about the involvement of these guys, but I was recently a total asshole about something that’s not even out, and I don’t have it in me to take digs at two guys who actually seem super good at their jobs (making movies that make a lot of money). The fact is, there might be another werewolf movie, and even if it’s about werewolves who shed their human skin and hassle cows, that’s a good thing.
For more info on Savage, I recommend reading these two great pieces on Comic Book Resources:
“Bitten” looks like it sucks worse than a bad joke about vampires
I tried reading Bitten back when there were rumours that it was going to be adapted into a feature film starring Angelina Jolie. I stopped after the first dozen pages or so. I don’t remember why, although I think I remember being irritated by something happening in an orchard or forest. My point is, I don’t know enough about Kelley Armstrong‘s writing to have a defensible opinion about Bitten the book, or the other 12 books in the series. My point is that Syfy’s upcoming TV series based on Bitten looks bad.
It looks really, really bad. Execrable.
This is terrible on two levels. First, as a fan of werewolves and horror, I don’t care about the following werewolf tropes, which are present in abundance:
- Werewolves that are just big wolves
- People transforming for the first time in a cage while an aloof mastermind watches and narrates
- Quick close-ups of CG wolves cut to pitch-dropped audio of a lion snarling
- Supernatural predjuice against humans manifesting as catty scorn
- Low phlegmy breathing presented as animalistic and primal
- Wolf pack dynamics forced onto a group of humans who are clearly all selfish assholes (bonus garbage-points for making “Pack” a proper noun)
- Male werewolves in human form asserting their alpha dominance
Secondly, as an alive person who watches TV, I absolutely don’t give a shit about:
- Plots wherein two secret underground societies wage a secret war against each other while keeping their secrets safe from the world at large, a world that could never understand their secrets
- Plots wherein the second act ends with someone saying the words “we need to strike back”
- Dramatic exposition dumps between two stone-faced characters wearing coats while standing in a cemetery or park
- Sex scenes on a rug in front of a fire
- Female actors making sexy-sex faces (but not TOO sexy) for the sake of audience titillation
- Male actors removing their too-tight shirts for the sake of audience titillation
- Paper-thin portrayals of female empowerment
- Any show where the line “someone is turning psychotic murders into werewolves” is delivered with all the seriousness of a guest star detective on an episode of Law & Order: SVU
I try to stay positive on Werewolf News, but this trailer (and its poster, below) have made it clear that Bitten is going to be a terrible show on all levels, and everyone involved with it should feel ashamed of what they’ve done. It’s possible to make a fun, scary, loveably cheeseball TV series about supernatural topics – Syfy’s even done it – but I have no expectations that Bitten will be any of those things. It has all the markings of a bad TV series that celebrates boring werewolf mythos, and I don’t know which offence bums me out more.
The show airs on Syfy and Space sometime next year. If you still want to watch it after reading this, go ahead and Google for more details, because I can’t help you.
“WolfCop” star Leo Fafard discusses his transformation into Lou Garou
The Moose Jaw Times Herald has a nice little chat with Leo Fafard, the Saskatchewan actor playing the eponymous werewolf lawman in WolfCop. Most of the press about the film so far has been about its victory in the CineCoup competition, but now that filming’s actually underway, we get to hear about the rigours of shooting (zero sleep and sub-zero temperatures) and Fafard’s approach to playing Lou Garou.
He said Lou Garou and the post-transformation WolfCop are completely separate from each other, even though they inhabit the same body.
“One’s way more animalistic, not only in his movements but in his attitude,” Fafard said. “The other one’s, I mean, he’s got complexities of his own. He’s a drunk but he’s a cop … he’s a bit of a lost soul.”
Read the rest of the interview here, or for more updates on WolfCop’s progress, check out @WOLFCOPTheMovie on Twitter or the production blog on Tumblr. Stay warm, WolfCop crew!
Four werewolf projects fight for your crowdsourced dollars
I was away, and now that I’m back I’m finding all these Kickstarter and Indiegogo projects in my inbox, some of which were sent to me weeks ago! In the interest of getting these in front of you as soon as possible, I’m going to forego the in-depth analysis and gang them up here. I think all four of these are great, and they deserve your consideration! Click on a project’s title to visit its page.
End Of The Road
“The 28 Days Later of werewolf movies”. I like where these guys are coming from, and I certainly agree with their premise: werewolf movies traditionally suck. If this pitch video doesn’t win you over, the credits at the end will.
Fright Fight: Online Multiplayer Fighting for Mobile
“…a ‘Smash Bros’ style online multiplayer brawler featuring horror, steampunk, RPG elements… and zombies!” Play as one of four brawlin’ monsters, including a werewolf. I’m not normally down with the iPad controls, but I’d play the heck out of this.
Freeborn: Guts full of awesomeness
“Having a pilot is great, but we want to sell this to cable as a true series. To do that, we need flash in our sales package. Having the makeup and effects in a werewolf show is essential, but it also costs. A lot!” Help them cover their costs and get exclusive access to footage of a full-on werewolf transformation. These folks have been working on Freeborn for a long time and every time I check in, it looks better than ever.
Little Red
“…a comic book series about a werewolf fighting other legendary phenomenon monsters…” I like a mean Red Riding Hood, especially when she’s an unstoppable killing machine.
Best of luck to everyone involved!
Music Video: “Hide On The Moon” by For Those Who Still Exist
Music and video by Kevin Kopacka. The music and lyrics are dreamy/heartbreaking, and I like how well Kevin’s original footage cuts together with clips from other werewolf films to create something that’s simultaneously nostalgic and menacing. Bonus points for nail polish.
Full Moon Features: The Werewolf of Washington Wants You!
Over the past few weeks, as partisan politics has resulted in a partial government shutdown and petty bickering over the budget and raising the debt limit, it has pleased me to consider what it would be like if there were a hairy beast prowling the dark alleys of the nation’s capital, culling some of our more contentious congressmen. (more…)
Trailer & poster for straightforward werewolf thriller “Wer”
Wer is an upcoming horror film by William Brent Bell and Matthew Peterman. Bell and Peterman previously collaborated on The Devil Inside, which is maybe not the best portfolio showcase, but from what I’ve heard, Devil was pretty gimmicky, and Wer seems very straightforward. You’ve got a grisly double murder, a maybe-not-so-gentle giant of a suspect, a lot of people in suits earnestly seeking justice, and a SWAT team that’s totally not going to survive the climax. Those aren’t complicated ingredients, but if used in the right proportions, I think they can make a satisfying meal. And despite all the blather about porphyria at the trailer’s beginning, it’s clear that this is a werewolf movie – there’s transformation footage, some very lupine jaws, and someone comes right out and authoritatively says “werewolf” by the end.
It stars A.J. Cook (who’s tied with Matthew Grey Gubler for second place on my list of favourite Criminal Minds actors, right after my one and only celebrity crush Kirsten Vangsness) and Sebastian Roché, who’s no stranger to acting with monsters on Grimm, Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries. There’s no release date, but if they’ve got a trailer and a poster, it’s a safe bet it’ll be early 2014.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Following the brutal slaying of an American family vacationing in rural France, a peculiar man living near the crime scene is blindly charged with their murders. Believing her client is innocent, expatriate American defense attorney Kate Moore [Cook] and her team decide to take a scientific approach in order to prove his physical incapability to local authorities. As she delves into his enigmatic family history, she uncovers evidence that suggests the rebirth of an unexpected legend. When a bloodbath ensues, Kate must do whatever she can to survive the surrounding terror and prevent the chaos from spreading.
And below is the poster. What do you think – is this gonna be a straightforward action/horror werewolf film, or will it turn out that Cook’s “suspect” was actually a bear all along, and she was the only person who saw him as a man because of a repressed childhood trauma involving a tragic incident at the zoo?
Full Moon Features: Battledogs and the end of the Summer of Syfy
Ever since I first saw how the scenario played out in 1995’s Project: Metalbeast, I’ve never understood why anybody would think turning soldiers into werewolves (or vice versa) is a good idea. I mean, I get that werewolves are unstoppable killing machines, but they’re also uncontrollable killing machines — and giving one a metal exoskeleton is just plain begging for trouble. Even if the feral creatures in Syfy’s Battledogs aren’t metal-plated, they’re still highly unsuitable for military use, but you just try telling that to lieutenant general Dennis Haysbert, who’s willing to put the entire island of Manhattan at risk if that’s what it takes for him to get hairy super-soldiers.
The directorial debut of Alexander Yellen, cinematographer of such Asylum classics as Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus and Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus, and boasting a teleplay by Shane Van Dyke of Titanic II and Transmorphers: Fall of Man fame, Battledogs opens with an outbreak of lycanthropy at JFK International when an airline passenger, wildlife photographer Ariana Richards (the little girl from Jurassic Park, all grown up), spontaneously turns into a ravenous, four-legged (and unfortunately entirely CGI) beast and starts attacking her fellow travelers. Some of them die, but many more don’t, and the survivors are quick to change themselves, which is how the situation quickly snowballs. Much to the relief of president Bill Duke, the military is on the scene in a jiffy and gets things under control and the infected quarantined, which is when by-the-books Army medical researcher Craig Sheffer and CDC official Kate Vernon get involved, much to the annoyance of Haysbert and, by extension, his right-hand man, Wes Studi.
The only other actor of any note is Ernie Hudson, who plays JFK’s director of security and is keen to show off their state-of-the-art hologram surveillance system when Sheffer comes by in search of any clues that will lead them to the identity of the Lupine Virus’s Patient Zero. When Haysbert seizes the opportunity to test one of his unwilling recruits in the wild, Sheffer reveals himself to be the Werewolf Whisperer — a gift that comes in handy on more than one occasion — but he doesn’t really get a clue until all the major players (with the exception of Duke, who’s off doing something presidential) are gathered together in a cramped operating room and Haysbert lays his cards on the table. Eventually we reach the point where Sheffer and Haysbert have both been infected and start whaling on each other, but the film takes its sweet time getting there. In the meantime, we get to watch the spectacle of a bunch of computer-generated werewolves get mowed down on the streets of Manhattan. That’s nothing, though, compared to the spectacle of a fleet of CGI jets blowing up all of the bridges leading out of the city. Now I can’t wait for Battledogs 2: Escape from New York to be announced.
Next Up: We check in with a werewolf based out of our nation’s capital.