Okay, now I’m concerned. According to numerous sources, including the official web site, Universal has bumped the release date of The Wolfman again, this time pushing it all the way back to February 12, 2010. That’s a three month move from its previous release date of November 6 2009, and nearly 10 months off its original release date of April 9, 2009. Producer Scott Stuber says it’s strictly a marketing decision, but couple these delays with the hints of a werewolf re-design and the film’s conspicuous absense from the San Diego Comic Con and you’ve got signs of a troubled production. Not all of the new is bad, though. Word is that the first official trailer for The Wolfman will debut August 21st, with the release of Quentin Tarintino’s Inglourious Basterds.
SDCC Photos of Mazco “Wolfman” Figures
ArcLight wrote in to let me (and all of you) know that Bloody Disgusting posted some close-up photos of Mazco’s official Wolfman figures. Three versions of a wolfed-out Lawrence Talbot were shown at the San Diego Comic Con, including an awesome “bloody” version. They say that you need to visualize the future you want, in order to achieve it, so let me say this again: I will have these. Click through to Bloody Disgusting to see more photos!
Tim Burton Confirms Next Project: “Dark Shadows”
Last week at the San Diego Comic Con, Tim Burton confirmed that once he’s finished with his Alice in Wonderland remake, his next project will be an adaptation of the gothic TV series Dark Shadows, featuring werewolves, vampires and zobmies. This is a nice follow-up to last year’s quasi-rumour on the subject. Bring on the new Quentin Collins!
Nick Dudman Talks About Harry Potter Werewolf Makeup
Make-Up Artist Magazine and the Los Angeles Times have both posted short interviews with Nick Dudman, the head makeup effects designer for the Harry Potter films. In each interview, Dudman talks about the efforts behind developing and applying the prosthetics for werewolf character Fenrir Greyback (played by Dave Legeno). There’s not much in the way of photos, but still worth a read!
House of the Wolf Man
Late last week, Nuke The Fridge got the scoop on Eben McGarr‘s retro-fantastic indie film House of the Wolf Man, starring (among others) Ron Chaney, the grandson of the original Wolf Man, Lon Chaney, Jr.
“Dr. Bela Reinhardt (Chaney) has invited five people to his castle to see which of them will inherit his estate. He has arranged for a competition of sorts, the victor shall be determined through process of… elimination,” McGarr tells Bloody-Disgusting. “The film was shot in black and white, 1:33 aspect ratio and is a good old fashioned monster movie that you could bring your kids to.”
If you missed Chaney and McGarr at the San Diego Comic Con (apparently they were there, but schedule details are sketchy), Bloody-Disgusting has the convention trailer, and you’ll find more amazing (and super-hi-res) photos like the one above here. NukeTheFridge.com also has some great shots of the monsters.
I don’t know about you, but seeing these photos and watching the trailer made me grin ear-to-ear. Thanks to NukeTheFridge.com, ArcLight and Bloody-Disgusting for the info.
Den of Geek: A look back at An American Werewolf in London
The classic werewolf film An American Werewolf in London has been getting a lot of press lately, what with the Blu-ray edition on the way this September, and Dimension Films getting ready to shoot a remake. Today, Den of Geek is taking a look back at AWIL in the form of an article about the film’s groundbreaking status when it was released in the 80’s, and its status today as (some would say) the Holy Grail of werewolf films. Supplemented with some great still-frames and some interesting trivia, it’s well worth a read.
He’s Small, He’s Pink, He’s Groomed, But He’s 100% Wolf
Children’s author Jayne Lyons recently contacted me to tell me about her book, 100% Wolf.
Freddy Lupin is no ordinary boy. He is from a noble family of werewolves. But his first Transwolfation is a disaster when instead of turning into a noble and fearsome wolf, he turns into a totally tiny, utterly ridiculous and perfectly pathetic poodle. Terrifying Uncle Hotspur throws him out of the wolfpack in disgrace. At least he’s met Batty the mongrel, the most faithful friend a poodle could find. And he needs friends, as the evil wolf-hunter Dr. Foxwell Cripp has just shown up in town.
Can Freddy prove that though he’s a pink poodle, he’s still 100% wolf and save the werewolf pack from disaster?
Jayne has made the first chapter available for free as an MP3. I listened and enjoyed myself immensely, both as a fan of werewolves and children’s books (hey, they’re fun). Jayne has also gone to great lengths to provide kid-friendly werewolf information on her site, which is wonderful to see.
100% Wolf comes out in August, and is available for pre-order on Amazon
Harry Palms
ArmchairAccomplice sent me a link to “Harry Palms”, an episode of The Receptionist by Travis Betz. The link was accompanied by a note that read “low tech werewolf musical hits youtube, the less I say the better.” I watched. I bit my fist. I went to Travis’s web site and confirmed my suspicions: Travis Betz is a demented genius. And now, I share the video with you.
Ultra Super Lycanthropic Travesty II: Werewolf Book Covers of Stupid X: The Reckoning
The art of making a good werewolf book cover must be tough shit. For reasons that modern Roukasian science has yet to discover, most monster-fans shun lycanthropes in favor of books featuring thin pale guys who sip blood, sparkle, and languish in a dark existential tardzone. Of course, this may prompt me to smoothly remove my box-frame emo glasses as I lounge in my Panera booth-seat and say something like: “Well then what, dear reader, constitutes a monster to begin with? Perhaps his multifacetedness is all too eager to transgress our subjective demarcations of criticism and culture?”
While that’s a legitimate question, fuck it for now. There are tons, tons of werewolf book covers out there that suck royal truckloads of ass, and I have some ideas why. Perhaps it’s because the awesomeness of snarly animal-humans is just too hard for people to capture. Perhaps it’s because the human mind, when it gets its hands on the demonic cauldron of Photoshop, goes 100% more bat-shit crazy than it already is. Perhaps because, dear reader, a populace that exalts its own divorce from Thoreauvian nature will, by implication, fail to capture the energy of predation, especially if it fails to even remember that the Grande Columbian Dark-Roast Almond Latte always comes with soy, not SKIM milk.
Anyway, here are some more shitty werewolf book covers. A while ago, Werewolf News ran a feature of mine called “The Top Five Worst Werewolf Book Covers Ever,” and now I’m back to do it again.
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French Lycanthropic Hip-Hop
Although I can’t tell exactly what DIALOKOLECTIV is rapping about here, it appears to be something bristly, snarly, lycanthropic and cool. And while that’ll be my Abercrombie & Fitch logic for the day, I promise to make up for it with a new feature / review that I have in the works.