|
|
|
THERIANTHROPY IN MODERN MEDIA.
Hollywood does not give shapeshifters a good image. Considering the large
expenses incurred creating convincing special effects using CGI or Animatronics,
producers do not wish to risk money on films with complex, risky plots
which may fail to bring in revenue at the box office. Therefore most shapeshifting
films use the tried and tested horror genres, written to shock and scare,
rather than to be thought provoking. The special effects are normally
used to support a rather weak and unimaginative plot. If a plot is more
"unorthodox", then to cut production costs masks and other unconvincing
prosthetics have to be used, so a good plot is ruined by bad acting and
poor effects. But every now and again, something worth watching slips
though, and a summary of those films are displayed below. I've also included
various therianthropy related books that I've read, for those with more
literary yearnings.
Information:
| AN AMERICAN
WEREWOLF IN LONDON |
|
| INFO |
|
Released: 1981.
Starring: David Naughton, Giffin Dunne.
Director: John Landis.
Links:
IMDb
Entry for AWiL.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Considered the definitive Werewolf movie, AWiL set new standards
in creature effects. The effects are rather good, relying heavily
on expensive animatronics which were still reasonably new at the
time. The story starts with two friends walking on the moors who
are attacked by an animal. One of them is killed, while the other
is sent to hospital. There he befriends one of the nurses. Meanwhile
his dead friend haunts him, warning that when the moon is full
he'll turn into a savage monster. Then the killings start. It's
not a complex film, but it's well worth watching.
|
| AN AMERICAN
WEREWOLF IN PARIS |
|
|
|
|
|
AWiP is the sequel to "An American Werewolf
in London". Unlike AWiL it relies heavily on CGI technology,
similar to the effects used in "Jurassic Park". Without the limitations
of bulky animatronics, CGI allows greater flexibility in shot
angles and creature motions. The Director Anthony Waller uses
this new freedom to good effect, producing some stunning action
sequences. However, there is little in the way of originality.
The "Werewolf View" is straight from the film "Wolfen",
while the club scenes bear a strong resemblance to the stroboscopic
scenes used by Ridley Scott in the film "Alien". The film has
been plagued in the States by an ever changing release date, and
it's now set for December 25th, to avoid having to battle the
release of "Scream 2". However, the UK saw the release on Halloween,
a clear two months ahead of the Americans... much to my delight!
The film begins with three American friends on a daredevil
tour of Europe. One of them decides to bungee jump from the Eiffel
Tower, and ends up saving a woman who jumps to commit suicide.
She bolts and the hero tries to find the woman he saved, which
he does. They end up at "Le Club de Lune" which turns out to be
run by a hungry group of Werewolves. One American is eaten, one
escapes, and the hero is clawed by a werewolf and begins to turn
into one. He's rescued by the girl, who is also a werewolf, and
is supposedly the daughter of the original AWiL werewolf. So the
bad werewolves chase and battle the good werewolves etc, leading
to the predictable final confrontation, and everyone lives happily
ever after.
The film is your average horror flick, but there are various
comic touches, provided by the spirits of the murdered victims,who
come back from the grave to haunt their killers. American Werewolf
in Paris is not brilliant, nor is it original, but it's not bad
either. If you like werewolves, then it's worth watching.
|
| CAT PEOPLE |
|
|
|
|
|
Cat People, as the title suggests, moves away from the stereotypical
werewolf, and instead has a stereotypical big black leopard. Set
in New Orleans, Irena Gallier played by Nastassja Kinski visits
her long lost brother Paul, played by Malcolm McDowell, only to
find he's only interested in having sex with her. Meanwhile Zoo
keepers from the local zoo are helping to track down a large black
cat that has been seen loose in the city. Several people get eaten
and it all ends in tears, what else could you ask for?
Based on an old RKO picture by the same name, Cat People is
a good flick providing you can get past Malcolm's really bad haircut.
Well worth catching at some point.
|
| FEAR NOTHING |
|
No Picture Available.
|
| INFO |
|
Released: 1997.
Author: Dean Koontz.
ISBN: 0-7472-5832-5.
Links:
None
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dean Koontz is a well established and popular thriller/horror
writer and if the first book of his that I've read, "Fear Nothing",
is up to his usual calibre I can understand why. Dean Koontz has
written many novels such as "Demon Seed" and "Phantoms". His writing
style is flowing and describes scenes with great skill, allowing
the reader to imagine the scene in detail without having to plow
through several paragraphs of descriptive text. Koontz also likes
to throw in the occasional one line gag to make the reader smile,
to keep the continuing suspense of the plot in context.
And in "Fear Nothing" there is suspense by the bucket-load
as the reader follows the main character Christopher Snow though
an amazing night, as he strives to find out the truth about his
fathers death. On this quest is Orson, his dog, as his loyal companion.
But Christopher has a weakness in that he suffers from Xeroderma
Pigmentosum, which means prolonged exposure to bright UV light
will cause a deadly cancer. But despite his limitation to the
night, Christopher is determined to live a full life, but there
is a secret which may well change his life forever.
And that is about all I can say about the book without hinting
at some wonderful plot twists. Reading the first few chapters
you may think that it's not a Were novel, but read on and you
won't be disappointed. It's the only book that's left me with
the heebie-jeebies at the end.
|
| FLUKE |
|
|
|
|
|
Based on the book by James Herbert, the film is about a man
who is reincarnated as a dog. He is guided though this new world
by another dog called Rumbo, with whom he can communicate with
telepathically. But Fluke is haunted by images of his past and
once Rumbo dies he sets of to find his family, and the person
he believed killed him in his former life.
Fluke is almost Disney like in it's appearance but with slightly
more taste, and follows a simple yet endearing plot. There's a
"shock revelation" at the end which pulls the film from many Disney
predecessors before it, and the viewer is kept involved with the
plot by the gradual discovery of Flukes previous life. There's
no wonderful special effects but with above average animal acting
it's not required, and the film is worth watching in those more
maudlin moments.
|
| JOHNNY
BRAVO: "A WOLF IN CHICK'S CLOTHING" |
|
|
|
|
|
"Entered for your submission, one Johnny Bravo. Who,
by some incredible twist of fate, is about to find himself in
The Zone Where Normal Things Don't Happen Very Often".
The Johnny Bravo cartoon series contains many "furry" references,
and in one episode, Johnny makes a date with a woman to turns
out to have a dark secret... she's a Werewolf. But tempted by
the beauty of the woman, he decides to continue with the date
until sunrise, when she'll return to her (very attractive) human
form. The cartoon follows Johnny as he tries to cope with the
problems associated with dating a werewolf. There are various
other lycanthropic or canine references throughout the series.
For example; at one point while Johnny is watching TV, a program
is shown where a woman unzips her skin to reveal she's actually
a dog.
|
| LADYHAWKE |
|
|
|
|
|
LadyHawke dispenses with the usual horror genre, and focuses
instead on the love between two people who are cursed. Rutger
Hauer is cursed to spend his nights as a wolf, while Michelle
Pfeiffer spends her days as a hawk, so they can never be together.
But with the help of a young thief, they set out in hopes of lifting
the curse put upon them. The film effects are very poor indeed,
relying on more of an "artistic" approach, rather than trying
to portray a realistic shapeshift. But due to a reasonably good
plot, this does not detract from the movie itself, and also helps
to keep it separate from the Horror genre.
|
| MST3K:
"I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF" |
|
| INFO |
|
Released: 1997.
Starring: Michael Nelson, Michael Landon.
Director: Kevin Murphy.
Links:
Official
MST3K site
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mystery Science Theatre 3000, for those of who aren't familiar
with the concept, is the spoofing and general mickey-take of really
bad B-Movies. This is done by showing the film with the silhouette
of three characters at the bottom of the screen, as if they were
sitting in a cinema. They then proceed to make comments and remarks
about the film as it progresses. In this case, it was the film
"I was a Teenage Werewolf" starring Michael Landon of Bonanza
fame. ("The Pumaman" is also one worth catching. Did you know
Pumas can fly? Me neither...)
Michael plays the part of a disturbed, violent college student
who likes to throw milk at people and beat up singing trolls.
In an attempt to curb these milk throwing tendencies and integrate
him into singing troll society, he goes to see a trendy shrink.
This doctor is a bit loony himself, who injects Landon and regresses
him back to his primitive beginnings, a ranch-hand... no wait,
I mean a werewolf. So he goes around killing gymnasts and the
police try to track him down. The film isn't actually that bad
on it's own, but the MST3K slant means you'll be giggling like
a prom queen, one who's unaware of a big slobbering monster behind
her. (That's right, the ghost to Robert Maxwell.)
|
| THE COMPANY
OF WOLVES |
|
|
|
|
|
"The Company of Wolves" is a very complex film, which follows
various fairy tales within a dream of a young girl. It's also
a metaphor for sexual maturity, as the young girl becomes aware
of the "beasts" in the woods she learns how to protect the wolf,
and even embrace it. It's a curious blend of folklore, fantasy,
and fairy tales which makes the film very unique. It comes as
no surprise then that this film was made on a small budget in
Britain, as it just screams of medieval British folklore and British
film quality. This is one film definitely worth watching.
The wolves that were used in the filming were owned by Roger
Palmer who later created the UK Wolf Conservation Trust, of which
I'm a member. (Further information about the UKWCT can be found
out about on this website.) The wolves used in the film (who are
long since dead unfortunately) had to be supervised by two armed
riflemen during filming in case they went out of control. Although
Roger was certain that the wolves would behave themselves (which
they did) it was still a rather nervous time.
|
| THE HOWLING |
|
|
|
|
|
The film starts off as a normal slasher movie, however, as
the two reporters investigating the murders progress in the search
for the killer, they stumble across a werewolf commune... The
effects are pretty poor, resorting to rapid camera movements to
hide poor prosthetics. But again, there is a plot which does not
rely on the effects to support it. It's a good film, unlike its
many sequels.
|
| THE HOWLING
III: "THE MARSUPIALS" |
|
|
|
|
|
Boy, does this film suck! In fact, most of the Howling sequels
were very poor, with weak plots and cheap prosthetics. This one
is set in the Australian outback, with a werecritters trying to
escape the government authorities. The only thing of note about
the film, is that it's probably the only film to have a Were giving
birth. Not work watching.
|
| THE SILVER
WOLF |
|
| INFO |
|
Released: 1998.
Author: Alice Borchardt.
ISBN: 0-345-42361-5.
Links:
None
|
|
|
|
|
|
A new author to the scene, Alice Borchardt tells the tale of
Regeane who lived in Rome during the Dark Ages. Regeane is unusual
in that she is two individuals in one body, there is Regeane the
human woman, and then there is the wolf. So when the night is
dark, the wolf comes forth and transforms her body to that of
a silver wolf. However because of her family connections, she
attracts the interest of the Pope who wishes to marry her off
to some Baron in attempt to swing a future war in his favour.
Regeane is then caught between the two political powers as they
try to use her and those around her to their own ends. Regeane
and the wolf have to fight not only for their lives, but for the
whole future of Rome.
Do not be fooled by the glowing reviews of "The Silver Wolf"
by the well known Vampiric author Anne Rice, since they are in
fact sisters! As a result they have similar writing styles, and
also similar flaws. Alice is not as technically adept at describing
scenes. So while she may go into exquisite detail on the taste
of food or the texture of a fabric, people can arrive in a room
without comment and start talking without indicating who they
are. Or events happen quickly without being clearly explained,
leaving the reader confused as to what is actually happening.
It's because of faults like these that make it difficult to set
the scene correctly within one's mind. Despite that it is an entertaining
read and the concept of Lycanthropy is handled extremely well.
|
| THE X FILES:
"SHAPES" |
|
|
|
|
|
Well I could blab on about the X-Files, but I'll be surprised
if you haven't been run over by the X-Files hype machine by now.
"Shapes" was shown back in season one, when the torch waving in
the dark routine wasn't so tiresome, and Scully was still sceptical
about the existence of Mulder's sanity. The storyline; Mulder
and Scully investigate the death of a Native American on a ranch
near a Reservation. The rancher claims he didn't shoot the Native
American, but a wild beast with fangs and eyes. Could he have
been a Werewolf? After much torch waving in dark buildings, they
find the answer to be "yes".
|
| WILDERNESS |
|
|
|
|
|
A British made-for-TV mini-series, Wilderness concentrated
entirely on plot rather than effects. The transformation scenes
were simply a superimposed computer image morph. But to their
credit they used a real wolf called Ayla for filming. The story
deals with the love between two people, while the woman tries
to come to terms with her own lycanthropy with the help of a psychiatrist.
Unfortunately, no one wants to take her seriously.
|
| WOLF |
|
|
|
|
|
Bitten by a wolf on the way to a dinner party, ageing book
publisher Jack Nicholson gains a new lease of life. With his job
under threat he fights back, and falls for his Boss' daughter
played by Michelle Pfeiffer. However his youthful renewal is not
without a price, and he seeks out a Doctor who wrote a book about
lycanthropy. However, his problems are only just beginning as
his wife is found brutally torn apart by a savage animal.
The effects in "Wolf" are just hairy prosthetics and coloured
eye contacts. However there is a more substantial plot to the
film, and it's not intended as a shock-horror type affair, so
the film is worth watching. And lets face it, Jack Nicholson looks
pretty damn wolfy!
|
| WOLFEN |
|
|
|
|
|
This has to be one of my favourite wolf movies. After the brutal
death of a millionaire and his wife, the police try to track down
the brutal killer. It turns out they're not the only ones to be
killed as the bodies of a construction worker and a tramp are
also discovered. Their search for a link between the victims takes
them into the realm of Native American beliefs and spiritual shapeshifting.
Finally they come across the Wolfen, a highly intelligent urbanized
wolf.
The "wolves" are nothing more than coloured German Shepherd
Dogs, but the wolves themselves are not seen until the very end
of the film. Instead the director took the approach of a "wolf's
viewpoint", seeing what the wolves saw. To indicate this was the
case coloured filters were used, a process that was to be repeated
in "An American Werewolf in Paris".
|
|
