I saw this German Burger King ad on The Red Project and loved it. Great character design, especially on the Wolf.
Hey, it’s Saturday morning.
Category: Film, Television & Music
Believe it or not, there are werewolf movies other than “An American Werewolf in London”.
Arrow In The Head gives us a first look at a “Howling Reborn” werewolf
Arrow In The Head is responsible for me fruitlessly using the “Sharpen” filter in Photoshop a whole lot this afternoon. They’ve got an exclusive first look at one of the werewolf designs being used in “The Howling Reborn” via a blurry photo from the set. I’m not sure who sent them the photo, but it came with this description:
The werewolf you see below is one of the henchmen werewolves. Flat snout. The head werewolves have the classic HOWLING sticking out snouts. I know you’re all better people for knowing this.
Conspicuously missing from that description is an explanation of the giant ears, the smaller-than-a-human’s nose and the Henry Rollins neck. Partial credit for originality and using practical effects instead of CG, but c’mon. Whoever approved the maquette for this design obviously look at it from the side.
Update: okay, it’s not as bad as that. I got carried away. There are definitely things I’d change about the design, but overall it’s pretty cool.
Hat-tip: @Karwood_Pub via @_Mjollnir_
“Dances With Werewolves” – an unfortunate title for a great-sounding film
Director Chad Ferrin recently told Fangoria that he wants to make an old-school werewolf movie that’s like “Sam Peckinpah doing THE THING with a dash of Sergio Corbucci”. That sounds fine to me. But Chad, what sort of a ride will it be? “It will be a bloody, violent, horrific ride through the Old West,” Chad says, “and I will pour my soul into every frame to ensure that it stands proudly amongst my two favorite genres.” Well, great! You sound really excited about this. Can you tell me more about the story? Oh, look, here’s the summary of David Chirchirillo’s script:
“Winter, 1864. William Singer and his young brother Henry, along with four other Confederate POWs, escape from a Union prison camp just outside of Chicago. The ragged band soon find refuge aboard a moving locomotive, only to wake the next morning, the train stopped and the passengers brutally butchered by what appears to have been a wild animal. Trekking through the frozen wasteland, the rebels discover that ‘wild animal’ is no animal at all, but a pack of Native American shapeshifting werewolves with an insatiable hunger for human flesh. Relentlessly tracked by the Union Army, hunted by werewolves, trapped within the bitter cold with no food, no water and nowhere to go, they soon discover the hell they left is nothing compared to the horrors all around them.”
Chad, David, you’ve sold me. I want to see this movie. I will see this movie. What, pray tell, are you calling it?
“Dances With Werewolves”?
Oh.
Okay, well, I’m still excited, but I’m not going to lie: that is a terrible title, and I really hope you plan to change it. Surely you’ve got backers, executive producers and the like, who really believe in the integrity of your vision. They’ve got to be just as emotionally invested in the project as you are, and they’d want you to choose a title that’s as bad-ass as the premise, right? They care about the art of it. Say, here’s executive producer and Hannover House CEO Eric Parkinson, talking with Bloody-Disgusting. Let’s see what he has to say– I’m sure it’ll be inspirational.
“The legend of Native American warriors transforming themselves into enormously powerful wolves is centuries old, but it’s a concept that for many audiences was only recently re-introduced through the successful ‘Twilight’ series of books and films. We think that screenwriter David Chirchirillo has skillfully crafted a commercial thriller around this legend, and that Rohan, Chad and the entire production team will make a terrific movie from this property.”
Oh.
In all seriousness, this movie sounds really good, but I hope that 1) they change the title to something that doesn’t evoke images of Kevin Costner in a wolf mascot costume, and 2) people who use terms like “commercial”, “property” and “the successful ‘Twilight’ series” stick to signing cheques and stay the hell away from the creative process.
Hey UK werewolf people, you have a week to register for the “She-Wolf” conference
I mentioned it in June and I’m reminding you again, so that perhaps some of you will register, and go, and tell me all about it. If you need a reminder about what the conference is, here is that reminder:
The conference is entitled She-Wolf: Female Werewolves, Shapeshifters and Other Horrors in Art, Literature and Culture (but She-Wolf for short). It’s on Thursday 9th – Friday 10th September 2010, at the University of Manchester, UK.
This is a smart conference put on by smart people who want to talk about werewolves, women, and werewolf women. They’ve got 40-ish spots left, so if you’re in the area, I encourage you to go. Check out the conference site or the official blog for more info.
Underworld 4: has Kate Beckinsale, in 3D, out January 2012
Those are the facts, folks, as reported by Bloody Disgusting (and repeated by others): Sony Screen Gems has green-lit a fourth Underworld film, to be released January 20th, 2012. Word is that it will be shot in 3D, with Len Wiseman directing a script written by John Hlavin. And yes, fanboy-favourite Kate Beckinsale will be back as Selene, although it’s a “smaller role” in which she passes to one of her two(!) daughters the responsibility of wearing a lot of black latex and shooting werewolves. Hey, as long as we get to see more werewolves like this, bring it on!
First Trailer for Dylan Dog: Dead of Night
Edit: Apparently this trailer wasn’t supposed to get out. It’s been set to “private” by the YouTube user who posted it, the official-looking DylanDogFilms. There were a few other copies re-uploaded, but they’ve been removed via copyright claims. Hey DylanDogFilms, what the hell? I’m leaving this embedded video here just in case it ever becomes public again.
Fans of the original Italian comic book might have mixed feelings about some of the liberties taken with the characters and story, but I thoroughly enjoyed this trailer for the film adaptation of Dylan Dog. The first scene depicts a werewolf getting punched out with a silver knuckle-duster, and I’m okay with this, because the movie looks like a lot of goofy 80’s style monster fun (despite the tiresome “vampires taking over the world” trope). Also influencing me is the fact that Dylan is played by Brandon Routh, who I am currently unable to see as anyone other than Todd Ingram.
Yes, there’s a werewolf in “13 Hrs”, and here it is!
Fresh from Shock Till You Drop, here’s a first look at the werewolf from the upcoming horror movie “13 Hrs”. Yikes!
There are two more, both showing some of the body, so go check them out if you’re curious.
13 Hrs premieres Saturday, August 28th at the London FrightFest in Leicester Square, London. I can’t go, being on a totally different continent, but if you’re lucky enough to see it… I hate you. Tell me what it was like.
CS-UGH (in which I get cranky about werewolves on TV)
Oh good, CSI creator/writer Anthony Zuiker just told Deadline that they’re planning an episode for the original, Vegas-based show “about a vampire and werewolf convention”. You can tell he’s on a real creative roll because in the same paragraph he mentions Justin Bieber and a shark in a swimming pool. This is going to be fucking great. I’ll have to make room for that on my DVR, along with all those episodes of “The Gates” and “Vampire Diaries” I’m watching while I BeDazzle another “Team Jacob” t-shirt to sell on Etsy. Seriously, get Rob Zombie to direct that CSI episode or don’t even bother squeezing Laurence into that suit.
Won’t someone please bring werewolves to North American prime time TV in a way that celebrates and enjoys the horror roots of the monster? The closest thing to a horror werewolf we’ve got on TV right now is a show about a serial killer / lab geek in the Miami Metro Police Department. I love you, Dex, but I’d love you even more if you were all about fur and claws instead of rubber aprons and bone saws.
I’m cranky. I’m going to have some tea and listen to some old Mighty Boosh radio shows.
“An American Werewolf in London” remake official; script by “The Number 23” writer
As reported first in the LA Times (and then quickly picked up by a dozen other movie news sites), the Weinstein Co. division of Dimension Films is moving ahead with a remake of “An American Werewolf in London”. The script will be written by Fernley Phillips, whose only other writing credit seems to be “The Number 23” (yes, the movie where a “dark” Jim Carrey plays a saxophone). When AWIL’s original writer and director John Landis sold the rights to the remake last year, I was cautiously neutral. 13 months can change a lot in a man, and my current feelings on the matter are much more focused:
Dimension? Fernley Phillips? Do not fuck this up. Give Rick Baker a blank cheque and convince Edgar Wright to direct and you might have a shot. Otherwise, put the whole thing back on the shelf and back away slowly.
Image credit: Alex Proimos
Trailer for “Vampires Suck”: I will see this movie on general principles
It’s basically a “Twilight” spoof by the same people who did “Scary Movie” and its sequels, “Disaster Movie”, “Date Movie”, “Meet the Spartans”, etc. I will still be seeing it because I identify strongly with its message.
Hat tip: Graham T