Tag: teen wolf

Photos of Tyler Posey’s “Teen Wolf” werewolf form + I try to stop whining about a show I’ve never seen

NY Times writer Alex Pappademas has written an article that perfectly articulates my own mixed feelings on MTV’s Teen Wolf reboot, and it only took him six pages. From the article:

The new “Teen Wolf” show is not as clever or allegorical as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” but the comparison is almost unfair; Buffy was about teenagers but didn’t try particularly hard to be for them, whereas “Teen Wolf” is on MTV, which has a bigger investment in selling youth to youth… If “Teen Wolf” builds on the original’s sneakily radical message of self-acceptance instead of fetishizing its characters’ suffering like “Twilight,” there’s a chance “Teen Wolf” 2.0 will look as zeitgeisty in retrospect as some of its adolescent-lycanthrope genre forebears: a no-judgment monster show for the same proudly atypical fan base that Lady Gaga refers to as her “little monsters.”

I’m trapped. I don’t know what to do. There’s a strange momentum building behind this show that I find exciting, but I can’t find its source. The glimpses I see of non-pretty-boy werewolves look terrific, but every time I really pay attention and watch a trailer, read an article or see one of @MTVteenwolf‘s chipper PR tweets, everything other than the effects (you know, important stuff like “story” and “acting”) look flimsy. Superficial. Shallow. When Pappademas asks leading man Tyler Posey why he thinks werewolves are so appealing to women, Posey responds with this gem: “Girls are just really naughty and love to be thrown around”. Super. He’s obviously joking, but jokes are supposed to be funny and not make me dislike the person telling them.

This show is built to sell, which is fine, but I wish the people behind it weren’t so two-faced about their motivations. Executive producer / writer Jeff Davis waxes philosophical about the history and cultural significance of the werewolf, but then he asks for “scarier glowing wolf eyes” to be added to a scene in post-production. You know, for authenticity. He cheerfully admits that using the “Teen Wolf” title has more to do with appropriating a recognizable brand than anything else, then goes on to admit of Hollywood: “I don’t think we’re running out of culture. I think we’re running out of courage.” What am I supposed to do with that?

I just want to watch a show that 1) has cool werewolves in it, and 2) doesn’t insult my intelligence. If Teen Wolf winds up checking both of those boxes, awesome. I’ll eat humble pie for all of my fence-sitting “opinionated dork with a blog” comments. I’ll buy the DVDs. But for now, I really just want to filter out the PR hype, because none of it is making this show look like something I want to watch. Please give me some more creature effects shots and I’ll be content to sit quietly until June. I promise.

MTV’s Teen Wolf “Transformation” trailer is less exciting than a single frame from an earlier trailer

MTV has released “Watch The Transformation“, another teaser trailer for their upcoming Teen Wolf series. A more accurate title might be “Watch A Slow Reverse Dolly As A Bare-Chested Tyler Posey Loses His Sideburns”. This is a transformation from werewolf form back to human, but either we join our hero when he’s already 90% done with the change or this is the most minimalist werewolf design since Jack Nicholson in “Wolf”. Judge for yourself. [Note: using a YouTube embed for this because WordPress is choking on the MTV embed code]

I understand that there are a number of different werewolf “types” in this show, some of them more monstrous than others (presumably the “villains”). I’m hoping we get to see more of these rumoured beasties before the June 5th debut. At the moment, I’ve only seen a single frame of footage from all of the trailers and teasers that interests me, and that’s from the official trailer that came out last month.

That’s right. A hand. A big clawed hand. All my hopes and dreams for this show hang from you, scary hand. Please take good care of them.

The Wretched, Awful Trailer for MTV’s Wretched, Awful “Teen Wolf” Remake

Hopes: dashed. This looks like an after-school special with a big effects budget. The producers in charge of this should be fired, first from their jobs, then from a big cannon pointed into a volcano. Good job, MTV: obtain the rights to a quirky 80’s cult film, then replace all of the character, charm and originality with “drama” so lame and predictable it would’ve been cut from The Gates. Oh no, Scott’s got a date with a hot girl on the same night as the full moon! What’s gonna happen? Frankly, MTV, I don’t give a shit, and neither will anyone else.

Viacom is going around DMCAing this trailer wherever it pops up, so if this embedded version doesn’t work, sorry. Or… you’re welcome?

Special shout-out to the special effects crew who worked on this: thanks for the effort. Your work (what little I could see of it in this trailer) looks like the one redeeming feature of this abomination.

Hat tip: manny

Michael J. Fox might just possibly (maybe) have a role in MTV’s “Teen Wolf” remake

Normally I’m not big on posting about totally unsubstantiated rumours, but this one is too awesome to skip. Word on the Internets is that MTV is trying their hardest to get original Teen Wolf star and all-around awesome guy Michael J. Fox to accept a role as a “recurring character” on their in-the-works Teen Wolf remake. Given that Fox has basically stopped acting in order to focus on his Parkinson’s research foundation, I don’t know how plausible this is, but… what if it happens? From its “kissable” werewolves to its darker, horror-based theme, this production seems all over the map– it’s certainly got my attention!

“Teen Wolf” pilot analysis & transformation photo

This is a month old, but interesting nevertheless. TheTorchOnline.com has an in-depth analysis of the pilot of MTV’s “Teen Wolf” remake, including quotes from executive producer / writer Jeff Davis and lead actor Tyler Posey. There’s also a rather boring photo of Posey’s transformation. One of the most telling quotes is from Davis, regarding the design of the show’s werewolves. Apparently there will be three kinds of werewolves– Alpha, Beta and Omega, with the Alpha being the most monstrous and the Omega looking like a straight-up wolf. And what’s the driving force behind the werewolf designs?

“The way we like to put it is, the other werewolf shows and movies have werewolves you can pet,” Davis said. “We wanted to have one you could kiss.”

Oh super. I think MTV and werewolf fans like you and I have different ways of assessing a werewolf’s kissability.

Read the whole post for more information.

Hat tip: Jason

MTV’s “Teen Wolf” Will Have Three Types of Werewolves, May Not Be Terrible After All

Finally, someone at San Diego Comic-Con with an interest in horror has some info about MTV’s Teen Wolf show. Nomad at Dread Central got some interesting and somewhat encouraging news from producer Jeff Davis. Of particular interest are these two tidbits:

– KNB FX [sic] is handling the PRACTICAL effects!! The look of the werewolves (yes, I said “werewolves” plural) was very important so they brought in the best.

– There will be three types of werewolves in this show, all with a different look.

KNB EFX has got some pretty serious chops in the realm of practical effects, and they’ve done werewolves before too: for Wes Craven’s “Cursed” (pictured on the right) and “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”. I am now cautiously optimistic about this!

The Futon Critic’s first look at MTV’s “Teen Wolf” re-imagining

TV review site The Futon Critic has got a very thorough review of the pilot of MTV’s “Teen Wolf” series. It begins with a very polite request not to repost any of the text anywhere, which I would normally be disinclined to honour since this is the Internet, but I’m trying to be better about that, so I recommend you go check it out for yourself. My take on the pilot, based on what I read? I was hopeful until I saw this:

I’m less sold on the show’s (albeit unfinished) special effects, which make its werewolves look like the vampires from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Oops! Guess I fell off that wagon pretty quickly!

Clothe Your Frail Human Body with Werewolf T-Shirts Designed by Matthew Skiff

I’m working on a little side project that requires me to dog through all of the werewolf art I’ve posted on this site over the years, and I came across this post about a kick-ass t-shirt design by Matthew Skiff. I decided to check out what he’s been up to lately, and lo and behold, more werewolf designs! The first three are still available for purchase from their various imprints– just click an image below to get the pertinent details. I want that first one, “Save Me”. I want it.

(this one’s not for sale, sadly)

MTV Orders 12 Episodes of the New “Teen Wolf” Series, Which Might Not be Terrible

According to Deadline’s TV Editor Nellie Andreeva, MTV has officially ordered Teen Wolf to series. Word is that MTV asked for 12 episodes, which is a pretty confident move on their part. Get ready for the wacky hijinks of high school dork Scott McCall (Tyler Posey) as he recovers from a wolf attack and learns about his amazing new powers, which include the ability to… “attract girls”? Oh for fuck’s sake. I need to stop kidding myself. This is going to be “Big Wolf on Campus” but with designer clothes and product placement, isn’t it.

Eight Werewolves NYTimes.com Would Like to Bring to Your Attention

NYTimes.com has posted a just-snarky-enough-for-the-Internet breakdown of eight canonical movie werewolves (well, seven plus that bland New Moon guy). The author (Dave Itzkoff) watched the films with enough attention to detail to produce some wry comments, but I think the best one of the lot comes early.

[1941’s Wolf Man] Talbot meets his end at the wrong end of a silver walking stick wielded by his father who, while disappointed in his son’s lifestyle, probably never intended to club him to death.

OH SNAP.