SyFy’s Secret Plan to Make a Good Werewolf Movie: Hire Felicia Day & Give Her a Gun

Do you trust SyFy? I want to trust SyFy but it’s hard, especially after they changed their name from Sci-Fi. Now comes news that Felicia Day will star in a SyFy movie called “Red”, where she’ll play a descendant of Little Red Riding Hood who “brings her fiancé home, where he meets the family and learns about their business — hunting werewolves.” Naturally the fiancé tangles with a werewolf and gets bitten, Red’s family freaks, and wacky hijinks ensue!

Sorry, I guess I’m a little skeptical after SyFy put out “War Wolves” and then announced their plan to Americanize “Being Human”. These recently released stills don’t do much for my confidence either, but then again, Felicia Day. She made the already-awesome “Dr. Horrible” even better, and, well, come on: “The Guild“. “Red” could actually be pretty good, especially if they let Day have her way with the script.

Mar. 25th 2010

“Darkstalkers” by Jacopo Camagni

I always knew there had to be something between these two. Jacopo Camagni‘s illustration of the various tensions between Jon Talbain and B.B Hood was striking enough to include in Udon’s Darkstalkers Tribute book, which I mentioned last year. What impresses me most about this is the balance between Jon’s strength and Hood’s fragility. Jacopo manages to make the oft-overplayed Big Bad Wolf / Little Red dynamic and make it feel sincere.

Mar. 25th 2010

Tim Seeley’s New Comic “Wild Game”, Where Werewolves Eat the Homeless

Bloody Disgusting has got the scoop on “Hack/Slash” creator Tim Seeley’s new comic franchise (and soon to be film), “Wild Game”. Here’s the premise:

In a world where Werewolves were long ago hunted nearly to extinction by humans and thought only to be urban legends, the few remaining packs live among us in secret. But, the beast can’t be caged forever. Once a year: runaways, homeless people, anyone who won’t be missed… are captured and brought to a secluded private destination to be hunted for game by the last living Werewolves on earth.

Visit the Bloody Disgusting article for some exclusive art from the comic. I’m on the fence about Pasquale Qualano‘s artwork (what’s that female werewolf doing next to that tree?) but Bloody Disgusting thinks it’s going to be the next “30 Days of Night” but with werewolves. We’ll see!

Mar. 24th 2010

Tiny “Gladiators V Werewolves” JPEG Gets My Hopes Up

The tiny JPEG to the right is purportedly the first official poster for Gladiators V Werewolves. Sadly, this is the largest version of the image I could find (hat-tip: Quiet Earth). And… that’s it! No one seems to know much about this film. Check out the three previous Werewolf News posts about it and you’re pretty much up-to-date.

Thanks to @SheenFanSite for the heads-up.

Mar. 24th 2010

“Jack and Diane” Back on Track (again) with New Star Juno Temple

According to this Hollywood Reporter article, Bradley Rust Gray’s lesbian werewolf romance movie “Jack and Diane” has gained a new lead: “Year One” and “Greenberg” actress Juno Temple. When last we heard about Jack & Diane, the role of Diane was being filled by Alison Pill and the official web site was chock full of backstory and crazy skinned-polar-bear werewolf visuals. Now the backstory content has been replaced by a message that the film is “in production” and there’s no mention of Pill. Hopefully this casting change will be the final twist before the story of Jack and Diane leaves development hell and actually starts shooting.

Posts about this movie always yield interesting Google traffic.

Mar. 23rd 2010

“William” by Mathieu Aerni

Canadian artist Mathieu Aerni is coming at you like a northern bullet with this killer image of William (who you might remember from such films as Underworld: Rise of the Lycans and When Harry Met Sally). Mathieu posted this on his CGPortfolio back in November 2009 and it’s been my desktop background ever since. William was sculpted and textured in ZBrush and given some fur in Photoshop. Check out some more renders on Mathieu’s site, and while you’re at it have a look at some of his other work– chances are good you’ve seen his work in a feature film in the past year.

Mar. 23rd 2010

Jim Bycznski’s Work in Progress: a Life-Sized “Wolfman” Display Figure

In December I got an email and some photos from Jim Bycznski, founder of what might be the coolest program to ever grace the curriculum of a high school. Jim was inspired by the (then) imminent release of The Wolfman and he and his crew began working on a life-sized display figure of the titular beast. This weekend I got a few more photos of their progress– “Legs have been molded and casted, teeth made, and the body will be fabricated soon,” Jim writes. Here are seven shots of the process. Look on this, and wonder why your high school wasn’t this cool.

If I’d had access to a program like this when I was in high school, my career path would have been very different. You can see a gallery of more BHSFX work here– there are some more werewolves, if you look closely! Thanks for sharing, Jim.

Feb. 20th 2010

Be a Royal Army Werewolf in Battlefield Heroes

If WolfTeam‘s too intense for you, you can still get your first person shooter werewolf action in Battlefield Heroes, which has introduced werewolf and vampire sets with which to trick out your heroes. If you want to rock Grim’s Varg werewolf set you’ll need to have a hero in the Royal Army and 1,800 Battlefunds to spare. Your purchase will gain you these fine items, plus a Wold Howl gesture and a Claw Attack:

Feb. 19th 2010

Werewolves and Vampires Duke It Out In New York Magazine – Roukas Dissects the Radness and Ramifications

Werewolf Vs. Vampire by Bryan Baugh.



This month’s New York magazine features a short article on werewolves by Jeff Vandam. While the “article” is only a page long, and while I would sooner expect The New Yorker to run a feature on Rambo, I was nevertheless happy to see some lycanthropic goodness in a mainstream magazine. Unfortunately, the article quickly becomes a classic werewolves vs. vampires retro-drama. Guess what? Count Chocula wins, and Edward Cullen wins the mark of cultural favor over David Naughton’s David Kessler and Jack Nicholson’s Will Randall. And while everyone is allowed to have a personal preference when it comes to monsters, I believe that the hairy-handed gents are made out of culturally richer and more enduring stuff than vampires are.
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Feb. 17th 2010

Two Killer Werewolf Tracks on Rob Zombie’s “Hellbilly Deluxe 2”

Rob Zombie loves two things: monsters and rock. Even if he hadn’t made it perfectly clear with the title, everything about his new album “Hellbilly Deluxe 2” is intended to evoke associations with his monstrous, sexy 1998 solo debut. Although I personally hear a little more of sneer than I’d prefer in his voice, and not enough of the roar he’s employed on previous records, Hellbilly Deluxe 2 is certainly worth a listen if you’re a fan of anything Zombie’s done in the past two decades. This isn’t a music blog, though, and there’s a reason I’m posting about Zombie’s latest here: there are two werewolf-themed songs on the album, and both of them kick ass. John 5′s southern-fried slide guitar on “Werewolf, Baby!” will have you combing your fur into a pompadour before you climb into your ’59 Cadillac Coupe to menace Little Red down at the drive-in. And although Zombie confirmed that his “Werewolf Women of the SS” Grindhouse trailer won’t be expanded into a feature film, he turned the concept into one hell of a jack-booted, crop-wielding song. You can check out both of the songs below. Howl, baby, howl!

Feb. 12th 2010