Werewolves Are NOT the New Zombies

Tyler Hoechlin of MTV's "Teen Wolf"

In the pantheon of Horror archetypes,Werewolf used to rank just below Vampire. Since a little black and white horror movie in 1968, werewolves have been knocked down a peg or two. Obviously, all three are insanely popular in genre TV. MTV's "Teen Wolf" (which I gave up on last season) and SyFy's "Being Human" and their new series "Bitten" prove that. They have been less successful on the big screen, of late. I don't know anyone who actually likes the Underworld movies and don't understand why they keep getting made and Benicio Del Toro's 2010 effort to reinvigorate yet another Universal Monsters franchise (The Wolfman) failed miserably and season one of producer/director Eli Roth's "Hemlock Grove" for Netflicks was a total bore. 

Personally, I can name only two werewolf movies in the last 30 years that were actually up to snuff. The first is director Joe Dante's (Mad Max; Gremlins) almost brilliantly realized 1981 version of Gary Brandner's novel The Howling. Featuring the first real physical werewolf transformation on film (thanks to Rob Bottin) and a very funny script by John Sayles, the movie ultimately fails when Dee Wallace (as a TV reporter) has an on-camera transformation, resulting in something that looks more like an over-sized Pekingese than a vicious killer.

Of course, probably the best werewolf movie ever made is John Landis' An American Werewolf in London. Scary, funny and romantic, Landis' movie set a bar which has yet to be met.

Runners up: Neil Jordan's very dark re-telling of 'Little Red Riding Hood,' The Company of Wolves and Christoph Gans' 2001 Brotherhood of the Wolf. 

Unfortunately, despite the presence of the eye-candy that is Jason Momoa, the upcoming French-made Wolves doesn't look likely to bring the subgenre back.

Personally... Cats are way scarier (and sexier):



More, anon.
Prospero

You have read this article "Teen Wolf" / Bad / Bad Movies / Eli Roth / Horror / Hotties / Jason Momoa / Movies / Netflicks / Trailers / Vampires / Werewolves / Zombies with the title Eli Roth. You can bookmark this page URL http://tammycross.blogspot.com/2014/02/werewolves-are-not-new-zombies.html. Thanks!

I May Have to Subscribe to Netflix

Writer/Director/Actor/Producer/'JewBear' Eli Roth is one the horror genre's busiest men. He recently opened the first permanent Haunted Attraction in Las Vegas  and is about to appear in the US premiere of a film he both co-wrote and produced, the Chilean horror movie Aftershock. Roth's latest project is the 13-episode werewolf series for Netflix, "Hemlock Grove." 

Starring the highly underrated Famke Janssen (X-Men; House on Haunted Hill); Dougray Scott (My Week with Marilyn); Lili Taylor ("Six Feet Under") and Bill (son of Stellan and brother of Alexander) Skarsgard, "Hemlock Grove" appears to be the werewolf series that MTV's "Teen Wolf" aspires to be. And though "Teen Wolf" certainly has its moments, I suspect that "Hemlock Grove" will be both bloodier and sexier. 

Thanks to fellow blogger and Facebook friend JA of My New Plaid Pants, comes the following trailer for the series, which has Uncle P almsot foaming at the mouth:

Roth wrote and directed one of the funniest and smartest horror movies ever (the underrated Cabin Fever -link NSFW) and was directly responsible for the mid-oughts 'Torture Porn' genre, thanks to the gory and terrifying Hostel. Roth's most recent project is the feature length version of Clown, based on a short film about a man who rents a clown suit which he can't seem to remove. D, Mia and Barb - don't watch this. It has a very Evil You Know What:

I may very well part with some hard-earned cash just to watch what promises to be a rather insane show when Netflix premiers all 13 episodes of "Hemlock Grove" this coming April. Hopefully, my holiday bills will be paid off by then.

More, anon.
Prospero

You have read this article 'Hemlock Grove' / Eli Roth / Evil Clowns / Gypsies / Horror / Hot / Netflicks / Trailers / TV / Werewolves with the title Eli Roth. You can bookmark this page URL http://tammycross.blogspot.com/2013/01/i-may-have-to-subscribe-to-netflix.html. Thanks!

Which Is More Gruesome? Plus: Commercial of the Year

Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan Winning in Scary MoVie

So, I found both of these trailers for upcoming movies on Towleroad, each accompanied by some brief copy/snark, but no real discussion. So I thought I'd discuss them.

First, Towleroad said "This is what Lindsay Lohan has been reduced to:" and linked to the trailer for the fourth sequel the increasingly awful Scary Movie franchise. Created in 2000 by the once-funny Wayans Brothers and since obtained by the once-funny Zucker Brothers, the first two Scary Movie movies parody the Scream  franchise. But as they made more films, they incorporated move Horror subgenres. By the time Sheen first appeared in the series, he was doing his pre-douche Mel Gibson in Signs. And Zucker perennial Leslie Nielsen was The President as if  played by Dubya, himself. Even into the last movie in the series (2006's Scary Movie 4), they all featured under-recognized comedic genius Ana Farris as Cindy Campbell and "Ally McBeal" alum Regina King as her best friend, Brenda Meeks (who dies in every one of the movies, much like Kenny on "South Park"). Six years later, David Zucker and Pat Proft are still trying to milk the property for all it's worth with Scary MoVie (i.e. Scary Movie 5):

 

At least Farris and King were smart enough  to stay away this time, while I imagine Lohan and Sheen are as desperate for attention as they always have been.

Horror parody isn't easy and can never be lazy. Comedic horror is even harder, though writer/directors Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson made rather lucrative careers for themselves by getting it so very right. As did hottie hyphenate Eli Roth (who's debut feature Cabin Fever was both hilarious and horrific), who recently produced; co-wrote and starred in the English language debut of Chilean director Nicolas Lopez, Aftershock. The story of an American tourist looking for a good time (Roth) who finds himself among the survivors of a massive earthquake Aftershock soon devolves into a kill-or-be-killed survival story. As with most projects in which Roth is involved, the loss of humanity and gory, violent mayhem ensues.

Yikes! While I find that first trailer scary because it's so sad, I find the second one scary because it probably isn't far from reality. And what a tag line! "The only thing scarier than Mother Nature is human nature." Roth was supposed to film Stephen King's non-zombie zombie novel "Cell" but the deal fell through. I'd love to see the "Bear Jew" take the zombie genre for a spin. 

And just to lighten the mood on Christmas Eve eve, though I'm embarrassed to admit that I cannot remember where I found it, here is something of an anomaly for me: a commercial I actually love. Most TV advertising is insipid at best and downright awful at worst (particularly on the local level). Occasionally, some ad agency will come up with a clever and memorable campaign. While rather  rare in the U.S., truly memorable and clever commercials seem the domain of Europe and South America. This one, from a Belgian newspaper group, is downright brilliant:

There is hope for the printed word, yet. 

More, anon. 

Prospero

You have read this article Ads / Charlie Sheen / Comedy / Commercials / Eli Roth / Horror / Lindsay Lohan / Parodies / Trailers with the title Eli Roth. You can bookmark this page URL http://tammycross.blogspot.com/2012/12/which-is-more-gruesome-plus-commercial.html. Thanks!