What happened to Werewolves?

Werewolves

What happened to werewolves?  I’ve always liked werewolves, but our idea of them has changed so much since I was a kid.  The werewolf started out in 1941 in a really old movie called The Wolf Man.  I’ve never seen the film myself, but it stared Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolf Man.  There were no packs in this and the whole thing was about a curse I think.

Move forward a bit and the myth of lycanthropy becomes more portrayed in movies and books.  In 1981 I went to the movies to see a flick called The Howling.  This werewolf movie had a sort of pack of werewolves.  Bear with me, it’s been a loooooong time since I’ve seen this movie.  I do remember I loved it.  The werewolves weren’t good guys, even though they ran in a sort of pack, they were still killing machines.  None of them were nice, or protective, or social.  They killed, and that was that.

In 1981 one of my all time favorite movies also had a werewolf in it, An American Werewolf in London.  Again, the werewolf wasn't social, or protective, it killed everyone it could.  The human character becomes quite disturbed when he finally realizes the truth that it's him going on a killing spree during the full moon.  This movie has one of the all time best scenes of changing into a werewolf ever made!

I know this video isn't the highest definition, but movies weren't made in high def back then.  Imagine if they re-made this move today!  I'm not a fan of remakes, and if this movie was remade I would probably be upset and certain it would never be as good as the original, but they could do all kinds of effects for the werewolf with video tricks now a days!  If you like werewolves and haven't seen this movie, find it NOW!  The music is fantastic, too!

Want a quick video that shows basically what the movie is about?  Beware, there are parts of this clip that are a bit graphic.  Note the part with the English policeman in the theater, you only see the werewolf for a few seconds, but it’s actually pretty frightening!

Whenever I think of a werewolf, that's what I think of.  This version is so popular, that in 2013 the Universal Orlando theme park had an American Werewolf in London themed haunted house!  I really wish I could have walked through that one.  I know it more than likely would have scared the socks off of me, but I would have loved it anyway!  (I think my niece needs to come with me into any haunted house I enter.  *chuckle*)

I have a bluray of An American Werewolf in London and one of my favorite stories from the extra features is about when the two Americans are first attacked by the werewolf.  You see the one kid on the ground as the werewolf attacks him and it really looks violent.  The story goes that the wolf head was a huge puppet and when the director said “action”, instead of letting the actor pretend he was being attacked, the puppeteer just beat the hell out of the actor with the puppet.  The director loved it and so when you see that scene, the guy is really trying to defend himself while this wolf head is smacking and biting him!  *chuckle*

But on to what’s happened to werewolves.  I have a few friends who have written about them, but they seem to see werewolves in a different light than I do.  They see them as pack friendly and sometimes even as heroes.  I’m not sure if my friends would like me putting their books on here when I’m going on and on about how werewolves should be monsters and not puppies, so I won’t mention any names.  But honestly, what happened to stories about the maniac creature who kills every time the moon is full?  Stephen King wrote about a werewolf, believe it or not.  His story was made into a low budget flick called Silver Bullet, but it had a great story!  Stephen King always has such good characters in his stories.  Here’s a trailer of that one:

A lot of the movie (and story) is about trying to figure out who the werewolf really is.  When you finally find out who it is, it's quite a revelation!  Someone you might not expect to be a ravenous killing machine.  *chuckle*  But again, the werewolf doesn't have a pack and just kills everyone it can.

I won’t even go into the movies and books from Twilight and the Underworld series because I haven’t watched them.  I refuse to watch any of the Twilight movies on general principle.  I can ask my niece about them, she’s read the books and seen the movies.  But then I think that’s more of a teenage girl thing.  And again, in these movies even though some of the werewolves may be bad guys, they still run in packs. 

I wonder where people got this kind of thing from.  Since when would something that is considered a curse or disease lead you to being part of a pack?  It’s not like leprosy where you’re just trying not to infect other people.  In most of the werewolf stuff I like, the character who is the werewolf is in denial at first and refuses to believe that he transforms.  By the time they realize what they’ve become, someone ends up killing them. 

Ok, enough ranting about werewolves for today.  Go and watch a good werewolf movie.  I know my niece won’t watch An American Werewolf in London with me.  I’ve asked her and she’s never shy about telling me no.  That’s not her kind of stuff, but then since I won’t watch Twilight with her, she’s within her right not to want to watch a movie about an insane killing lycanthrope with me.  *chuckle*

Until tomorrow…Ciao.