Category: Film, Television & Music

Believe it or not, there are werewolf movies other than “An American Werewolf in London”.

The Mystery of “The Howling Reborn” and the Boring Plot Synopsis

Buried three pages deep in the Moonstone Entertainment web site is this synopsis of “The Howling Reborn”, the upcoming remake of “The Howling”:

On the eve of his high school graduation, unremarkable Will Kidman finally bonds with the girl he has long yearned for, reclusive Eliana Wynter. But he also discovers a dark secret from his past… that he is about to become a werewolf. Now, in an effort to fight destiny and save their love as well as their lives, they must battle not only Will’s growing blood lust but an army of fearsome beasts bent on killing them… and then, us all.

Is it just me or does this have nothing at all in common with the original film? Is this just an attempt to piggyback a new (and dull-sounding) werewolf movie on the name recognition of the Howling series?

Jul. 21st 2010

“House of the Wolf Man” DVD pre-order on Amazon – old school moves!

Around this time last year, I was telling you about “House of the Wolf Man”, the “good old fashioned monster movie” that was shot in 2009 but purposely looks like it spent the last 65 years sitting in a Universal film vault. It stars Ron Chaney (the grandson of the original Wolf Man, Lon Chaney, Jr) and is an independent effort to complete the Universal horror “House Of” triptych, which officially only covered Frankenstein and Dracula. by Now I’m telling you about it again, because the DVD is available for pre-order on Amazon. It costs $17.99 US and ships September 28, 2010. This is great news for people who didn’t get a chance to see it at SDCC last year. That is to say, people like me.

Jul. 19th 2010

Kylie Minogue is in “Jack and Diane” and the tabloids want you to know she looks scruffy

Judging by the excitement in my inbox this is important enough to mention, although I feel like I’m succumbing to peer pressure. Musician Kylie Minogue has what sounds like a minor role in everybody’s favourite werewolf lesbian romance movie, Jack and Diane. People who care how pop stars look were apparently very upset at her appearance in a series of off-set photos, but then were relieved (and titillated) when it was revealed that she was just “in costume” for her role as a lady who likes other ladies. I was going to include one of those photos with this post, but then I remembered this site isn’t TMZ or Perez Hilton. Wanna know what she looks like? Just do a Google image search for her, then imagine she has some fake tattoos on her arms and hasn’t washed her hair in three days.

Jul. 17th 2010

The Futon Critic’s first look at MTV’s “Teen Wolf” re-imagining

TV review site The Futon Critic has got a very thorough review of the pilot of MTV’s “Teen Wolf” series. It begins with a very polite request not to repost any of the text anywhere, which I would normally be disinclined to honour since this is the Internet, but I’m trying to be better about that, so I recommend you go check it out for yourself. My take on the pilot, based on what I read? I was hopeful until I saw this:

I’m less sold on the show’s (albeit unfinished) special effects, which make its werewolves look like the vampires from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Oops! Guess I fell off that wagon pretty quickly!

Jul. 15th 2010

Sweet “Wolfman” Prosthetic Arms & A Distressed-Looking Animatronic Werewolf

I saw @CreatureCompany mention this on Twitter this morning, and it definitely met my criteria for posting here (I clicked and said “whoah, that’s cool!”, which is all it really takes). Hollywood Movie Costumes and Props is a blog dedicated to exactly what you’d expect. This morning, its proprietor Jason posted a bunch of photos he took at a recent display of “Wolfman” props at Universal Studios Hollywood. If you’re into the movie or creature effects, I suggest you go have a look. Here are two photos I cribbed from Jason’s post:

Jul. 13th 2010

13 Hrs premiere info & new poster, courtesy of DOP Jordan Cushing

Jordan Cushing just emailed me this info, which is info that you should know if you are interested in “13 Hrs“, which is a movie you should care about if you care about werewolves! Jordan says:

The UK distributor High Fliers Films PLC have now made their involvement public. The film will get its premiere as part of the UKs Fright Fest on August 28th in a nice big 1300 seat cinema.  Some of the cast is definitely attending with more yet to confirm. That will be followed by a limited release in UK cinemas in October. A new poster is on display at the Fright Fest site and a version of the same artwork can be seen at the High Fliers site in the scrolling bannerhead.

This is exciting, and it’s yet another thing that makes me wish I lived in the UK. How does Jordan know these things? Well, if you’ll recall, he’s the director of photography for 13 Hrs, which means he knows a lot of things about the movie that you don’t… like who the werewolves are (yes PLURAL, I’m making an educated guess), what they look like, and what beverages actor Tom Felton goes for at the craft services table (I’ll bet he’s an orange juice man). Thanks for the info, Jordan!

Jul. 12th 2010

Rick Baker, you’re all right! More from him about “The Wolfman” special effects

Are you tired of hearing about The Wolfman yet? I’m not! Here’s a recent Hero Complex column from the Los Angeles Times somewhat dramatically entitled “Rick Baker’s ‘Wolfman’ regrets: ‘I hoped it would bring back monster movies’“. Geoff Boucher asks Rick Baker five (actually rather interesting) questions about his work on The Wolfman, and Rick brings the answers in his usual candid way.

I don’t read his tone as regret, though… it’s more of a palms-up shrug, like “well, what can you do?” I think he got screwed over by bad management and a directionless production team, and I commend him for being so relaxed about it. Read the interview and tell me if I’m crazy.

Bonus: here’s a short featurette starring Rick. When it’s not busy looking like a trailer there are some neat shots of Rick applying and touching-up his werewolf work. The spritz bottle shot makes me laugh every time.

Hat-tip: ArcLight

Jun. 30th 2010

“Growl”: Fight Club with werewolves?

ShockTillYouDrop.com has got an exclusive first look at “Growl”, a movie about brawlin’ werewolves that’s due out next year. “It’s Fight Club versus werewolves,” says director Sxv’Leithan Essex. “Two of my favorite things thrown in the ring to see what will come out alive.”

Here’s the premise:

A traveling underground fight club called ‘The Brawlers’ arrive at a derelict ghost town tucked away in the Colorado Rockies. They meet the town’s only residents, the Maxilla family who want to buy on to the fight card. But the Maxilla family’s true intentions for the Brawler crew is soon revealed in teeth and claws. Some will be hunted, some will be feed, and some will become part of the family…whether they like it or not.

The confirmed cast includes Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica), Josh Kelly (Circle of Eight), Paul Bean and Jennifer Lee Wiggins (Bled). Apparently Kiefer Sutherland might be on board, too, which would add a whole new dimension of awesome. Sxv’Leithan (pronounced “skuh-lee-than”) has plans to turn this concept into a franchise, with two more films to follow after the first, a prequel graphic novel and a video game that sets up the second film. No details yet on any of these extras, though.

Hit the STYD article for more, including a photo gallery (no werewolves yet) and a poster. Hey, I know where that photo came from because I’m a huge nerd! Hat tips to Viergacht and @MadNad for bringing Growl to my attention.

Jun. 9th 2010

“It’s in the room!” A new trailer for 13HRS

“13HRS” cinematographer Jordan Cushing emailed me yesterday with news that a new trailer for the film is available on Facebook. You’ll have to log in to see it, but if you want to see a quick glimpse of a transformation scene and a split-second shot of the werewolf (or is it one of several werewolves?), it’s a small hoop to jump through.

My favourite part? One of the handsome male leads saying “Look, we’re going to stay here and wait for help,” and in the next scene another character is searching the house, by himself, using only a lighter for illumination. Classic. This movie looks like a lot of fun.

Jun. 1st 2010

Lou Romano’s “Monster Squad” Remake, in Art Format

Lou Romano is a guy whose creativity you can trust. The Incredibles? The Iron Giant? Monsters, Inc.? Yeah, he was production designer for those. He’s had his art in New York’s Museum of Modern Art and on the cover of The New Yorker, and he’s done voice acting in a number of Pixar films. He can also fly, and has a car that shoots lasers from its headlights [citation needed].

Lou’s work is presently part of the Cuter Than Stranger exhibit at Gallery 1988 in San Francisco. The reason you should know about this is the five 6″ x 6″ acrylic paintings he did of the monsters from The Monster Squad. These paintings are terrific, and they are for sale. Yes, even The Wolfman.

May. 28th 2010