Or rather there is good film effects werewolves — and what looks to be good, old school filmmaking — and bad sfx lycanthropes. Both have been making the rounds today as chronicled by Christopher Campbell. First the very good computer-aided vision of “The Wolfman,” as shown off in the second trailer from the apparently fairly loose new Joe Johnston remake of the 1941 Universal monster classic and with old wolf hand Rick Baker masterminding the monster make-up work. The effects here have some real weight and detail to them and remind me of the great work of the WETA crew for the “Lord of the Rings” cycle. I’m not crazy about the Marilyn Manson music, but otherwise I’m more or less sold. I can be a baby about horror movies, but this look like my kind of monster flick. Strong on atmosphere and, if we’re a lucky, a bit of thought behind it as well as some first-rate actors in front of the camera.
And this clip I actually saw over the weekend at the Spike TV Scream awards, which I’ll discussing here next week. Let’s just say it didn’t make me feel that I’ve missed the boat on this whole “Twilight” business having skipped the first, hugely lucrative, film in the series.
Aside from the fact that these werewolves lack any sense of weight or heft or look about as menacing as Alaskan sled dogs, what’s with their human forms? I know it’s all about the romantic fantasies and preferences of contemporary teenage girls, but if you’re going to have perpetually shirtless lycanthropes running around — and it looks kind of cold wherever they are — a bit of token chest hair might be appropriate. They’re supposed to be a tribe of beast men, not a collective of pampered Tiger Beat pin-ups. Except, obviously, that’s exactly what they’re supposed to be. Of well, it’s not like adolescent boys don’t get their proclivities catered to enough.
If you missed the first, also very good, trailer for “The Wolfman,” you may click here. And if monster soap is your thing — and, as a “Buffy” fan it’s not as if I’m innately opposed — here’s the trailer for “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”
