I recently received an email from Lance Polland, a filmmaker whose two most recent projects were Bloody Bloody Bible Camp (featuring “Sister Mary Chopper”) and Crack Whore (switchblade revenge against rapist hillbillies). His latest film is Werewolves In Heat, which he describes as “‘The Hangover’ meets ‘Werewolves on Wheels’ with a dash of ‘American Pie'”. (more…)
Ask Andronica! Biology of Transformation & Historical Discrimination
Recently I took a short break from my column and went on holiday for the first time in ages. Through my work at MI6, I travel constantly and visit many exotic locations, but my trips abroad are typically combined with murder and mayhem, so they’re usually not very relaxing. (more…)
Is Robert Downey Jr. producing a werewolf movie? The answer is: maybe
Deadline reports that Susan Downey and her somewhat famous husband Robert will be producing “Cloaked”, a “supernatural horror comedy in the vein of An American Werewolf In London”. Dread Central has gone so far as to label the project “a werewolf tale”, but a comparison to AWIL doesn’t necessarily mean werewolves, Mickey Mouse figurines or a decomposing Griffin Dunne. (more…)
“Deadman’s Land” achieves the Nazi Werewolf Singularity
Werewolves and Nazis (or Nazi werewolves) are only one or two rungs up from “lycanthropy as a metaphor for puberty” on the well-worn ladder of werewolf tropes. If, like me, you usually cringe at the notion, I want you to stand up straight. Smile and be happy, because Barry Duffield has succeeded where many others have tried and failed (or gave up): he wrote Deadman’s Land, a truly frightening horror story about Nazi werewolves that’s so good that everyone else can stop trying.
Originally conceived as a screenplay and adapted into a graphic novel by Steve Stern, Deadman’s Land works for me regardless of its format because it sidesteps the occult gimmicks and pulpy worship of Nazi iconography I’ve come to expect from this particular sub-genre of werewolf fiction. It’s a lean, mean war story about a group of soldiers who get into some bad “wrong place, wrong time” shit and have to dig their way out with cunning, bravery, and a flamethrower named Bertha.
The characters are a satisfying mixture of genre archetypes, from the hard-bitten sarge to the Hollywood actor who got drafted, but none of them are caricatures, and while the body count is high, the deaths are neither cheap nor gratuitous. The artwork by Tyler Sowles and colours by Alice Baltes-Quist combine for a simple, clean look that reminds me of (period appropriate) 1940’s comic books or a high-budget Saturday morning cartoon, which makes it even more startling when the art depicts someone getting literally torn apart by werewolves, or shot in the head with a .5o cal round.
Right now Deadman’s Land is available exclusively for Amazon Kindle, but it’s worth installing the app for, and based on the reviews it’s getting, I expect it’ll appear in other mediums pretty soon. Nice work, Barry – you’ve achieved the Nazi Werewolf Singularity, and now we can all rest!
Murder your friends as a secret werewolf in “Black Forest”
I relate to board games the way a novice surfer might regard the ocean. There’s fun to be had in the shallows, but I know the real experience is out where unknown dangers could be lurking in the deep darkness below. I know how to rack up the Victory Points in Settlers, but I wonder if it might not be time to paddle out… to the Black Forest? And catch a big wave? Okay, time to rethink this surfing metaphor, it doesn’t really – (more…)
The “WolfCop” theatrical trailer is out
Are you ready for alcohol, stubble, vomit, pentagrams carved into human flesh, irresponsible driving, werewolf sex scenes and a mega-grossout transformation? Because I am. June 6th, Canada. Get ready.
“Ooh! Got ta stop off at da brewery, do some investigating.”
Issue 3 confirms “Who Needs The Moon?” is a masterpiece
The third and latest issue of Todd A McCullough’s ongoing graphic novel Who Needs The Moon? elevates the series to the status of “best werewolf comic I’ve ever read”, and earns the series a place on my list of top five comics of all time. (more…)
Claymation video for Clutch’s “The Wolf Man Kindly Requests…”
Maryland rock band Clutch has a particularly dedicated fan in Curtis Hein, who singlehandedly animated a full-length music video to the band’s song “The Wolf Man Kindly Requests…” from their latest album, Earth Rocker. The guys in the band were so impressed with the effort and the results that they made it the official music video. I can see why! Great song, great video.
Extraterrestrial nonsense couldn’t derail Face Off’s “Cry Wolf”
When I heard that last Wednesday’s episode of Face Off was the conclusion of a two-episode competition involving vampires and werewolves, I had to take a look. What I saw puzzled me: alien werewolves. In “Cry Wolf”, the four remaining competitors were tasked with creating werewolves displaying “newly-evolved feature specifically designed to take their vampire rivals down”. They did something very similar a year ago. Is it a rule that every challenge on this show has to be hampered by the requirement that the creature be from another world? (more…)