Give the guy a break will ya?

BEYOND THIS POINT ARE SPOILERS…TURN BACK IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE FILM OR CARE ABOUT CHARACTER AND PLOT POINTS BEING REVEALED…

After reading a few of the reviews for The Wolfman, I felt compelled to follow a small follow-up to them and to my previous review.

Again let me state that while I enjoyed The Wolfman, I am aware that it’s not a perfect movie. I saw the film twice over the weekend and had a fun time of it despite its flaws. I am also not about to fault reviewers for disliking the movie simply because I liked it. However, every now and again I read something that makes me wonder if they really watched the film at all. Here are a few things I came across:

• One reviewer complained about Del Toro’s accent or lack thereof. He wondered why he didn’t sound English.

Those of you who were paying attention would remember that Lawrence mentions being sent away to live with his aunt in America at a very young age. It wouldn’t be out of line to suppose he had some schooling while there. He’d also spent the majority of his life there, so it would be no big wonder if his hometown accent had faded in favour of something a bit more American-ized.

• Another review said that Hopkins phoned-in his role and put almost no emotion into it.

Again, in the movie this is mentioned. Sir John Talbot tells Lawrence to look into his eyes and says quite bluntly that “as you can see I’m quite dead”. The character is dead emotionally and that’s how Hopkins played it.

A few other miscellaneous complaints included:

• It wasn’t scary.

I expected this sentiment long before the film came out. Modern horror movies have upped the ante on body counts and gore for years now, and audiences on the whole have been desensitized by it. They want to have scares without really having to think about it. I for one appreciate a movie that doesn’t go full-steam ahead towards the “more blood is better” attitude. I feel that the real scare behind the Wolfman isn’t the atrocities the creature commits, but what the man who becomes the creature goes through.

• It was all gore and no substance.

Maybe you should have a chat with the people who didn’t think there was enough gore and come to some sort of decision.

• The film didn’t go anywhere unexpected.

Okay, so who missed the part about this being a remake? Also, how many films these days really go somewhere unexpected. It’s not always about if it’s new, but how it’s told.

Seriously, if you didn’t like the movie, you didn’t like the movie. I get it. The wonderful thing is that you don’t have to. And the other wonderful thing is that I can go on ignoring you and keep having a good time at the movies.

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Wolfy Goodness

(To alleviate any worries of spoilers I will tell you now that the first part of this blog will feature nothing revealing. The second half will contain spoilers, but I will give you a clear heads-up as to when that part begins.)

After much worry that the new Wolfman remake would suck, I found quite the opposite was true. In fact, it was pretty damn good.

As I have stated before, the original film is my favourite movie. It’s also probably pretty apparent that I am a notorious werewolf-snob. I fully expected to dislike the remake, especially after seeing all of the pushed back release dates, talks of reshoots and a leaked script. It seems, however, that whatever they delayed this release for was probably for the best. The movie was shockingly well rounded.

One of the things that amazed me most were the makeup effects done by the brilliant Rick Baker. I expected nothing short of fantastic from him, but he really captured a look that was both modern and reminiscent of the original Jack Pierce makeup. While I was sad that they did go with CGI transformation sequences, I have to say it seemed only practical that they did so considering the circumstances and locations of Talbot’s wolfing out.

The movie was very well cast, but to me Hugo Weaving was the one that really stole the show. His character and the way he played it was perfect. As for Del Toro, there was something about him that reminded me of Chaney’s Talbot. He had the same sort of sad quality and really made it impossible not to empathize with him. The character most different from the original was probably Sir John Talbot. Hopkins really made the character into something different and interesting.

The plot for the film was new and familiar. I think I found it preferable that it was different. (Like the Mummy remake was to the original Karloff flick.) I feel that if you’re going to go through the trouble to remake something, there’s no sense in rehashing the original line-for-line.

The Wolfman was not a perfect movie, but neither was the original. They are the sort of movies you like despite their faults, and sometimes those flaws are part of what makes them endearing. I can safely say that the original has not been unseated from its place as my favourite film, but I can tell you the new movie will be joining it on the shelf after it has been released.

BEYOND THIS POINT ARE SPOILERS…TURN BACK IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE FILM OR CARE ABOUT CHARACTER AND PLOT POINTS BEING REVEALED…

As it’s me, I wanted to get into some of the nitty gritty nitpicking of the movie:

• While it was nice to see something new, I was a little unsure about the “his father is a werewolf too” plot. It was in the leaked script I read and executed poorly in it. They did a much cleaner job in the movie, but it was pretty obvious it was coming.

• I was glad to see a number of references to the original in the film. There were the obvious thing like the cane, the antique shop and the necklace. There were also some more obscure things like the gypsy bear (which was supposed to be something in the original film) and the collage/dream sequence.

• I was intrigued by the complete removal of the pentagram in the film. In the original it’s on the cane, on the necklace, on Talbot’s bite scar, and in the palm of the next victim. I can see why they couldn’t do it in the palm of each victim since the body count shot up considerably, but it wasn’t in the movie at all as far as I saw.

• I am curious to know why they removed a masquerade ball scene from the film. There is a brief flash of it in one of the trailers where someone is attacked in a masquerade costume, and the Wolfman attacking at the party was in the script. The scene is also referenced on the newspaper Aberline brings to Gwen’s shop. It must have been cut from the final film pretty late.

• I was interested to see that they give Talbot some extra senses and sensations that something is wrong prior to his first transformation. (Things like the quick healing, increased strength and ability to hear things from further away.)

• I appreciated that the movie wasn’t too over the top. The gore was fairly controlled even though there was quite a bit. I also like that the asylum sequence was pretty true to life and not overly gross. I’m also glad that no one went too crazy on Maleva’s makeup. They could have easily done a really decrepit looking woman with cataracts and such, but they didn’t.

• This one isn’t a spoiler, but I really wish I’d gotten a better look at the wolf-headed cane.

• While I liked the ending with Aberline being bitten and looking up at the moon in horror, knowing what is to become of him, I sincerely hope they refrain from making a sequel.

• Lastly, I wish I could thank the filmmakers for not screwing this one up.

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Last night we held the first annual (and possibly only) Werewolf Phest. We aptly named this event Werewolf Phest ’09. There was an incredible turnout of two attendees.

The night kicked off with An American Werewolf in London on Blu Ray. (A review will be up after I’ve finished viewing the bonus features.) This was soon after followed with the original classic The Wolf Man, and we rounded out the night with the oft forgotten Werewolf of London.

Perhaps the true highlight of the night were the drinks. After some thought we decided the appropriate beverage for the evening would be a shot called a Brain Hemorrhage. This drink consists of peach schnapps, grenadine and Bailey’s. As you can see below, it’s quite creepy and beautiful.



There was only one catch to this drink, and that’s I have a fear of taking a full shot of anything and pulling a total Linda Blair. So instead of shooting the drink back, I thought I would sip it. While it’s fairly tasty that way, it’s a little too sweet and syrupy to drink much. That’s when I had the brilliant idea of trying to cut it with something.

That’s when the experiment began…

There was some 7-Up in the fridge and it seemed like a good mixer choice. We weren’t sure how the Bailey’s would react, but it was worth a try.

Not long after all of the ingredients were mixed the carbonation from the soda lifted the Bailey’s to the surface of the glass, causing it to congeal into a thick veil of bubbly sludge. You can see me with the results below.



Unfortunately, as awesomely disgusting as this drink looks; the Bailey’s floats away from your mouth when you try to drink it. Regardless, I have decided to dub the concoction Liquid Death.

In conclusion I would like to thank the Phest attendees. I think the film viewings were a success, and we could never have made so revolting a drink without you.

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