Werewolf links, news, and reviews
Quoting from Draw A Werewolf on Tumblr:
Tonight’s super ultra blood moon mega eclipse means you HAVE to draw a werewolf and tag it with #DrawAWerewolfDay or the moon will get really close to your house and crush it. Neil deGrasse Tyson confirmed it just now on a phone call that I did not record and will not share with you.
More info on DaWD here. Get drawing (regardless of how talented you think you are [or are not]) or that moon’ll smush you.
I recently received some very polite emails from whoever’s in charge of Dark Libra Films, asking if I would like to review their short film Angelic Wolves, available now to rent or purchase on Amazon. My unofficial policy for the past few years is that only Craig gets to review films on Werewolf News because he’s better at it than I in every way, but I wanted to field this one because I want to combine my “review” with some meta-commentary.
In their email to me, Dark Libra wrote:
The film only runs 25 minutes and is supposed to be a reminder of what horror films were once like with classics such as “Nosferatu”, “Werewolf in London”, etc. We intended for the film to look as though it was shot with some scrappy old film camera, while editing in some more modern sounds.
Judged by the criteria its makers set out for it here, Angelic Wolves is not good. It’s a weird, over-long student film with bad dialogue and a narrative arc that never lands. The premise from which the title is derived takes too long to establish – not because it’s complicated, but because the thin setup takes forever – and then the concept goes nowhere. It doesn’t succeed as a campy or sincere throwback to the “classics” because its only nod to proto horror films is a distressed sepia tone filter that blows out all the highlights.
If I’d never heard of Angelic Wolves before September, I’d leave it at that, or perhaps I wouldn’t have posted about it at all. But I have more to say, because I did hear about it before September, and I know that the in the email quoted above, the filmmaker is sandbagging and selling themselves short.
Angelic Wolves isn’t a short film. It’s a web series that Dark Libra Films tweeted to me about in April. They released four or five episodes over several weeks (which I regret to say I did not watch at the time). What’s available on Amazon feels like the first episode, or maybe two or three stitched together, in which we meet the main characters and learn what’s at stake over the remaining instalments. I have to assume from the abrupt, cliffhanger ending that there are more episodes, either unreleased or unshot, and that’s a shame.
Viewed from the “web series” angle, Angelic Wolves is a gothic-y, ultra-low-budget production with amateur (but charming) actors, a distinct visual style, and a premise that could have gone to some interesting places. As an ongoing a web series with more space to establish its world-building chops (and some tighter editing), I’d watch it with interest. I sincerely hope Dark Libra Films return to these woods (without the old-timey filter) to complete Eve and Johnny’s story.
Here are the notes I took while watching:
I’m putting together a new werewolf costume, and I’m trying not to fall into the same pattern that has screwed me in the past. Like many other amateur werewolf costume people, my instinct is to sink a ton of money into an expensive mask and awesome gloves. Through budgetary constraints and tunnel vision, everything else ends up as an afterthought. That means my amazing werewolf head and hands are framed by an outfit hastily assembled to hide my lack of fur or grey werewolf skin.
It’s September, there’s still time, and I’m telling myself this now so I don’t spend another Halloween trapped in generic pants and whatever long-sleeved coat I can bear to wear indoors for five hours: I need some kind of werewolf bodysuit.
One option came to me via Tandye, who should know better because we share a bank account: this insanely detailed and highly practical werewolf bodysuit from Snakepit Studios. This particular bodysuit is painted to match a werewolf mask from Immortal Masks, but your $425 USD will get you a bodysuit sized to your measurements and painted to match the rest of your costume.
Snakepit Studios is an Ohio company that started in an engineer’s apartment and now makes dozens of different comfortable, highly-rated custom cosplay bodysuits. Their bodysuits are made-to-order from “lightweight, athletic grade material” that won’t drown you in sweat, and they can be tossed in the wash after a night of getting fake blood and drinks spilled on you.
It might seem expensive, but a suit light this is the literal foundation of a good costume. You can wear whatever you want on top of it, as shredded and torn or fitted and revealing as required, and feel confident that your pasty human skin isn’t showing.
Visit Snakepit’s site for a look at their huge array of pre-made designs, or contact them for a custom job.
Thick yellow claws are a timeless and respected nail style for any werewolf looking to make deep, long-lasting impressions on the faces, torsos or locked front doors of friends and colleagues. But what if you’re like me and your keratin situation has cursed you with nails as flimsy and harmless as construction paper?
Don’t worry! You can still get that fresh, ready-to-maul look. In this video submitted by Leticia R, makeup artist Alexys “Lex” Fleming demonstrates how to give yourself a flawless lycanthropic manicure and pedicure with modelling wax, Pros-Aide (or spirit gum) and some basic cosmetic supplies. These nails won’t hold up to rough wear and tear, but they look appropriately monstrous, and they’ll be sure to impress your professor, orthodontist or bail bondsman.
Check out Lex’s line of ethical, vegan, cruelty-free eyeliner and makeup brushes, plus her other amazing makeup tutorials, including this one that demonstrates how to re-create the look of a werewolf from Penny Dreadful.
The always-fascinating Monster Legacy snuck up on me this weekend with three huge posts dedicated to the werewolves of the Underworld movie franchise. I didn’t see the “Lycans of the Underworld” posts when they first appeared because I sometimes forget that I can subscribe to RSS feeds instead of manually checking sites like a nana with a Dell from 1997, but @Crystalakhanna hooked me up.
As with their Cabin In The Woods coverage, Monster Legacy goes deep on the concept, design, construction and on-set practicalities of the Lycans. From the post on Underworld: Awakening:
For the first time since Underworld, new sculpts for the Lycans were created — based on production photographs of maquettes and suits from the first film. The design, again, underwent some cosmetic changes: different angles and details in the facial structures were added, and the ribcage and pectoral muscles were made more pronounced. The fur on the neck was decreased in mass and length. Certain changes were also applied to the overall color scheme of the creatures, which now featured a darker nose area and different patterns. MastersFX built three Lycan suits, two of which were provided with mechanized hero heads.
This is just a small quote – these articles are long, well-researched, and packed with great photos. You can read equally detailed articles on the Lycan designs from Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Underworld: Evolution, or the original Underworld.
Via Bloody Disgusting:
We’ve scored a first look at the DVD cover for Daniel Robbins’ werewolf flick Uncaged, which is being distributed by RLJ Entertainment. The cover is a side shot of the upper chest and lower half of the face of a werewolf, who is covered in blood and filth… Uncaged comes to DVD and digital on February 2nd, 2016.
My comments on the trailer and overall concept still stand, but if I was the sort of person to judge a movie by its key art, Uncaged would get top marks. That’s one mean, grimy looking werewolf.
Want to start the week with a “hell yes, people are making cool stuff” boost of energy? Check out the latest promo video for Hair of the Dog, the crowdfunding-in-progress werewolf/addiction feature film by Michael Butts, Scott Crain and Will Cassidy. It’s called “Side Effects”, and was “inspired by all the cheesy medical commercials that list all those crazy side effects.”
Every time I see a promo piece from this crew, I’m impressed by the production quality and the tone of the humour they’re extracting from the material. For a deeper look at the concept, read this interview Michael and I did back in June.
They’re looking to raise another $7,300 so they can get this thing shot, so if you have a few bucks laying around, consider chipping in instead of buying that tenth pumpkin spice latte of the month (typed while drinking my second of the month).
Via Rich “Werewolf Fan” P: COO MODEL TOYS is a Chinese company that specializes in hyper-detailed 1/6 scale collectible figures. They’ve just posted prototype photos and specs for the second entry in their Monster File line, THE WERE WOLF.
This is the most incredible werewolf figure I’ve ever seen. It comes with 31 swappable parts, so you can display him in various stages of transformation by switching out his head, hands, legs, feet and clothing. There’s even a comic to give him some background and explain why he has a little doll as an accessory.
I can’t find much background on COO MODEL or the designer of this model, OUZHIXIANG. I can’t even tell you for certain what the first Monster File model was! According to this forum thread it might be Frankenstein’s Monster. It seems like the Monster File line is an imprint for COO MODEL to team up with designers and clothing companies like PopToys to create limited edition, hyper-detailed one-off models.
If you’re not in China and you want to get THE WERE WOLF, there are two US retailers taking pre-orders for an early 2016 release: Big Bad Toy Store and Hobby Galaxy. Expect to pay around $200.
For more photos and a detailed parts list, check out THE WERE WOLF’s product page.
The guys on the Nerdist podcast conducted a fantastic horror-heavy interview with Elijah Wood in their September 2nd episode, number 726. Wood was there to promote his latest film, Cooties, but he also talked about his involvement in a film I’d assumed was long dead: Bad Vibes.
The last I head about Bad Vibes was in 2011, when news first broke about writer/director David Gebroe‘s weird horror movie about hippie werewolves hosting a love-in to kill or infect “the terminally unhip”. Now, Elijah Wood has confirmed that he’s involved, that photography begins this October in Austin, and that Ariel Pink is still writing all the songs.
Here’s a partial transcript of his comments on the film, starting around 1:13 of the podcast:
It’s a movie about – it’s set in 1969 – it’s about a feel-good sort of sunshine and hippie flowers sort of rock band that are very popular at the time. The lead singer of this band, a band called Sunshine Majesty, he sleeps with a groupie. The groupie gives him an STD. That STD is basically like a lycan disease. There’s a slight physical transformation, but the main thing is ideological, so he becomes a nihilist…. he starts writing this new sound, and it’s like this really gnarly discordant dark music. And the whole thing is about, like, killing “squares”.
This seems like such a weird and incongruous combination of elements, but to hear Wood talk about it (and his role producing and staring in “killing raving zombie children” horror-comedy Cooties), I can believe this will work, especially with Ariel Pink’s psychedelic music.
In what’s become an almost yearly tradition, I’ve just created a new theme for this site. This year I’ve reworked things to be as simple as possible.
My main goal with this revision was to focus on the stuff I like to write, and that you like to read: individual posts. That means removing a bunch of stuff, including
The full text of each post is now visible on the homepage, too – no more “first three lines, then click to read more”.
I used to be a designer but I’ve recently come to the realization that I’ll only ever be moderately competent in that arena. Consequently I’ve been cribbing layouts and concepts from other, more talented folks. The outgoing design was pretty much a (credited) blatant rip-off of Tools and Toys. This one borrows pretty heavily from Daring Fireball, with a little touch of Lore.
If you find anything broken, weird or illegible, please let me know in the comments for this post, or on Twitter.
As always, thanks for reading!