Bloody Disgusting has some new exclusive photos from Adrian Garcia Bogliano’s werewolf movie Late Phases, including a direct look at the beast itself. (more…)
A close look at the werewolf makeup of “Wolves”
Today, Make-Up Artist magazine showcases Dave Elsey’s werewolf makeup for Wolves, the just-released werewolf film by David Hayter. Despite Wolves‘s “relatively modest budget”, Elsey and his team put a lot of time and effort into the design and execution of their werewolf makeups, and the article takes a close look at each wolfed-out character.
French survival-horror film “Cold Ground”
With the capering skeleton of Halloween locked away for another 11 months and the silhouette of Santa pawing at your frosty windows, you may be wondering the same thing I am: how can I get some werewolf horror up in this wintery weather? French director Fabien Delage and production companies Fright House Pictures and Redwood Creek Films have your answer: survival-horror film Cold Ground, which is the subject of an Indiegogo campaign to raise $12,000 USD to cover production costs.
The campaign describes the film as “Blair Witch meets the Descent in the snow” with “a distinctive 70s flair reminiscent of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. It will “deal with cattle mutilations, extreme environment survival as well as cryptozoology and the deadliest secrets of Nature”. Conspicuously absent from their marketing materials is any mention of “loup-garou” or “werewolf”, but one look at the poster or the footage from the campaign and it’s pretty clear what’s going on.
Cold Ground is scheduled for a January 2015 shoot in the French Alps, with creature design and gore effects by American company Dapper Cadaver and French makeup artist David Scherer. The campaign and its supporting materials have the look of an outfit that knows what it’s doing – the cast is solid, the budget is modest but sensible, and director Delage already has award-winning short film The Wild Diaries and ongoing TV series Dead Crossroads to his credit.
I’m not a big fan of found footage films, but this one seems like it’s got a solid foundation, some wicked-looking (probable) werewolves and a ton of snow. Have a look at the backer rewards (there’s some neat stuff in there) and contribute if you can!
Incredible “World of Warcraft” Worgen cosplay by Shoko & Jérôme
Here’s a little something to bolster the spirits of anyone bummed out by the Worgen-less Warcraft movie. French cosplayers Shoko & Jérôme collaborated on this Worgen cosplay in 2010, for the Cataclysm expansion launch in Paris.
No Worgen in “World of Warcraft” movie
It has long been a source of anguish for me that the film adaptation of World of Warcraft is being shot in my town, and even has a production codename based on the neighbourhood where I work. It makes me writhe with anxiety to think that literally minutes away from where I sit for 40 hours a week, there might be a warehouse or a closed set in which someone is doing insanely cool shit while wearing a practical Worgen suit. The fact that these things are purposely executed in a way that keeps nitwits like me (and our cameras) off the set seems like a poor excuse, especially for someone running a web site called “Werewolf News”. The Underworld films were shot here too, and yet I’ve never seen a Lycan suit in person. If I was a cop I’d have to turn in my damn badge.
This is why I’m less bothered than you might think by the news out of BlizzCon that the World of Warcraft film will be based on the original 1994 game, which contains zero (0) Worgen. There will be orcs, of course. Probably trolls and goblins as well, and I believe some of the heavier Horde units rode around on giant wolves, but as long been established on this web site, giant wolves are 1) not very interesting and 2) definitely not werewolves.
That doesn’t mean we’ll never see tailless bipedal werewolf people in a Warcraft film. If this first film succeeds at the 2016 box office (and how could it not? Films based on video game franchises always do well), it’s likely that they’ll expand the scope of any sequels to include plots and characters from more recent entries in the game’s universe. The introduction of the Worgen race was a major point of the Cataclysm expansion, so it’s not unreasonable to think they’ll have a presence in a future Warcraft film. For now, however, the big screen will remain Worgen-less, which is disappointing, but which also means I can stop hyperventilating whenever I see a film crew setting up on the edge of a wooded area.
Upcoming site changes
Hey, friends! I’m working on an update to the features and layout of this site – changes that will make it easier for me to share all the great werewolf stuff that’s out there. (more…)
Lycans vs. Dracula & an Australian Penny Arcade werewolf
Here are two bits of fluff for a post-full-moon-hangover Friday afternoon.
The Easterner, which is the “independent, student-run news site of Eastern Washington University”, has posted an opinion piece that attempts to pinpoint which creatures is more efficient at killing: the vampire, or the werewolf. Opinion Editor Larry Ty Holmes decides to compare the most extreme examples of each monster: Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and the Underworld lycans. It’s a short piece that runs out of gas before reaching a solid conclusion, and I get the feeling it was started before Halloween and only just published Thursday to get it out of the “drafts” folder, but I enjoyed the accompanying artwork by EWU senior Lauren Campbell.
PAX Australia 2014 just ended, and as is their wont, the Penny Arcade guys documented the week with a few recent comics. This time it involves exposing Sydney to the full Halloween experience via a monster-spewing portal. The episode concludes with a werewolf who has to confront the imperturbability of a populace used to living in a country positively brimming with poisonous creatures. I always like seeing Mike draw werewolves, and I can confirm from firsthand experience that Aussies are the most hardcore people on the planet.
Keep the spirit alive with scary/cute “Happy Happy Halloween!”
Happy Happy Halloween! is your reminder from animator Julia “Hiro” Andersson that Halloween never ends, especially when you can keep its spirit alive by riffing on a sappy tune like “Happy Happy Christmas” in a face-shreddingly cute animated short. The blood from a ritually sacrificed rabbit helps, too.
Full Moon Features: Wer
Game of Werewolves aside, this decade has been disappointingly short on good werewolf movies, so I’m pleased to report that 2013’s Wer fills that void quite admirably. (more…)
“Wheelchair Werewolf”: 80’s VHS horror homage from Joe Avella
If you thought the departure of Halloween meant an end to trashy horror movies, think again. (more…)