This devilish brute was a treat to watch chewing
up the scenery in The Werewolf of London
'Tis that time of the year, this very week in fact, when all things supernatural fascinate even the meekest among us. Halloween is nearly upon us, and most folks like to, at the very least, curl up with a scary movie or two on that very special evening. I know I do.
Among all the ghosts, demons, zombies, mutated beasties, vampires, man-made monsters, serial-killers, and undead mummies, my favourite mythological creature stands at the top of the bunch - the fun and furry werewolf.
There are countless werewolf re-imaginings in film, but I can certainly narrow them down to some of my favourites plus the most iconic growlers ever:
My fascination with the lycanthrope (shape-shifter) goes way back to my childhood when I first saw Abbott and Costello battle (no, run away from, really) The Wolf Man. Portrayed by the immortal horror actor Lon Chaney Jr, this werewolf also starred in the classic The Wolf Man and its "spin-off" monster-mashes Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, and House of Dracula. These were all products of the Silver Age of horror movies, an era of spooky monsters in glorious black and white.
The Werewolf of London kicked things off nicely in 1935 with a unique twist: a rare plant that only blooms during a full moon is used as a temporary antidote for English botanist Wilfred Glendon's werewolfism. Great fun even today, this movie features the earliest depiction of a "wolf man" in mainstream cinema.
The Wolf Man of 1941 is perhaps my favourite of all horror movies. I never tire of watching poor Lon Jr sweating it out as the full moon activates the gypsy curse that was placed upon him. And then the young chap sprouts fur and fangs and roams the moors looking for dinner. Things get a bit bloody, but hey, he just can't help himself. That famous man-to-wolfman transformation scene is still a beaut to watch, perhaps not as slick as modern special effects would give us, but those early creative techniques heavily influenced shape-shifters in every horror film made since.
A lesser-known but very effective chiller from the 40's was The Unknown Monster, which I recently re-enjoyed... mainly for its moody setting and fine acting, since the creature did not reveal itself until the very end. Still fine.
Oliver Reed helped revitalize the horror genre in the 60's with his contribution in Curse of the Werewolf, a colourful tale by Hammer Studios. This, along with Hammer's re-booted Dracula, Frankenstein and Mummy franchises, chiseled these monsters into the public consciousness once again.
1981 offered a double-whammy of modern classics with The Howling and An American Werewolf in London. The Howling set some groundbreaking special effects standards, impressive in their own right, though American Werewolf stepped it up even further, especially with the metamorphosis scenes. Both movies provided dark comedy to counter the very violent and bloody visuals, and the combination was intoxicating. These two are among my fave horrors of all time. The Howling spawned a series of sequels, of which I've only seen a few. They vary in quality, but for the most part, they retain a twisted sense of humour that somehow allows us to swallow these often ludicrous stories. Like the were-marsupials in Howling III - wacky and rather bad, but so bad it's good, if you know what I mean.
Also in '81, we got Wolfen, which I found kind of disappointing. This was actually a crime thriller about real special wolves as the antagonists - no shape-shifting involved. Who knows, maybe I'd appreciate this more now that I'm all grown up.
The Company of Wolves from '84 was one of the most beautiful-looking horror movies ever made, drenched in atmosphere and a fairy-tale style that transports the viewer into a more innocent realm, which does become rather dark and sexualized at times.
Stephen King's story Silver Bullet was successfully adapted to the silver screen in the 80's. I quite like it, even though it gets a bit corny, but hey, that decade had such a great vibe in its genre movies.
I think the most recent "good" werewolf movie I saw was Ginger Snaps, which had its merits as an exploration of a more modern mythology blended with a teenage girl's experiences with lycanthropy. I plan to revisit this very shortly, in fact. Here's hoping I like it as much as I did the first time.
Now it's time to put on Warren Zevon's howling good song Werewolves of London:
"I saw a werewolf drinkin' a pina colada at Trader Vic's
And his hair was perfect..."
Just one of the gruesome stages of shape-shifting
in The Howling
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