You’re running, tearing through the brush, the pain is excruciating. It feels like your entire body is on fire. And things, well things are moving under the skin…stretching, lengthening, doing things that shouldn’t be done, shifting in a way that isn’t humanly possible. The fire in your gut is spreading faster and faster. Your sweat-slicked body is doubled over from the constant pain and fear of what is happening inside. Something, yes something, is attempting to claw its way out, and with it take your sanity. The first bones break and then realign themselves, then the next few, and the next, now everything is cracking and breaking under some otherworldly power. And your face, well your face…it’s no longer yours. It’s longer, wider, and now hair, coarse and abundant, is seeping out of your skin like water sluicing off a stone. Your screams that once sounded quite human now they sound…just like a monster. From pitiless and ravaged to menacing and vicious. Finally the pain…it ends. You are now a beast, hulking in form. Your hands are murderous claws, fangs have emerged and punched their way through the skin. All of your senses are more alive than ever before, and with a long pull of the air from your massive snout ….now you’re ready to hunt.
Awesome? Scary? All of the above? Yes.
We’ve long had a fascination with the plight of the werewolf. The whole concept of man turning into a large beast, well it’s the things of nightmares and really good movies. In my opinion there is nothing like seeing a really great werewolf transformation. It is the pinnacle of any movie featuring werewolves. We all wait to be awed by the technique. And we feel totally let down if the transformation doesn’t strike the right note of fear, shock, pain, and horror. I consider myself a werewolf purist in this regard. I can instantly tell when a transformation is going downhill. Mostly when you don’t see it happening. If a movie glosses over the transformation, then well, they’ve not done their movie and the genre service. If one minute there’s human and the next there’s wolf (especially a traditional quadruped wolf) then they’ve blown it.
Since the beginning of film about the illustrious werewolf, the mystique was usually held in the curse. And make no mistake, lycanthropy should be a curse. Yes, yes, I know some stories will tell you that it is a regal coming of age experience. And that it is an honor to be a magnificent werewolf. Phooey! The person who becomes afflicted is certainly damned. He or she is a monster. Why some writer thought werewolves should start shaving their chests and wearing jean shorts is a riddle for the ages. And don’t get me started on leaping into the air and then landing as a large four-legged Pekinese bear. Lon Chaney is surely twitching in his grave.
Aside from any werewolf blasphemy, I love discovering a new entry worth its salt. The latest on my “super spectacular” wolf list is the UK version of Being Human. While the American version tries to stoke the same fires, it’s really the UK version that sails into respectable wolf genre territory. I’m halfway through the second season (So no one ruin the third season for me) and I’m pretty impressed so far with the wolf character “George” played by Russell Tovey. He strikes the right balance of fear, shame, and eventual acceptance of his curse. The horror and resignation is there, but also this sort of subtle charm that belies the real “monster” he can become. There is no CGI (Computer Generated Images) for the audience to lazily rely on. For a television show, an albeit gritty and no-holds barred television show, the graphic detail is phenomenal and the use of traditional special effects is impressive.
I will say this, and I mean it from the bottom of my wolf-lore heart — THERE IS NO PLACE FOR CGI WEREWOLF TRANSFORMATIONS. What would An American Werewolf in London be if David’s transformation resembled that of a large cartoon dog? If Michael J. Fox looked in the mirror to see a computer generated image when he utters, “Geez Louise.” Urgh. CGI is the bane of my supernatural/sci-fi existence. It is so overused, and usually so under needed. It doesn’t give everything depth. In many instances it loses the realism and just launches whatever you’re looking at into “incredibly fake” territory. Don’t think so? Look back at the auspices of this invention and refer to the first Mortal Kombat movie adaptation. Good Gravy! Was that a dragon or maniacal vomit wearing a technicolor dreamcoat? Awful.
Dragons-of-shit not included, why are we so fascinated with the werewolf? Does it speak more to the frailty of man and our ability to feel cursed, or is it some feral knowledge that deep down we feel that there is a beast truly within us, one that we are each in our own ways trying to contain? Perhaps it’s more about the existence of transformation. Maybe we all hope that we can transform into being something more than ourselves. That we have the ability to become something bigger and more powerful, something that is undeniable, and hard to ignore. That we are a force to be reckoned with. There is something about the eventual acceptance and giving in to our circumstances no matter how horrific, or redeeming, that translate. Letting the beast win could be seen as losing your humanity, or possibly it could be accepting the parts of humanity that we often ignore. The choice to be a monster is an individual decision.
Werewolves in movies are not the sole interpretation of the likes of Stephenie Meyer and her bevy of non-shirted hunk-wolves. No, cinema and television have been the birthplace of the wolf for generations. And each new generation adds just a bit more to the lore to make a complete compendium of wolves from bipeds to quadrupeds, to full shifters to half shifters, to teenage wolves, wolves backpacking, girl wolves, boy wolves, middle aged wolves, medieval wolves, and King of Pop wolves — the curse runs the gamut.
But as we get even further into the 21st century the evolution of the werewolf is bound to take on even new shapes so to speak. Werewolves have often played second fiddle to their fellow monster brethren. Vampires have taken over the show, Zombies and their penchant for apocalypse have overshadowed the wolf, and aliens still manage to rake in movie dollars. The plight of the werewolf in modern times has been significantly reduced, mostly landing them in the B-movie category. Or shamefully worked into an overwrought period piece with not enough new elements to add to the genre, and relegating it to workable CGI (that they’ve built the whole movie on) and stunted acting from the stars of such film. See: Benicio Del Torro and Anthony Hopkins in a remake of The Wolfman. But I think the return of the wolf is coming, because just how many beautiful undead creatures can we really watch, and just how many chemical outbreaks can cause the Walking Dead? Somewhere, someone will establish a righteous ode to the moon cursed. And I’ll be waiting.
Here are some of my particular favorite Werewolf films:
- An American Werewolf in London — Classic. A comedy but with some really terrifying scenes
- The Wolfman original — Iconic film sets the standard
- The Howling — Great effects. Often comedic but still a scary turn
- Silver Bullet — Stephen King and one evil mofo werewolf
- Wolf — Nicholson has some brilliant lines in this one, and out acts all his younger counterparts as a wolf with a seriously vicious mid-life crisis
- Dog Soldiers — Funny, scary, and rife with great lore. Never just hang out at a desolate house in the woods…because wolves could live there
- Wolfen — Native American wolf legend, murder mystery, a reentry into the wolf genre in the early 80’s.
- Ginger Snaps — Girl wolves with teen angst. Remarkably impressive in the genre.
- Teen Wolf — Campy, fun, a must. If for no other reason MJ.Fox is awesome.
- Underworld — The lesser of the few, but as a newer offering, pretty hard to ignore. Yawr, there’s CGI, but at least they try for a little balance.
Got any others? Let me know what they are and why you like them in the comments, or hate on a few that were just atrocious. Skinwalkers Feh!
