Tag Archives: Werewolf

The Wolf Man’s Unstoppable Legacy of Terror

Image October 28, 2024 Manic Exorcism Leave a comment

It’s that time of year again – arguably the best season of all! A time of longer nights and shorter days. A season fraught with nightmarish landscapes! Skeletons hang silently from banisters like cadavers strung over a hangman’s gallows, neighboring lawns – the same ones we pass day in and out – become overnight graveyards, masked ghouls take to the streets seeking treats, and inhuman voices howl at autumn moons. The season of horror and the hour of monsters is again upon us.

Horror fans don’t have to wait a whole year to indulge in the inner beasts that drive us, but this time of year makes it much more fun to embrace all things macabre. With Halloween approaching, I’ve decided to continue my tradition of focusing on a specific legendary monster. This year, my fangs are bare and I’m going for the jugular with Universal Monster’s Wolf Man.

The film stands as an early example of body horror, showcasing our protagonist’s human form abandoning its natural grace and becoming grotesquely animalistic. Bones break and rearrange, skin tears and fur grows, nails curl blackly into sharpened talons and teeth sprout from a beastly maul hungry for human blood. Human anatomy is mutilated until a man becomes an accursed beast trapped under the gossamer shine of a haunting moon. Such is the horrid fate of the werewolf as we know it today. And nearly all of our knowledge concerning werewolf lore draws from the imaginative concepts introduced in this classic horror spectacle.

The movie takes its viewers on a dangerous journey across haunted moors and a gypsy camp where old magic still rules the night and locks all under a gloom of superstition and existential dread. This distant land of mysticism is shared by resplendent mansions and modern conveniences, which, intentional or not, leaves us a message – the modern day of science and progression is not protected from the old curses of a much more powerful world still lingering on the outskirts of society. The moors hold their secrets and the practitioners of the old ways know more than modern mankind when it comes to safeguarding against primordial haunts and horrors. This lesson our protagonist, Larry Talbot (played by horror royalty Lon Chaney Jr.) all too soon falls prey to.

We’re entering the violent world of the Wolf Man and only a silver bullet can protect you from that haunter of night. Lock yourself behind an iron gate and say your prayers he’s not picked up your scent.

“Even a man who’s pure at heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolf bane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.” – The Wolf Man

The plot is one of pathos. Much like the other demons of Universal Studios’ House of Horrors, this monster is another lamentation of lost innocence. Larry Talbot has reluctantly returned home to his father’s house (here played by acclaimed actor Claude Raines who starred in The Invisible Man and later Phantom of the Opera) and it’s not long before Larry’s struck by otherworldly powers.

In many cases, victims in horror movies often get exactly what they’re looking for. A puzzle box that opens the labyrinths of Hell, an Ouija board, calling out the Candyman’s name five times, or simply exploring a house said to be haunted are all examples of how curiosity can lead to dire consequences and make for some really good scares. However, this is not the case with the Wolf Man. He neither went seeking to become a wolf nor was he even the intended victim of the werewolf’s bloodlust.

Larry brings Hell down upon himself by simply being a good Samaritan. Hearing the distressed cries of a woman being attacked in the woods Larry rushes out to help only to find she’s being attacked by a wolf. With no thought to caution, Larry throws himself between the beast and its prey and quickly becomes the new object of its rage.

Unbeknownst to Larry this isn’t a mere wolf which would’ve been bad enough. No, this was a werewolf. Larry wins the fight and kills the beast but doesn’t walk away as a victor. He’s been bitten and we all know good and well what that means for poor Larry.

His selfless act of valor ends up cursing him to the beast’s possession. A murderous rage soon takes over his mind, eating away at his senses and sending him out into the night to hunt down and kill all whom he holds dear. It’s a story of sublime pathos if ever there was one and that’s the silent genius of the movie’s timeless strength.

This ingenious concept – that still holds up in every werewolf movie to come out after Universal’s feral classic I might add – is all due to the insight of one man – the movie’s screenwriter, Curt Siodmak. Of course, werewolf lore existed before the movie’s release and this wasn’t even the first werewolf movie out at the time. Werewolf of London had already come and gone but ultimately didn’t enjoy the success Wolf Man managed. This is due to the personal touch of sadness Siodmak put into his screenplay.

Siodmak’s youth was ravaged by sudden tragedy as his home was overtaken by men and women who turned hostile and monstrous against him and his own kind as if overnight. Being Jewish Siodmak saw his neighbors and acquaintances transform and give in to bestial instincts. Jewish people were forced to identify with a star, a symbol that later on would mark them for death. It’s no wonder then that in his screenplay the Wolf Man can see a pentagram star appear on the palm of his victim’s hand, a sure mark of death for the innocent and unsuspecting victim.

This harrowing environment stayed with Siodmak well after his family fled Germany and elements of it settled into his imagination and went on to create one of the most enduring movie monsters of all time. So powerful was Siodmak’s vision that Wolf Man DNA can be seen in every werewolf movie to follow. Before Wolf Man people turned into a werewolf by eating a poisonous plant or by magic herbs. But now all of a sudden a man bitten by a werewolf (and lived) would join the demons of the night in a rampage of grotesquely.

Wolf Man also introduced the idea that silver is lethal to werewolves, as well as the concept of transformation during a full moon. These elements contributed to the foundation of many iconic and cult werewolf films, including Silver Bullet, The Howling, An American Werewolf in London, and Ginger Snaps. All of these “wolfy” favorites draw on the concepts established in this classic Universal horror film.

In short, what Bram Stoker did for vampires and George Romero did for zombies Siodmak did for werewolves. Ask anyone: how do you kill a werewolf and they’ll tell you a silver bullet. Same goes for how we all know a werewolf transforms on full moons. These monster facts are rooted securely in our cultural zeitgeist and that’s something very, very hard to pull off. And so we salute Siodmak, a man not very well known among horror fans, but, maybe that can change, because had it not been for his imagination and insight we would’ve been robbed of one of the most enduring movie monsters to ever go tearing across the screen.

Is Universal’s Wolf Man a perfect film? Hell no, of course not and I’m not gonna pretend it is otherwise. But it serves perfectly on my annual Halloween watchlist. It doesn’t have to be perfect to be effective. Its moody atmosphere and eerie imagery are all perfectly Halloweeny and if you’ve never seen it you’re missing out on one of horror’s essential foundations that set the criteria for the genre.

Remakes of the Wolf

Wolf Man (2010)

I honestly don’t hate the 2010 remake. I saw it at the theater back when it came out. I also just ordered the Scream Factory special edition release. I think it’s a good retelling of the familiar classic with some decent (honestly gotta say shocking) gore. I also like how the Wolf Man looks proving once again that Rick Baker (American Werewolf in London) is the monster maker. It’s an updated vision of what Jack Pierce came up with all those years ago and I love it.

The one glaring fault with the movie is its unnecessary use of CGI. Because the studio had the genius of Rick Baker behind the project there’s no excuse for not letting him be in charge of the werewolf transformation scenes. Compare those scenes to what Baker did with AAWIL and you’ll see what I mean.

Overall does the remake deserve the hate it got? No. I mean comparing the look of its werewolf to that stupid shit Blumhouse is trying to push and yeah. Superior!

The story closely follows the original film with a few new twists and surprise elements to keep it fresh. Honestly, I say give it a chance.

Wolf (1994)

This is a weird one and shocking that it even exists. It’s not a bad movie but it’s just a bit odd. It’s a modern retelling of the Wolf Man and was inspired by the striking success of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The ‘90s wanted to restore the audience’s love for classic horror icons with new erotic romance, updated effects, and blood. Woo hoo!

Well, Wolf might strike some (probably most) viewers as a boring journey seeing as how there is no wild transformation scene. Not on the lever of AAIL or The Howling. You also won’t get a full-body werewolf costume like you do in Silver Bullet. Our lead protagonist slowly does turn more wolf-like and will fully become a beast by the end of the movie but it’s nothing at all like what people expect to see.

This time our lead is played by Jack Nicholson (The Shining, Batman), and is no stranger to horror roles or larger-than-life parts. He’s a perfect casting choice to play the role of Larry Talbot but the filmmaker chose to hold back. There’s no amazing monster makeup and Nicholson’s roles in The Shining and The Joker are way more memorable. That’s not to say there’s no monster effects. There are they’re just, well, have a look. They look fine.

Wolf came out during that weird time in the ‘90s when Hollywood didn’t want to make ‘horror’ films and preferred the term thrillers. Because of this attitude, the movie really feels like a monster movie that’s scared of being associated with being a monster movie. So it misses the point. All that said I do weirdly like it. I mean honestly, I’ve not seen it since I was a teen and I liked it back then. If I rewatched it now all these years later that all could possibly change.

Personally, I’d recommend just watching any other werewolf flick. That or the 2010 remake. If you’ve never seen the original movie I say go give it a watch because I’m a whore for Universal Monsters and have to watch them every year around this time.

Further Recommendations: Sequels

I’d also strongly recommend the Wolf Man’s sequel, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. One of the first times horror icons met up in a fatal fight to the death as the man made of cadavers and the man cursed by the moon are locked in battle. It’s also the earliest example of a shared universe way before Marvel ever acted like they started that shit.

And, if you’re like me and have seen all these movies a dozen times over and still need a lycan fix, I just discovered a novel officially released by Universal Monsters that’s a sequel to the Wolf Man. It’s called Return of the Wolf Man and the book opens up right away with our hairy beast promptly fighting Dracula! Not only that but the Frankenstein Monster shows up and already this is proving to be a wild monster mash well worth the price I paid for it.

Yeah, so about that, it’s sad to say this thing can be pricy as all fuck. I paid $40 at Half Price Books for my (used paperback) copy but a copy on Amazon (last I looked) is going for over a hundred big ones. So yeah… If you happen to chance across this book at a used store or the library I say pick it up.

So that’s it, my nasties. Hope you all enjoyed our little journey into the night to discuss werewolves. You all have a Happy Halloween and watch out when you go out after sunset. If you hear something howling in the dark run as fast as you can. You might get away with your life.

Editorials, Horror Nostalgia

KENT BROADHURST ELEVATED ‘SILVER BULLET’ FROM CAMP TO CLASSIC

Image October 10, 2021 Landon Evanson Leave a comment

It’s a phenomenon that has existed since the advent of cinema. A day player walks onto a set and so dominates a scene that it comes to define the picture.

Thirty-six years ago–October 11, 1985–with Corey Haim on the cusp of becoming a household name and Gary Busey at the height of his stardom (just six years removed from a Best Actor nomination), it was a character actor from St. Louis, Missouri who held audiences rapt for 103 beautifully agonized seconds.

SILVER BULLET was an adaptation of Stephen King’s Cycle of the Werewolf novella that told the tale of a lycanthrope terrorizing the town of Tarker’s Mills, and the young, wheelchair-bound boy (Haim) trying to stop him.

Too often, werewolf movies focus on carnage and transformation scenes, and as a result fail to connect with viewers on a personal level, but SILVER BULLET was not most werewolf movies.

When Marty’s best friend was torn apart by the beast, King (who also penned the screenplay) and first-time director Daniel Attias elected to make said murder more than a blip on the body county radar and instead used it as the vehicle that would propel the rest of the film.

Angry townsfolk, at that point convinced that the culprit in the untimely and brutal deaths of their neighbors and friends was a psycho wandering the woods, assembled at the local watering hole to devise a plan to put a stop to the unseen monster terrorizing their home. They were planning private justice.

The appetizer to Kent Broadhurst’s game-changing main course.

When Sheriff Haller (Terry O’Quinn) stormed into Owen’s Bar to order the throng back to their homes, local loudmouth Andy Fairton (the ever reliable Bill Smitrovich), upset that he’d been defeated by Haller in a recent election for the constable position, attempted to discredit the lead lawman with the proclamation that Haller “couldn’t catch a cold.”

Pub owner Owen Knopfler (Lawrence Tierney) immediately sniped “shut up, Andy” but Fairton’s “don’t tell me to shut up” was interrupted by an off-camera, almost whispered, “Yes. Shut up.” Everything came to a screeching halt as that camera panned, and Broadhurst assumed center stage.

Portraying Herb Kincaid, the father of Marty’s slain friend Brady (Joe Wright), Broadhurst stepped to the fore and shared that he’d just come from his son’s funeral. Haller quickly moved toward Kincaid in an ill-conceived attempt to comfort him with “I know how upset, how grief-stricken you must be.”

Orbs reddened from mourning, Kincaid responded “upset? Grief-stricken? You don’t know what those words mean.”

When Haller acknowledges that he knew that Kincaid’s son had been torn to pieces, Broadhurst pulled a crime scene photo from within his jacket and offered a glimpse to the would-be militia, roaring “my son was torn to pieces!” A cut to the armed and bundled inhabitants of Owen’s Bar was all of us: heartbroken and incapable of response, because what do you say–what can you say–to a parent who so gruesomely lost a child?

Broadhurst refocused his simmering sorrow upon Haller, and with exhausted eyes wondered aloud “and you come in here and talk to these men about private justice?” before sneering “you dare to do that?”

At that point, it was Quint waxing Indianapolis a decade later: every screening room in the country where SILVER BULLET was playing sat tomb silent.

“Why don’t you go out to Harmony Hill,” a brief pause allowed a disgusted snarl to form on Kincaid’s face at the officer’s ineffective investigation before he forced himself to say his name, “Sheriff Haller, and dig up what’s left of my boy Brady, and explain to him about private justice.

Would you wanna do that?!”

Though the interval between that query and “as for me, I’m gonna go out and hunt up a little private justice” was but mere seconds, it hung in the air for what felt an hour, because Broadhurst’s somber-turned-seething speech made us believe that the anguish behind it was authentic.

In that moment, SILVER BULLET was no longer a goofy werewolf movie where gore and mind-boggling practical effects were the highlights, but a story about loss and fear and pain, because Broadhurst communicated quite clearly that deaths in this film were not entertaining, they were excruciating.

It was an execution that any actor would be proud to call their own. An entire career of stage and screen work culminated in less than two minutes that opened the door for the very human performances to come from Busey and Robin Groves and Megan Follows.

You can have the transformation from AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF (1981), I’ll take a minute and forty-three seconds of Kent Broadhurst every time out of the gate and regret nothing.

(Broadhurst begins at 1:17)

Games

Castlevania! A Halloween Tra(con)dition

Image October 8, 2020 Manic Exorcism Leave a comment

Once upon a cold autumn season a game was released that allowed horror fans to travel back into a time of macabre legends, of monsters and madmen. Ingrained in our minds were images of Dracula’s dark castle where the Lord of the Night and his beastly servants dwelt.

Hammer Horror gave us insight into the wonderful abyss of dark intentions, of gothic landscapes, broken vestiges of a land long-held in the iron grip of incarnate Evil, but, most of all, of unlikely heroes armed with stakes and a crucifix and dedicated to hunting the horrors of the Night.

Vividly can we recall watching the brave Van Helsing (played by the one and only Peter Cushing) cornered by Count Dracula (brought to life by the extraordinary Christopher Lee) in a legendary fight to the death.

This was epic. It took the Universal era of horrors and increased the intensity and left us spell-bound. In the final battle, and trust me it was a battle, Van Helsing knows he can’t meet the Vampire Lord by strength alone.

Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, ‘The Horror of Dracula’

So the man rushes down a long table and throws himself at some closed curtains, opening them, and allowing the day’s light to blast itself against Dracula, burning him, leaving ash wherever it touches his body.

I was probably a weird kid but fuck all if I didn’t want to fight Dracula too! I wanted to explore the Vampire’s evil castle and go back to times when monsters walked the land. Being part of such gothic adventures enthralled my juvenile imaginations.

Then late September back in 1986 a phenomena hit the land and monster-lovers from all over were given the chance to do just that.

Castlevania Hit The World

Armed with a whip graced with the power to slay Vampires you step into the role of Simon Belmont, the last Vampire Killer, and face the rusty gates of Castlevania.

This lone barbarian warrior stands between the awakened horrors of the Night and the fate of humanity. Destiny is coiled within the whip and should you fail in your task of guiding Simon through Dracula’s haunted castle the human race is lost.

This is Castlevania! A daring action-adventure game made as a tribute to horror films of the past that immediately upon release both enchanted and inspired a generation of blossoming monster fans.

Gamers, young and old, flocked to this nightmarish realm trapped in the shadow of Dracula’s demonic fortress to match whit and strength against the terrors the game had in store for us.

Inspired by the exhaustive lore of both Universal Studios and Hammer Horror films, the game became the definitive monster game and immediately appealed to parents who grew up with those movies and found a new audience of kids who would grow up loving monsters from yesteryear.

image via Hammer Horror, Christopher Lee ‘Dracula Has Risen From the Grave’

All the greatest names of gothic terror are included herein. The Mummy, Frankenstein’s tortured monster, the deep ones and gillmen of the watery murk, werewolves (in later titles), and the Lord of Death himself, Count Dracula!

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, art by Ayami Kojima, ‘Dracula’

Medusa is even included here and you will face off against the Queen of Serpents.

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, art by *Ayami Kojima*, ‘Medusa’

Ghosts, vampire bats, haunted suits of armor, and skeleton soldiers! Of course, this game became an instant classic upon its release and the definitive Halloween game to play again, and again.

Upon playing the game countless times images of Frankenstein’s monster, Mummies, and Dracula could not be erased from my head. For the first time the extensive library of monsters given to me via Universal and Hammer came to life in a whole new way. I was now finally able to explore a world filled with them!

I remember getting in trouble in school for drawing a Castlevania pic with Dracula and the Grim Reaper floating over a bloody skeleton.

The teacher had to call in my parents over a ridiculous concern that maybe I was under Satanic influence. Yup, it was mid-eighties and the stupid fucking Satanic Panic was in full swing which made it tough to be a horror fan in school. At least in Minford, Ohio.

Why couldn’t we draw graveyards and zombies under a gibbous moon frosted with Death’s shroud?

Well, that shit was straight up frowned on, kiddies!

Luckily, I had/have cool parents and my mamma raised Manic on classic horror movies and we made a big deal about Halloween. So we agreed the teacher was a dumbass then went home to play Simon’s Quest.

My Introduction to Castlevania

“Hey! Have you heard of Castlevania?” my best friend asked me over recess one day. The name alone captivated my attention. The title was alive with full-moon images of gothic horrors. I just knew it had to have something to do with Dracula.

“It’s game about monsters and has Medusa in it,” he went on to tell me, barely able to contain his own excitement. “And the final boss is Dracula!” This was a big deal to old school gamers. I mean come on! King Koopa was the final boss in SMB which made him Mario’s arch-enemy. Same with Ganon and Link in Legend of Zelda. The final boss was Shredder in TMNT. So the role of Final Boss was designated to the biggest and baddest villain around, the arch-enemy!

So Dracula meant business, and his business was death and terror. And business was good, which wasn’t good at all for humanity.

“You even have to fight the Grim Reaper!” Honestly, I didn’t need to hear anymore because I was sold! I HAD to play Castlevania. It sounded like a horror freak’s dream come true.

The rest of that day draaaaggggggeed on and all I could focus on was getting home so I could tell mom about this amazing game we just had to play.

When the time came I leaped out of the bus and ran my little butt up the hill as if the Devil himself was driving me. I had to get home and tell mom! I had hopes that maybe (just maybe) I could convince her to go out and rent it.

I slammed through the door, yelled out for mom, rushed down the hall, and as I got closer to the back of the house I heard beautiful 8-bit music I didn’t recognize but instantly fell in love with. So I knew she was playing Nintendo. But oh my God what she was playing! She had already gone out and rented Castlevania and was playing it! Playing it and waiting for me to show me this fucking cool game!

Was I hooked? I don’t know. It was more like being drawn to it like a bee is drawn to pollen. Or an ant to a picnic. It was natural gravitation. It felt like a game tailor-made for people like me. For the first time gamers were permitted the opportunity to tread beyond the dilapidated threshold of Dracula’s castle and discover the many dark miracles hidden within.

Castlevania was a game shared by me and mom and became our daily thing to do. It wasn’t until Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest was released that mom and I really got into strategizing together. I’d come home from school and she’d pass the controller off to me to advance the progress. “I got us the chain whip,” I remember her saying one day, and that was huge news for us!

Castlevania Cannot Die!

Crossing generations and gaining new legions of fans the beloved franchise has enjoyed resurgences, and is a celebrated anime now on Netflix. Using the enriched-lore of Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse as its source of inspiration (a stroke of genius!) the show takes place a generation before Simon and tells the story of his father, Trevor Belmont’s, war against the Undead.

Once again I was spellbound by Castlevania. The show may not be perfect but it is a beautiful new way to explore the haunted world I grew up playing in. The show also has given people a desire to play the games once again and for that I applaud it.

Might as well throw this in here too. Just in case you can’t display your love for game franchise enough and need more to add to your life there are some beautiful Castlevania figures. A few years back Neca released their own line and their prices are quite hefty. But a new line of figures are being leased now by Diamond Select and are based off the anime.

Castlevania Anniversary Collection

In case you never had the chance to play the original games or if you’re dying to jump back in but don’t have an NES lying around you’re still in luck. The Castlevania Anniversary Collection is available on PS4, Xbox One, Steam, and the Switch.

image via Konami, ‘Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse’

Not only does the CAC come with the three original NES Castlevania trilogy, but it also includes the two Gameboy Castlevania games, Castlevania Adventure, Castlevania: Belmont’s Revenge.

You also get Super Castlevania IV, and the Sega Genesis Castlevania: Bloodlines.

image via Konami, ‘Super Castlevania IV’

And just for the Hell of it they’ve thrown in Kid Dracula.

This collection also includes the original Japanese versions for some of these titles giving Western players the chance to check out their favorite vampire-hunting games in their original format.

We are not sponsored by Konami at all so this is just Manic loving the hell out of a game series he grew up with. Every Halloween I return back to Castlevania to ring in the witching season. So grab your whips and crucifix and let’s celebrate the terrors of the Night.

I know you need some more Halloween fixes from us over here at Nightmare Nostalgia. So be sure not to miss why Michael Myers had blonde hair in Halloween 4 by clicking right here. Yeah, ain’t that the weirdest shit? Our beautiful mind behind our madness here at NN answers all the obvious questions of why, how, and huh so don’t miss it.

And we love all you guys and wouldn’t be what we are today without our faithful readers, our nasties, and our legions. We were honored to be part of Feedspot’s Top 100 Horror Blogs and Websites For Horror Fans ! That’s a huge deal to us. We promise to bring you only the absolute best in horror and retro fun.

So Happy Halloween season, my Nasties!

https://youtu.be/djR3eMsOHVI