My Top 20 Halloween Favorites: Werewolves

 I've already stated in other entries about my frustration with the werewolf genre. It's one of those monster figures that is very underutilized in the fast ever increasing world of horror cinema. One of the reasons is most likely that many writers and directors don't seem to know what to do with the creature beyond it's overused trope of man vs. his own beastly nature. And another reason is just the pure visuals of the creature. There's not much one can do with the lupine looks beyond what we've already seen over the years. The Frankenstein Monster also suffers from the same dilemma, which is why we also see very few films about him/it too.
 Wildling is a good respresentation of the problems I have with the use and depiction of the universally themed monster.
The story of a tweener entering teenhood is a very good one and done with a slightly better effort than a similar film from almost two decades ago, Ginger Snaps. The direction, the concept, the acting and the eventual result is all at a quality that I'm happy in seeing in a stand alone story about furry coming-of-age feature. But in the end, they couldn't help but shortcut the look of the creature more as a metaphoric method to bring home the whole "I am woman, hear me roar" allegory. And to me, that just leaves Wildling as something good to watch on a full moon night, but not much to be remembered when the sun does come up.

During one of the driest spells in terms of quality for werewolf movies, 1981 proved to be a good year for moonlit monsters. For it had not just one film that showed that the subject wolfmen made for good modern cinema, but two; American Werewolf In London and this one, The Howling.
And while Howling may not be as famous as American Werewolf for it's groundbreaking special effects depicting the transformation from man to beast, it still held it's own in helping to show that when it comes to depicting the horror of lycanthropy on the big screen, the myth of man-wolf was still a force to be feared and revered.

Here's a movie that's features a series of short stories, and while each one is in animated form, it's a form rarely seen on film, called silhouette animation. Now while Tales Of The Night may initially come off as sounding like a horror film, in actuality, it's not. Told as morale fables of old, each one is more like a tale with a "nightish" like quality to it.
The first one, coincidentally enough, is called "The Werewolf", and is about a troubled triangle of love that takes place in Medieval Europe. And what makes this triangle so troubled isn't so much that it's a triangle, but that, as the story title implies, the man in this ménage à trois of the heart transforms into a wolf at night.
Which, when you think about it, is something that any red-blooded heterosexual man would do when dealing with two ladies at once. Am I right, guys?

 Beginning with the House series, Universal Studios has moved their monster movies from fright more towards formula. Whereas their first horror films were driven by instilling fear into their audiences, now they were driven by their fans wanting to see their top trio of terror, Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, and the Wolfman, all together in one big “monster mash”.

 The first to get a “House” was Frankenstein’s Monster in House of Frankenstein. The second was Dracula in, of course, House of Dracula. And wouldn’t you know it, before the Wolfman got a chance to get a place of his own, the whole series ended there. What makes this even sadder is that of the three scare-based stars, Larry Talbot, the Wolfman’s alter ego, is the most central character in both of these houses. Therefore, despite having neither house named after him, he most likely had the most screen time than the other two.

   In other words, he put the most work in the series, and therefore deserved to have a house movie with his name on it. The one positive in all of this is that, as tragic as the werewolf’s life had been up to this movie, he got the kind of “happy ending" that no one expected him to get (should I have posted up a spoiler alert before I typed that?). In this particular adventure,Talbot comes a’knockin’ to the front door of the castle of one Dr. Endlemann, hoping that the good doctor can find a cure to his lycanthropy. Not long after, Dracula flies in, also looking for a cure, but in his case, it’s for his addiction to human blood. Particularly because there was no BA (Bloodsuckers Anonymous) back then (come to think of it, there still isn’t ) so that vampires of the time were forced to suffer silently. Eventually, the fiend of Frankenstein would be discovered in a cave underneath Dr. Endelman’s castle (the “House “ in this movie’s title is more metaphorical that literal). Now with the big guys back all together, this allows for an addition of the doctor who undergoes a Jekyll and Hyde type of transformation into a stereotypical evil scientist, and who has a lovely Igor type of sidekicking assistant that doesn’t let her nonstereotypical gender as a female get in the way of her hunched back. Put all these characters together under one roof and they are all ready to do the Mash... the Monster Mash. However, with the novelty of this kind of graveyard smash beginning to wear thin even with the most fanatical fan of fear at the time, this is one of the last times we get to see the monsters mashing it up in one film. Thus marking it as the last nail into the coffin of an era that begot a group of horror headliner acts that would forever be Universally known the classic icons of the genre.

One of the earliest "Monster Mash-ups" I saw as a kid on a local TV frightfest show called "Creature Features". I remember my older brother telling me right before the program started that just because this is called "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" the truth was that all three of the Universal Monsters Top Trio of Terror, Franky, Dracky and Wolfy, would be making an appearance throughout this film.
To which I couldn't help but inquire "All three of 'em? Cool. Who's on first?"

Almost a decade before Michelle Pfeiffer fell in love with Jack Nicholson as a werewolf in Wolf,
she was in another movie about lycanthropantic love, this time with black knight, Rutger Hauer.
So in my eyes, though she's shared her fair share of screentime with many a romantic leading man, as far as horror-themed hook-ups go, rugged Rutger will always be the manwolf to her ladyhawke.

In 1943, Universal Studios released Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man, a film that is considered the first to actually team up two of the monster mainstays that will make the studio company famous (in the horror flick circle, that is). Its story is considered the sequel to the original 1941 Wolf Man and at the same time, the fifth chapter in the Frankenstein series.
And while it seems like it's the werewolf who experiences more development as a character, it's still cool to see that the creatures who have become staples in legendary lore of the scare flick are now sharing terrorizing tactics together in the same world.

Obviously, this isn't the standard type of werewolf flick that you'll see dominating this list.



Okay, while Disney or Pixar don't ever have to worry about Aardman Studios ever taking any food out of their mouths at the box office, the truth is, I prefer their stuff better.
It's takes the lighthearted animation that currently crowds the movie theater industry today and adds British slant to both the dialogue and humor. Which tends to provide a nice little break from all that high-tech formula of the big boys, and a down-to-earthiness quality that's not found from Tim Burtons more macabre and zany-esque caricatures.
Even watching Curse Of The WereRabbit, their take on the werewolf lore, feels much more like a relaxing tea and crumpets afternoon at the cinema than a mega-merchandising spectacle that the DisPix people would have likely hyped it up into.

As someone who had no real interest in this series or it's subject matter, it wasn't until this istallment that I finally watched a Harry Potter movie. And being that I never read any of the books, I was quite taken aback at the over-all consistency of balance between the fantasy element of the wizarding world and that of the personal struggles of what goes thru a young person's mind trying to deal with things like death, authority and finding one's place in the life. Compelling drama, a story-line that both successfully continues the series and yet also manages to stand on it's own, well-placed chemistry between the characters, medieval sets that visually stun, Dementors that horrify, old tree willows that whomp and even a werewolf that looks pretty damn bad-ass.
I walked into this film an indifferentiated non-fan and ended up coming out a hardcore Pot-head.

What do you get when you pack in a group of misfit zombies, a serial killing neighbor, a mischievous trick-or-tricking imp, and for the purposes of this list's theme, a coven of werewolves, all into one script?
A Jack 'O' Lantern filled candy-collection of quality, modern campy Halloween tales of the escapist-fare variety done right: With more focus on the quality than on the camp.



For me, this is a movie that does an effective job of capturing the feel of all those big budget horror flix that were released during the late 80's and thru-out the 90's. The kind that always frustrated me because their scripts rarely reached the level of their budgets.
Trick 'r' Trick comes closer to the type of fun onscreen fearfest that I would've like to have seen during that particular time of the horror cinema.

 Back in the 1930's and early 40's, it was the power trio of Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Wolfman, that made the Universal Monsters so universal to the movie going public. But by the late mid 50's, it seemed that this "Triumvirate of Terror" had lost all bankability at the box office.
  That is, until Hammer Film Productions decided to take a crack at it.
And with their distinctive brand of visceral storytelling and Gothic cinema, they sparked up a lightning strike that forever forged their name into the history of horror and showed that the curse of the werewolf still had some serious bite to it.

   From the same country that gave the world fries, silk pie, and onion soup, comes a really cool blockbuster epic that is half historic film, half gothic horror, and full epic adventure.
 For this particular tale of lupine terror, we go back to the Age of Enlightenment (for those of us who failed Humanities class back in high school, that's the 18th century for you and me), when the locals of the southern French province of Gévaudan were being terrorized by a shadowy beastly creature of the lycanthropic variety.  But is it an actual werewolf of many a folkloric legend or just an oversized wolf with an appetite for the flesh of man?
 There are only two men who can find out and one of them is the dude who hosts Iron Chef America! Yep, one of the actors who plays Mani, scout of the Brotherhood, also moonlights as the host of one the Food Channel's most popular shows. Which means that he's a perfect candidate to fight against a werewolf, because you know that he gotta have a bunch of silver stocked up in his drawers 

In 1943, Universal Studios released Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man, a film that is considered the first to actually team up two of the monster mainstays that will make the studio company famous (in the horror flick circle, that is). Its story is also considered the sequel to the original 1941 Wolf Man of Lon Chaney Jr fame. House Of Frankenstein is the chapter that follows FMtWM, and it offers up even more monster mash-up madness, despite the fact that ol' Franky takes top billing. And the reason I bring this movie up in this particular list is because, other than the first Wolf Man flick, I think HoF does the best in terms of focusing on the character of Larry Talbot, Wolfy's alter ego. It might be Franky's house that is the subject of the movie title, but the truth is, it's the werewolf's angst and desire for a cure (and for a little love, too) that seems not only to take up the most room of the stage center, but also is the most interesting part of the whole plot-line.

Hey, if you've ever wondered what a teenage werewolf looks like upside down, in a jumpsuit and wearing over-sized wax teeth,
then this is the film for you.



Before he made a name for himself in hit television shows such as Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven, Michael Landon was just a teenager tryin' ta "make it in pictures". And one of his first film roles was in this horror high school flick, where he learns that when you're a teenager, having a few blemishes, some extra hair in places that didn't have hair before, and a rebellious nature, are to be expected.
The same too is expected if you're a werewolf.

And even though this 50's classic is still filled with it's fair share of angst ridden camp that is typical of this era, I still find it's campiness much more digestible than the more updated teen-howler, similar-themed Teen Wolf (with all due respect to Mr. J. Fox, of course).

A nurse takes up a job as a housekeeper and eventual nanny for a mysterious young woman and her unborn child. Clara, the nurse turned nanny, notices some bestial tendencies on her new employer's part when she observes her goes out during a bout of sleepwalking. After her boss unexpectedly and suddenly dies from a violent birth, Clara decides to raise the feral child as her own. However, it can be very difficlt trying to raise a child as a single parent. Even more harrowring is trying to raise a wolf-child, single parent or not. It must be taught how to behave well, to eat all, and only, it's vegatables, to say "please" and "thank you, to not kill people, and all other sorts of good manners.
This Portuguese speaking take of the wolf's lore is not only a very solid urban fable in the midst of Brazil's big city backdrop, but also cuts no corners in it's display of the werewolf in it's full form. Even when the werewolf in question still hasn't even hit puberty yet.

The very first werewolf movie, preceding the more famous Wolf Man, starring Lon Chaney Jr. (son of make-up master Lon Chaney, who's contribution to the horror genre is too well known to even mention).
And, as a first time effort to cinematically depict a half-man/half-wolf hybrid howler, it ain't too bad. In fact, it's pretty darn good. So good, that there are some horror enthusiasts who think it's even better than The Wolf Man.
Now, I ain't one of those enthusiasts, but I still enjoy it enough to include it on my annual monster marathons that I embark on every Halloween season.

What do you do when the werewolves begin to attack systematically and in packs?
Send in the troops.
And then just sit back, and enjoy, as the bullets, blood, big booms and British accents fly.

There comes a time in every young girl's life when her body starts to give off signs that she's becoming a woman.
Or a werewolf.

Just a plain ol' classic, this one is right there. I am a huge fan of the first black & white Universal Monster series of way back in the day and 1941's Wolf Man is probably my favorite one of the mash. Even after all the breakthroughs that scary movies have made in the long span since this was first released, from my point of view, any datedness that may have resulted over time from these original gangstas of horror quickly fade under the integrity and the energy that was "eternally" captured during filming.



While the first two of Universal's mainstay monsters, Dracula and Frankenstein, were based off of books, the Wolf Man, like the Mummy, was not. It was strictly based off of the loose legend of the werewolf. And, Lon Chaney Jr's was not the first onscreen werewolf since six years earlier, Universal had released Werewolf of London. However, because of it's subpar performance at the box office, this British version of the lupine two-legger never got the chance to rise to the iconic status that Chaney's was able to achieve. Which I'm okay with despite the love that I do have for WoL.
This Wolf Man, made famous by the son of a thousand faces, will always be, in my eyes, the true face of the wolf that walks like a man. With his much furrier demeanor, more animalistic attitude, and his link to the legendary lore (although, much of that lore was made up for this flick and the ones that followed), this one fits much more effectively into the hairy toed shoes and the long lasting image that befits a luna lauding lycanthrope.

Before the lead character in this movie was a werewolf, he was a Pepper. And for some subliminal reason, that made me want to be a Pepper too.
(Sorry kids. I know that the majority of you most likely won't understand that comment, b'cuz it's before your time. If you wanna know what it means, just look it up on youtube. That is, if you don't wanna be left in the dark.
And believe me, you don't wanna be left in the dark.
Because, keeping in theme with this list, the dark is where werewolves like dwell.)



IMO,
the An American Werewolf In London is the best werewolf movie ever.