So, among the films of this last week was somewhat generic werewolf movie, that nevertheless had some points of interest to it. When I was growing up, there seemed to be a limited number of werewolf movies that got shown. Typically you'd see Universal's The Wolf Man (1941) most regularly, and occasionally, the Werewolf of London (1935) or I Was A Teenage Werewolf (1957). On the evening movies I seem to remember Hammer's Curse of the Werewolf (1961), and I have vague memories of Moon of the Wolf (1972) as a TV movie of the Week, and at some point I remember staying up late to see The Werewolf of Washington (1973). But overall, werewolves were scarce. Later on I would discover more, such as the enormously fun The Beast Must Die! (1974) or the largely forgotten Cry of the Werewolf (1944) with Nina Foch, or Paul Naschy's Waldemar Daninsky movies from Spain (1967 -2004).
An American Werewolf in London (1981) and The Howling (1981) seemed to bring werewolves back into the spotlight, and of those two, I always preferred The Howling. People around me always raved about An American Werewolf in London, and while I can appreciate Rick Baker's creature design and the groundbreaking transformation sequence, the film itself always seemed to have very little story or plot, and the humor just really failed to engage me.
More recently still there have been other interesting takes on the Werewolf, with things like the Ginger Snaps series (2000 - 2004) reinventing the subtext of the werewolf story, or films like Silver Bullet (1985) and Late Phases (2014)examining lycanthropy from the perspective of other physical disabilities. Dog Soldiers (2002) finally answered the question as to who would win in a fight between werewolves and heavily armed and well-trained and disciplined soldiers in a tense, funny, and high energy piece that belongs on every werewolf fan's shelf.
But for every one of those, there are ones that slip between the cracks, and this week's werewolf films were of those varieties; Bad Moon (1996) and Werewolf: The Beast Among Us (2012).
Both of these films are somewhat low budget, forgettable pieces, but they have points of interest. Of the two, Werewolf: The Beast Among Us is the fluffier movie, placing a werewolf mystery into a steampunk Victorian setting not unlike the disappointing Van Helsing (2004). Say what you will though, it gives a nice visual aesthetic if nothing else. Apparently, Europe in this film universe is overrun by enough lycanthropes to warrant the need for wandering bands of werewolf hunters living off the bounties their prey brings. Lets face it, that's a LOT of werewolves. It upends the usual mythology of using werewolves as the servants of vampires, and has the victims of werewolves rise as zombie-like undead known as wurdelacs. Wurdelacs may, or may not, evolve into something more akin to the traditional vampire, but which are immune to sunlight. Its an interesting take on monster ecology, really. The actors are largely one note, but they are competent enough, and though the "mystery" of the piece is solved a bit early, its got enough twist remaining to keep it interesting. Its a fine popcorn flick, and a good way to while away a couple hours.
The other film, Bad Moon, is a more traditional movie in a lot of ways, with some solid B-list actors in its cast. Its headed by Mariel Hemingway and Michael Pare. Pare in particular has been in some favorite B-Movies, ranging from Eddie and the Cruisers (1983) to genre pieces like The Philadelphia Experiment (1984) and Moon 44 (1990). Its not really a spoiler to let you know that Michael Pare's character is infected by a werewolf in the opening scene, and the film unfolds from there. There isn't much mystery in this piece, and in a lot of ways, its a predictable story. What makes it more interesting is that Pare's main nemesis in the film is NOT Mariel Hemingway (who plays his character's sister) but rather her dog, Thor. Of all the characters in the film, Thor is the one who is instantly aware of the werewolf in their midst, and does what he can to protect his family from it. However, being a dog, it can't exactly point out the monster or explain its actions, and so it becomes a sort of odd battle of wills between Thor and Pare. Its an unusual choice, and one I can respect.
What I also respect is Pare's performance here. His character, Ted Hamilton, comes across as uneven... sometimes seeming to fight against the lycanthropic curse, and other times, seeming to willingly give in to it. This uneven response must have made it difficult for Pare as an actor to understand his motivations. They seem to shift from scene to scene. So... at one point, Ted is crying about his curse, and in the next scene, he seems to be subtly menacing and carefully choosing his next victim. Or, later, after successfully framing the dog Thor for an attack, he watches with satisfaction as animal control takes the dog away, even mockingly waving goodbye to the dog when no one is looking... but in the next scene he's trying to chain himself to a tree to prevent himself from attacking the family now that their protector is gone.
Werewolf movies typically depict the curse as either being something that the victim of is ALWAYS at odds with, or that they have totally given themselves over to the evil nature of the curse... but this is one of the few films I think that show the gradual corruption of the victim. Ted Hamilton is a good man, but he is slowly losing the battle against his cursed nature, and we are seeing his last, desperate attempts to rally his good side, but we also see him willingly giving in to the evil as well. When Pare is onscreen in this film, your attention is on HIM. It works in an odd way that really shouldn't. Its a subtle split personality performance in a place you wouldn't necessarily expect. Its not a major film, but you could do worse.
If you're still looking for werewolf films and the ones I've mentioned in this article aren't enough for you, take a look at Howl (2015), Cursed (2005), The Beast of Bray Road (2005), and for the romantics in you, Blood and Chocolate (2007).
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