Italian Werewolf

Yet another category falls in my 999 Challenge. With today's film, Lycanthropus (1961, or Werewolf In A Girls' Dormitory (U.S. title)), I have finished off my 9 Werewolf films category. This leaves me with three more to go, only twelve more movies to watch in all. This challenge, in which I had to work in 81 movies in a years time, should go quickly now. As long as I keep up a decent pace, I don't see why I won't get it finish on time. With my last film for werewolves, I decided to watch an older movie. I suspected that it was not an American made film because the voices didn't always match up with the lips. As it turns out, this was the only werewolf film that I watched for this challenge that wasn't made in America. I'm happy about this, as it is always interested to see another country's take on these things.

The story takes place in a girls' dormitory of course. It is a reform school where the ladies have been in trouble with the law. Even though the gates are kept locked, it isn't a prison where the ladies are kept in cells. Mary (Mary McNeeran) is one of the inmates who are being paid by Sir Alfred Whiteman (Maurice Marsac) for sexual favors. Mary has had enough of this though, and has decided to use the letters that Whiteman has written to her for blackmail. She is hoping not only to get the favors to stop, but she also wants Whiteman to get her released from the school. Whiteman agrees to meet Mary late at night, where they try to talk things out. Each leave with nothing resolved. On the way back to the dormitory, Mary is attacked by a werewolf and killed. The attack is blamed on wolves of course, but not everyone believes this. Mary's best friend Priscilla (Barbara Lass) has decided that she will get to the truth of things.

Lycanthropus plays out like a mystery movie more than a horror movie. Even though we see the werewolf early in the film, we never get a great look at him until later. Even then it is a little hard to tell who it is thanks to the makeup. Could it be Whiteman who has a thing for the girls? Or maybe it is the creepy looking caretaker Walter (Luciano Pigozzi). Maybe it is Dr. Julian Olcott (Carl Scell), who was in trouble with the law because a woman in his care died before arriving at the school. Let's not forget Director Swift (Curt Lowens) though. Then again, it might not be any of them. Like any good mystery out of Italy, there is a pair of black gloves to be found. Unlike most prison movies that involve women though, no nudity can be found in this film. I was a little surprised by this. Lycanthropus is a black and white movie, but coming out of Italy I figured that maybe there would be a little bit of nudity. The movie is a little slow, but because it keeps you guessing with some twists, it managed to keep my interest through out.

The werewolf for the film is kind of cheesy looking. The werewolf doesn't look like a wolf at all. The guy has a lot of pointy teeth, hairy hands and sharp finger nails. His face is distorted just enough so you can't really make out who it is, but isn't given any features you might expect from a werewolf. The other effects are just some scratch marks here and there. The acting seemed to be okay. It is a little hard to judge it when the voices are dubbed over though.

For being a reform school, it felt like it was easy enough for the women to escape whenever they wanted to. Two of the women scale the wall at some point in the movie, but always return. I didn't really get it. They would be in a lot of trouble if they got caught outside the school walls, so once out, why not just make a run for it? The first attack that was made might have shocked people back when this movie came out. The werewolf attacks Mary and rips her shirt open. As the camera pans the woods, we can hear Mary screaming. I don't know if it was intended, but it does allude to more than Mary being killed. After the first kill, it harks back to the days of the choke out kills. I can't say that I loved Lycanthropus, but I did like the odd mix of werewolf and giallo genres. Worth checking out at least one time I think.
3 out of 5 Sure were a lot of full moons each night

Fairy Tale Werewolves

My quest for 9 werewolf films has taken me to The Company Of Wolves (1984). I discovered the film from a list of werewolf films. After reading what the film was about though, I wasn't so sure if it had to deal with werewolves, or just wolves. When I was making my list of films for each category, I would add an extra film or two, just in case one of them didn't turn out the way I thought it would. It has worked out with my werewolf films, since some of them were removed from Netflix for whatever reason. On a quick side note, my plans for a giveaway this weekend fell through. The plan was to go to a horror movie convention and spend a little extra money in order to give something away (an autographed picture actually). I got up early so I would go to bed early for my trip and everything, only to discover the convention happened last weekend. At least I didn't drive all the way there before finding that out. There is always next time I suppose.

The Company Of Wolves is an odd film, in that the entire film is basically a dream. A young girl falls asleep after reading a book. Her sister tries to wake her up, but it doesn't work. We then are transported to what the girl is dreaming about: her sister being chased down by a pack of wolves. After the funeral Rosaleen's (Sarah Patterson) grandmother (Angela Lansbury) decides it might be best if Rosaleen stays with her for a little while. Granny tells Rosaleen stories about werewolves. Granny is basically explaining that men can be like wolves, and should not be trusted because of that. Being a young girl who is becoming a woman, Rosaleen begins to see werewolves. Are they real, or just something out of her active imagination?

I admit that I was rather confused by this movie. Before we know who is who in the movie, we are thrown into a dream sequence. It took me most of the film to figure out what the plot was supposed to be. I don't mind films that keep me guessing, but I like to know what is going on at least. Because of this, I didn't enjoy this movie as much as I could have. Saying that the movie is a dream might be considered a slight spoiler, but I feel that if it keeps someone else from not enjoying the movie because they didn't know that from the start, then that is a good thing. The Company Of Wolves is based on a story by Angela Carter, who is also listed as the co-writer for the script. According to IMDb trivia, director Neil Jordan was looking for a teenaged girl in her mid teens to play the part of Rosaleen. When Sarah Patterson came in for the role though, Jordan knew he had his Rosaleen. Same say she was 13 when filming began, but if the birthday listed for Sarah is true, then she was only 11 or 12 during filming. Because she was younger than what Jordan was looking for, he went back through the script and toned down some of the sexual stuff that was going to be in the film.

The effects for the film are just okay. The transformation scene in An American Werewolf In London, just three years removed from this film, holds up well compared to today's effects. The transformation scenes in The Company Of Wolves however don't hold up as well. The first one we see isn't too bad actually. But from there they seem to get worse. For some scenes dogs were used in place of wolves. I respect that choice, as I'm sure dogs are easier to work with, but it was obvious when the switches were made. They did try to make the dogs look like wolves at least. The acting was very good. I was surprised that this was Sarah Patterson's first film. I knew she was young, but I never would have guessed 12 years old, as she looks a little older than that. Sarah has gone on to three other films over the years. I would like to check them out sometime to see her acting is in them. Based on The Company Of Wolves alone though, I have to wonder why she didn't go on to be in more films. Angela Lansbury was great as Granny, who doesn't seem to trust any man. David Warner has a small part as Rosaleen's father.

The Company Of Wolves is a film that I enjoyed, despite my slight confusion while watching it. This is a movie that I will need to watch again sometime now that I understand the bigger picture more. I don't know about all of you, but sometimes my dreams can leave me a little confused, have stories within stories, and just be outright weird at times. In this sense, The Company Of Wolves fits right in. I understand why this film has something of a cult following. Effects issues aside, it is a very different type of werewolf movie. It is also a very interesting take on the classic story of Little Red Riding Hood. This is one to check out if you haven't already.
3 out of 5 Wondering how many wolves are reading this review

Keep Werewolves Out Of London

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Between eating today, I hope to get some movies watched. Hopefully that will mean this won't be my only post today. Sometimes I can be easily side tracked though, so anything is possible. Back when I started to watch horror movies a lot, one of the films everyone kept telling me to watch was An American Werewolf In London (1981). Once I did watch it, to be honest with all of you, I wasn't very impressed with it. The transformation scene was, and still is, awesome. Other than that though, I just didn't get into it that much. When I decided to make a category for werewolves as part of my 999 Challenge, An American Werewolf In London was a film I wanted to add so I could watch it again. I'm glad that I did.

David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) are two friends backpacking through England. After a long day, they spot a pub with the name The Slaughtered Lamb. Wanting to get out of the cold for a while, and maybe get something to eat, they decide to go in. Even though there are a lot of people in the pub, they don't get a very warm welcome at first. The locals begin to warm up to David and Jack, but when they ask about the five pointed star on the wall, the locals order them out of the pub. They are told to stick to the road, and to beware of the moon. Once out of town, they leave the road of course. They start to hear some howling, so they decide to head back to the pub. Being a dark night though, they are not sure which direction the road is. A very large wolf attacks them. When the wolf is shot though, it is shown that a man is laying there dead...not a wolf.

While watching this movie today, I realized why I didn't really care for it that much the first time around many years ago. An American Werewolf In London will often reference other werewolf movies. When I first watched this movie I had yet to watch a ton of horror movies. This might have been my first werewolf movie in fact. If it wasn't, it was pretty close to it. Because of this, the in jokes were lost to me. Watching it today, after now watching tons of horror movies, I could appreciate it a lot better than I once did. I was trying to find someone that didn't like this movie, just so I could see why it wasn't liked, but I couldn't find anyone. I didn't look very long though, but I'm sure there are people out there who don't like it. I'm not big on the comedy/horror mix. Some work well for me while others don't work at all. Understanding the jokes better this time made watching An American Werewolf In London that much more fun. The only thing that I didn't care that much for this time around was the ending. I guess it felt too quick to me.

One of the things that really stands out about this film are the makeup effects. It is hardly the first time that we see a man turn into a werewolf, but it is often said that it is one of the best, if not the best, transformations put on the screen. The other effects shouldn't be overlooked though. The first time that David sees Jack after the attack is also a great moment for the effects. It would have been nice to have seen more of the werewolf attacks, but they do manage to include enough gore to make people happy I think. The acting was also very good. David Naughton gets the lead role and carries the film with no problems. Jenny Agutter gets the lead female role. I liked her well enough, but I do wish she had a slightly bigger role in the film.

An American Werewolf In London is a movie that writer/director John Landis had to sit on for a while. He actually had the script ready around ten years before he could actually film it. Once he started putting out some hit films, this movie was given the green light to be made. I think that actually worked in Landis' favor though. Movie effects were able to evolve enough so that we get to see what Rick Backer could do in this film. I did have a small problem with the transformation, it took a long time. It didn't seem to take as long the second time around though, so maybe it gets easier each time? Another question I had was, did David really turn into a werewolf, or was all of it in his mind? I know that we see him as a werewolf, but the film is from his prospective. I am glad that I gave this movie another shot. I enjoyed it much better the second time around. As we watch more and more films, I think the ones we used to hate will sometimes not be as bad the next time around. Mostly because we find other movies that are even worse.
4 out of 5 Just how many times can a werewolf change in a month?

Vote Now!!

Voting for Ms. Horror Blogosphere has officially started! If you haven't already, head over to The Vault Of Horror and check out the over 20 blogs that have been entered into the contest. Please show us ladies some support, and vote for one of us. If you don't vote for me, it isn't like I will hunt you down or anything like that. So you see, there's no pressure at all. You can find where to vote on the right side of The Vault Of Horror, and you have until Dec. 4th to do so. You can only vote once, so make it count!

Good luck to everyone that is in the contest. No matter who actually wins the contest, I think we will all come out winners in the end. It is a great way to check out some blogs you may not have heard of before after all. I would like to thank B-Sol for holding the contest, and for all the time and effort he has already put into it.

On a quick side note, I plan on watching a lot of movies over the Thanksgiving weekend. If all goes well, I will have my first give away as well!

Friends Do The Strangest Things

My good friend Kimberly Amato tipped me off on a project that Michelle Tomlinson and she uploaded to YouTube. They are good friends, and decided that they would make a project together in order to give back to their fans. The first, of hopefully many, has been uploaded. So I thought I would embed it here. That way you all don't have to go searching for it.

In case you have forgotten, or are new to my blog, I started talking to Kimberly close to a year ago. I even managed to interview her, which you can find the link for on the side bar. I still need to update that interview, since we did manage to actually finish it. I just keep forgetting to update it is all.

Be sure to let them know what you thought of their little project either here or on YouTube. I know I really enjoyed watching it!

Ms. Horror Blogosphere

B-Sol at The Vault Of Horror is running a friendly contest to see which female horror blogger is the best. I wasn't going to enter into it, but CRwM kind of made me feel guilty for not wanting to. I got in on the very last day. B-Sol sent me some questions to answer so everyone could get to know me a little better. My entry for the questions and answers went up today. You can read them here if you wish. Hopefully I did alright with this part of the contest!

Hairy Werewolf

With half the month already over, I have yet to really get started doing anything. I could blame it on a new job, but I will take the blame instead. I have had the time to do reviews, I just haven't been in much of a mood to do them. Knowing I am getting close to getting this 999 Challenge done though, I knew I had to get going again in order to finish on time. So last night I put in The Beast Of Bray Road (2005), hoping it will get me in the mood to write again. I did go see The Fourth Kind, which I did a write up for at Top Horror Movies Club. I guess I am getting back into the swing of things, slowly but I am getting there.

The Beast Of Bray Road is based loosely around actual sightings of something in Walworth County, Wisconsin. Many believe it is a Bigfoot like creature, but it has been described as a werewolf. The film begins with a group of youngish people leaving a bar. There is a small argument, and one of the girlfriends leaves on her own. Her car breaks down though on Bray Road, where she is attacked by some kind of creature. Deputy Sheriff Jenkins (Jeff Denton) finds the car, and the blood that is on the outside of it. Back at the station he wants to run a DNA test on the blood, but is stopped from doing so, because they don't actually know if there was a murder or not. The murders and sightings keep happening, and a crypto-zoologist (Tom Downey), shows up offering to help track the creature. The question eventually becomes who is the werewolf?

One thing that The Beast Of Bray Road has going for it is plenty of gory effects. The story itself was just okay to me. I can understand why people that live in or around the area, or know of the legends around this story, will be disappointed in the movie. There are no reports of anyone being killed by the "real" creature, but all kinds of people are getting ripped in half in this movie. The main problem that I had was the script by writer/director Leigh Scott. It wasn't that it was far fetched, since it is a werewolf movie after all. But it had plot holes and had people jumping to conclusions very quickly. One lady, who got a good look at the beast, simply describes it as a monster. She doesn't say anything else, just called it a monster. The other deputy then says something like: "That sounds like the beast of Bray Road." The lesson for all this is that just say the word "monster", and anyone around will link it to local legends right away.

The Beast Of Bray Road has one of the most glaring plot holes I have taken notice of in some time. It isn't something that you will notice right away though. You watch it and go on with the movie, not thinking anything special about it. But once they reveal who the werewolf is, then your mind will yell at you about this plot hole. The person that ends up being the werewolf was with someone, making out with them actually, while they show us the werewolf killing people. It is two scenes that jump back and forth between each other, which usually means they are happening at the same time. I guess they could say that the scene with the werewolf was a flashback, but it didn't feel that way at all. Since a person can't be in two places at once, werewolf or not, then I say they managed to screw up.

As I said above, there are a lot of gory effects. The werewolf loves tearing into people to get to the softer tissue. The opening death is one of a woman being torn in half. Her lower body disappears off the bottom of the screen, while her upper half disappears off the top of the screen. Then we see bits of body parts dropping from above. They do a nice job with all the different effects, the gory ones anyway. But I did notice that one thing was missing: blood. Tearing someone in two looks very cool, but it would also be extremely bloody as well. We don't get blood though, just body parts. Maybe I am over thinking it. It does look good after all, so I guess I should be happy about that. The werewolf is not the worst looking werewolf suit I have ever had to watch, but it sure was an ugly werewolf.

The acting was just okay. Some of the actors, like Jeff Denton and Tom Downey, do a pretty good job with their roles. Some others don't though. I'm not sure if it is the actors fault this time around though. Given what they had to say at times, I'm sure it can be hard to make it sound convincing in a serious way. Sarah Lieving gets the lead female role for the film. Noel Thurman gets the part of the Sheriff. This is the only horror movie that I can recall having a woman as the Sheriff. Sometimes you will see a female deputy, but not a female Sheriff.

Speaking of cops, hardly anyone in the town they are working in seems to like cops. There are a few people that are nice to them, but for the most part the cops are basically told to fuck off every time a question is asked. I know not everyone likes cops, for whatever reason. But it was starting to feel silly that 90% of the people were hostile towards cops in this movie. It is in part the movie's fault though. Either this town barely has anyone living in it, or they just didn't bother with getting some extras. Maybe they are just all at the bar all the time. There seemed to be more people in the bar than anywhere else. Even though I had some big issues with this movie, it still turned out to not be half bad. This was mostly thanks to all the gory effects though. I don't like all of my films to be gory, they can be scary without being gory. But it doesn't bother me to have a lot of gory effects either. Not the best werewolf movie out there by a long shot, but entertaining all the same.
3 out of 5 This werewolf sure could use a haircut

After Dark Horrorfest 4: The Final

After Dark Films CEO Courtney Solomon has announced that After Dark has acquired the teen revenge thriller The Final after inking a deal with Agora Entertainment. The film is the sixth title to be included in After Dark’s latest installment of Horrorfest: 8 Films to Die For. Joey Stewart makes his directorial debut working from a script written by Jason Kabolati. The film stars Marc Donato (Degrassi: The Next Generation), Jascha Washington, Whitney Hoy, Lindsay Seidel and Justin Arnold. Jason Kabolati of Agora Entertainment produced while Edward Lewis Von Hohn and Bill Randle served as executive producers on the film.

In The Final, the scenic Workley Ranch in Rocky Branch, TX, becomes the setting for retribution and revenge. In the midst of a wild costume party, five previously powerless and picked upon students are giving a “Final Exam” with just one question: “What did you do to deserve this?”

“This haunting and vengeful film is a perfect addition to this year’s line-up. Anyone who has experienced the difficulties of high school will find themselves empathizing with both the nerds and the popular kids alike“, stated After Dark EVP Stephanie Caleb.

Director Joey Stewart went on to say, “The Final is about being picked on, bullied, and tormented, and the retaliation and revenge that it incurs. As the characters feel that life has no meaning, they make a pact for revenge that will teach these kids a valuable life lesson. It’s about what happens when people are pushed to the brink of despair, and the consequences that the responsible parties must face.”

Final Trailer - "Deliverance" from AGORA ENTERTAINMENT on Vimeo.

Monsters Of Old

After taking a break from blogging, I decided it was high time to get back into it. Even though I enjoy running this blog, watching movies that I love (sometimes anyways) and showing the world how bad of a writer I am, I often run into the problem of giving up other things I enjoy doing for the sake of a review. That is what I did all of last month, just work and write reviews. I did little else except on the weekends. I'm not complaining, just giving an excuse as to why I took a week off. To kick things off again, I decided to watch The Naked Monster (2005). This happens to be the last film in my 9 Linnea Quigley films! Five down, just four more categories to go!

Do you remember all the old monster movies? The Naked Monster does, and for the purpose of the plot, they actually happened. After many years of going to battle with monsters and space aliens, things are now quiet. That is until a monster shows up in a small town off the coast. Sheriff Lance Boiler (R.G. Wilson), Agent Jeff T. Stewart (John Goodwin), and Dr. Nikki Carlton (Brinke Stevens) team up, and try to stop the monster. When they fail, they decide to bring in a retired monster hunter, Patrick Hendry (Kenneth Tobey), to help them.

The Naked Monster reminded me of the '50s and '60s sci-fi/monster films, but I would also have to throw in the movie Airplane as well. It isn't a complete spoof like Airplane, but it comes pretty close. Even though The Naked Monster is set in today's world, it does its best to be that 1950s sci-fi/monster film. The film itself is a little grainy to make it feel older than it is. The monster for the film is a guy in a rubber suit, which is pretty obvious whenever the monster tries to pick something up. The Naked Monster was actually completed in 1988, with some re-shoots done is 2004. I couldn't see anything in the film that would give an indication that 16 years had passed between shoots though. I can't say that I have watched a lot of the films from the era that The Naked Monster spoofs from, so I think some of the jokes were lost on me. I found it amusing that some people were complaining about how low budget this film ends up being. They love the films that are being spoofed, but feel this low budget movie just doesn't do those old films justice. I thought it was funny people were complaining over a film that is low budget when the films it is spoofing were also low budget.

Not much for effects here. No blood that I remember, but we do get a severed head now and then. The monster doesn't like to eat heads it seems. The monster itself looked silly, but that was all part of the movie. Linnea Quigley has a small part as a deaf woman. She is in a car with a guy, and eventually the monster shows up. It is actually the first time we see it. Linnea's part is small, but of course she has time to show off her breasts again. Is there a film that she doesn't do this in? Fans of the 1950s sci-fi/monster films will see all kinds of people that used to be in those films: Robert Clarke, Kenneth Tobey, John Agar, Robert Shayne, Robert Cornthwaite, Gloria Talbott, Les Tremayne, and Paul Marco. This was a nice mix of B movie stars of the past and the present. Outside of Kenneth Tobey though, the main roles all went to today's stars.

Even though I enjoyed watching The Naked Monster, I didn't find it to be a great film. I think that in part it had to do with the fact that I haven't watched all that many of the films it is spoofing. There were some lines that felt lost on me. I guess the best thing I could do, would be to watch some more of those films. I hate to do it alone though, so I think I will post a request for some help on this. If you loved these types of films, the old sci-fi/monster films, I would suggest checking it out. Co-director/writer Ted Newsom obviously has a love for those films. I thought he managed to show that love here. I would liked to have watched films where Linnea Quigley had bigger roles, since most of the movies for this challenge were just small parts. But that is just how it goes. Some of her bigger roles in films I had already reviewed. Another category completed, and just a few more to go.
3 out of 5 Even Brinke Stevens shows some skin