Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Were-Nerd: Part 1

You know the scene: There’s a full moon and a buxom young woman in an inexplicably tight dress is running along the moors. She stops, panting, hand on a tree trunk, and looks behind her. A howl is heard in the distance and she shrieks, before taking off again.

And then, for no readily apparent reason, her clothes fall off.

Quick: What’s chasing her?
a) A chicken with a cold and a bad leg
b) No one, she’s just out for a jog and couldn’t find her sweats
c) A werewolf
d) All of the above

The answer is of course: d.

No, wait, c. The answer is definitely c (though a and b are not unreasonable).

This seems to be pretty standard fare. Man turns into werewolf, man eats people, man chases girlfriend/random female, man is eventually captured, rehabilitated and sold as a pet.

NOTE: Not many movies with female werewolves out there. Wolfen, way back in ’81. That terrible one with Christina Ricci (Cursed), and Ginger Snaps I and II (which rock). There was also Cat People with Nastassja Kinski, which obviously had cats. Can’t think of any others. In Underworld, you never see a single female werewolf (though there are tons of female vampires).

At any rate, my point (and I have one) is that were-critters are always big, strong, vicious beasts. Psychologists would probably say that were-things are representative of the innate savagery and suppressed animal urges of the modern human. Regardless, it’s probably not because girls dig guys with hairy backs.

Tomorrow: Were-Nerd: Part 2

12 comments:

Gillsing said...

I'm pretty sure "Full Eclipse" has a female werewolf, but I'm not sure if she's actually seen in her wolf form.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106980/

Also "An American Werewolf in Paris" seems to have one, and perhaps she's even in the London movie. I only vaguely remember those movies.

Anonymous said...

There was a British TV show a while back called "She Wolf of London" that had a female werewolf as the main character.

Anonymous said...

"Teen Wolf 2" had one.

zodo said...

"Wolf" starring Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer had a female werewolf (Pfeiffer).

Anonymous said...

Hmm, I forgot about Wolf, anyway, what about that one movie, that no one noticed, Blood and Chocolate? I guess you could say they were werewolves. There was plenty of both in it. Then again, They were people or wolves, not exactly werewolves, in the big monster kind of way.

I remember so little of that movie, I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me it was about rats stealing cheese from the nazi's, and I was crazy.

MOO

Jason Janicki said...

Never heard of Full Eclipse. I'm pretty sure An American Werewolf in London doesn't have a female werewolf. I didn't see the 'in Paris' version. Wait, did I? I might have caught part of it on cable.

Was She Wolf of London any good?

Teen Wolf 2? Huh, I vaguely recall the first one.

Oh, yeah, Wolf. I remember it being very 'meh.' Not horrible, but unremarkable.

I don't recall Blood and Chocolate.

The big question is: Are any of these good? Supernatural horror seems to be out right now, all you get are nut-jobs in masks and evil engineers/towns (ala Saw and Hostel).

Anonymous said...

(looks like my first comment got eaten...)

There is a Ginger Snaps III ('Ginger Snaps Back') that is absolutely FABULOUS. It's one of my top Werewolf movies.

There was also The Devil's Hound in 2007 that was awful. It might be worth renting for sheer WTF value I guess.

Blood and Chocolate is also lame. It's very loosely based on a book by the same name that is not actually too bad for teen fiction.

Jason Janicki said...

Oooooh! Ginger Snaps III! I LOVED the first two. I will definately look it up! Thanks!

arcotroll said...

Blood and chocolate had tons of female werewolves. (males too but they were kind of wimpy apart from the leader guy)

Jason Janicki said...

Huh, maybe I'll have to check out Blood and Chocolate. As an aside, I originally typed 'Blook and Chocolate' which also sounds interesting, come to think of it.

Sinai_WinterWolf said...

She-Wolf of London was great for it's time. I remember watching it on the Sci-Fi channel (BEFORE it started showing wrestling... o.O;;;). I tried taping the episodes, which always leads to heartbreak eventually due to the fact that you're never quite sure if you got all the episodes. I'm hoping they release the show on DVD, though it wasn't terribly long. I love the werewolf makeup they use! Pretty good plots for each episode, too. And, gasp, they don't have a transformation in each & every episode--yet the episode isn't entirely boring!

I despised the episodes after the main character goes back to America, though (I'm pretty sure that was a Season Finale/Opener). The werewolf makeup/special effects goes right down the crapper. It doesn't even look like a werewolf anymore--more like a monkey or an alien with big bat ears and no muzzle whatsoever. And the plotlines for the episodes are terrible after that as well.

Full Eclipse is an HBO movie, btw. Good plot ideas, but certain quirks within the movie make me wish they would've tried harder.

And for the love of shoggoths, don't rent "Wild Country"!!! You'll want to gouge out your eyes with broken glass, even though there's a female werewolf--who also nurses a baby werewolf. Yes, I know I perked interest, but I tell you now: Don't. Watch. It. Amazon doesn't even LIST the movie; I had to go onto Movie Gallery's site to remember the name. That ALONE should tell you something!

I'm done now. Soapbox is up for grabs....

Jason Janicki said...

Interesting. I'll have to see if I can find a few episodes online. Thanks!