The Werewolf Filmography by Senn Bryan

Author:Senn, Bryan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc.
Published: 2017-01-31T05:00:00+00:00

One of the “sexy and powerful” Skinwalkers (Natassia Malthe) (courtesy makeup maestro Stan Winston).

“The creatures themselves are a true blend of human and beast,” described Isaac (who began his cinematic career as a special effects technician, working on such films as Return of the Jedi, Gremlins and David Cronenberg’s The Fly). “They’re very subtle. I wanted them to be very sexy, very powerful, scary when we need them to be.” And that they are (courtesy of makeup maestro Stan Winston). Looking like a more bestial Lon Chaney man-wolf hybrid, though with more distortion in the angular face (raised brows, hollow cheeks, yellow eyes), they sport hairy arms and ridged naked torsos, not to mention a set of wicked claws and oversized fangs. In keeping with the attempt at characterization, each werewolf has its own individualized appearance (the female member of the wolf pack sports a smoother, sleeker look, for instance). And when one opens its fang-filled, saliva-dripping mouth to roar its rage, it’s a truly unsettling sight. “We wanted to connect with the audience,” noted Berardi,” to the point that, when [lycan leader] Varek transforms, you still know it’s Varek and he still gets to emote and connect…. So we went for a very humanistic design—upright, not ever on all fours—more for story reasons than design reasons.”

At one point the head of the good werewolves, Jonas, insist they make a stand rather than continue running. At this, the boy’s human mother protests, “I’m not like you, Jonas. I don’t have the beast inside of me.” To this, Jonas shoots back, “You better find it, or your son will die”—indicating that sometimes we must take our inner strength from the animal inside us, and that perhaps humanity divests itself entirely from its inner beast at its own peril.

Said Isaac about his approach to lycanthropy, “The rules are the same. We’re staying very true to the mythology on that level. They use silver bullets, the moon brings them out. We wanted to stay true to the mythology and, not update it but to do what I think it really needs which is to give it some soul.” And that it does. The script cleverly pits the two groups against one another, exploring the pathos and humanity of the “cursed” ones, as well as exploiting the savagery and monstrousness of those who embrace lycanthropy as “a gift.” As Isaac points out, “there are two sides, one that has made the choice to try to make moral decisions and hopefully end the curse, to try to live normal lives; the other side, of course, embraces being a werewolf and loves the power and the passion and the primal energy that comes with that, and they want to preserve that.”

To maintain its PG-13 rating, Isaac, without shying away from the violence and brutality inherent in the story, keeps the gore more suggested than shown, while still making an impact through sound effects and editing.

Not everything works for these Skinwalkers, however. The McGuffin of the “chosen one” somehow making everything alright upon turning 13 appears both trite and unsatisfying.

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