Other creatures of the night...

Besides the interesting Zombie trend Jody blogged about, there are other mythical monsters that have evolved over the years. My favorite being the ever-hairy, often misunderstood werewolf.

Werewolves have been part of human culture for centuries. It will come as no surprise that one of the original versions of Red Riding Hood involved a werewolf-type creature. Tales of shape shifters have been told since medieval times. In the past fifty years or so, furry shape-shifters have leapt from the pages of folk tales to be dramatized on the silver screen. At first, audiences were entertained with the rather cheesy representation of The Wolfman.

Even today's Halloween werewolf costumes closely resemble this original fuzzy-faced-fiend. And fiend he was -- a human being cursed to behave like an animal without conscience or will.


Later on, as movie magic became more sophisticated, we were shown a more gruesome transformation in the hit flick An American Werewolf in London. I'll admit the scene of the 'hero' changing -- very painfully -- into the monstrous half-man, half-wolf creature made me squirm. It looked and sounded grotesque. And again, a mindless villain was born.


But then somewhere along the line, the image of the werewolf -- were-creatures, in general -- changed. From the hideous villains they transformed into sexy, intriguing and even erotic heroes and heroines of romance. I'm not sure where it began, but I'm betting it was in a romance novel. ;) Now, along side of the mindless shape shifters of old, we have a new breed of heroes.

I must say I prefer the new version of the were-hero. He isn't ugly. His transformation is often effortless and painless. As a wolf, he looks more like the majestic animal that has been so maligned over the years. Often, the werewolf can change at will and is not slave to the cycles of the moon. He's strong, powerful, fearless... and he makes a great romantic lead.

The were-heroine is rather cool, too. In Blood and Chocolate, it's the beautiful she-wolf that commands the screen. She's the one who defends her man. She becomes the leader of the pack. Yes, a very modern take on the whole fairytale -- but then we women aren't shrinking violets in distress anymore.


~~Meg Allison

Indulge your senses...
www.megallisonauthor.com

Best Werewolf Movies

I don't like scary movies. I love werewolf movies. I like vampires, too, but that's not today's topic.


Ghosts? Uh-uh. No sir. Those are scary. Because there is this .0001% of me that believes they might possibly exist, I can’t handle them. Why aren’t they where they belong? There’s nothing more they can do here. You’re dead – Get ye gone!

But vampires and werewolves – since they don’t exist, they can’t scare me.

When Underworld came out, I nearly passed out with glee.

I laughed and giggled all the way through Cursed, where this chick (Christina Ricci) and her brother get bitten because the werewolf thinks she’ll make a good mate. Right until she stabs him with a silver pie server. That’s priceless.

An American Werewolf in London? The ultimate Horror-Comedy. A laugh a minute. An American Werewolf in Paris was funny, but not dark enough.

I hooted my way through Dog Soldiers, too. Gruesome, gory fun. Look! A leg!

And really, who could hate a movie called Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf. Yeah, it’s bad. Cheesy, awful bad. But still. You have to give them points for the title. Also, Christopher Lee is in it. He’s just so…so…Christopher Lee!

Wolf, with Jack Nicholson and James Spader had some truly fun moments. James Spader is sneakily sexy – and never more so with glowing golden eyes.

Silver Bullet – well, there just aren’t that many great Stephen King movies. And I’m too big a fraidy-cat to read his books, so I have to take my King where I can get him. The creepy preacher/werewolf loses an eye to a kid in a wheelchair with a Roman Candle. And who ever imagined Anne of Green Gables in a horror flick?

Teen Wolf is the other side of the coin from I Was a Teenage Werewolf. There’s no pair of movies more diametrically opposed. From Michael Landon’s classmates going “Eeek! It’s a werewolf!” to Michael J. Fox’s classmates going “Oooh! Back hair turns me on!” Both prizewinners. Though if you’re smart, you’ll skip the painfully unfunny Teen Wolf 2. Ouch.

The only one of these I haven’t seen, though I’d love to, is Blood and Chocolate. Reviews say it’s a beautiful film and I’m looking forward to catching it someday.

All these films, in all their varying levels of brilliance and cheesiness, however, pay homage to the ultimate werewolf classic, The Wolf Man. Lon Chaney Jr is the tragic hero, transformed by a Gypsy curse, doomed to destroy those he loves. It’s a fantastic bit of movie magic, especially as Chaney carries on his father’s gift of being able to transform himself into a creature of the night. Must See Movie.

What's on your list of Must See Werewolf Movies?