Howl of the Werewolf - the movie!

So, I've just been to see Howl of the Werewolf... sorry, The Wolfman... and a very fine film it was too. 142 minutes of gruesome skin-changing fun - exactly what you want from a movie released in time for Valentine's weekend.

The Wolfman is old school horror, a classic jump out of skin shocker, enhanced by modern special effects although, pleasingly, prosthetics and make-up are just as important as the CGI elements in the film. Anthony Hopkins sleep walks through his part, but Bernicio Del Toro is perfectly cast as the eponymous monster of the title. Emily Blunt does what she has to (which isn't very much) but Hugo Weaving, as disgraced Ripper-hunter Inspector Aberline, is great fun to watch - especially in the scene in the village tavern.


The setting is late 19th century (1891 to be precise) and everything is suitably grim, rundown, gloomy, smoky and gothic. There are creepy mansions, foggy London streets, rugged moorland studded with standing stones and brooding skies. Danny Elfman's score evokes the music of Bram Stoker's Dracula and Sleepy Hollow. There are plenty of OTT bloody deaths to get your teeth into, and Joe Johnston (the director) doesn't waste any time in getting the blood pumping with a drama attack on a gypsy camp and doesn't linger on the weeks between full moons either. Oh, and parts of it were filmed at Castle Combe in Wiltshire and others at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire.


Half way through The Wolfman briefly turns into An American Werewolf in Victorian London, and there's even a nod to the Piccadilly Circus scene from John Landau's classic, but it's an exciting sequence with a hilarious lead-in set within Lambeth Asylum.


But when you consider the subject matter of the film and the plot (particularly in the last reel) I couldn't help feeling that I was watching Howl of the Werewolf committed to celluloid - which was kinda cool, in it's own way. (Oh, and talking of Howl of the Werewolf I am reliably informed that it will be re-released later in the year as one the new format Fighting Fantasy books, which'll be cool too.)



So, to sum up, if you're into werewolves, Bernicio Del Toro or things that go bump in the night generally, then The Wolfman is for yoooooouuuu!

The Wolfman

How good does this look?

Okay, so it looks like an American Werewolf in Victorian London, but that sounds like a great combination as far as I'm concerned.


And look out for some more Victorian-inspired Werewolf action in the forthcoming Pax Britannia: Blood Royal from Abaddon Books.

Michael Jackson R.I.P.

On the day that it was also reported that Farrah Fawcett, star of the cult 70s TV show Charlie's Angels, had died following a lengthy battle with cancer, aged 62, I felt strangely ambivalent when I heard the news that the King of Pop had popped his clogs.

I wasn't a fan and he courted so much controversy that I felt it was rather a case of there's no smoke without fire. The most moving thing I saw was Jermaine Jackson making his statement to the press. This was a man with a family who loved him, and that in itself is something to be mourned. (I felt a similar way at the death of Princess Diana. Her death didn't upset me, but seeing her two young sons left motherless did have an effect.)

But whatever you or I might think of the former fairground-owning monkey's uncle, I cannot denied that he has left the world an almighty legacy the highlight of which, for me, was the seminal Thriller video - which was made by Vincent Price's voice over. It was probably one of a dozen (or more) sources of stimuli that indirectly influenced my fantasy writing and helped develop my fascination with the horror genre, with its prevalence of zombies and werewolves, and the fact that it was directed by John Landis who also directed one of the greatest werewolf movies of all time - if not the best - An American Werewolf in London. And I obviously the only one it inspired...

Behind the Scenes: Howl of the Werewolf - the Werebat

WARNING - SPOILERS! WARNING - SPOILERS!

Okay? Got that?

WARNING - SPOILERS!

Sure?

Well, on your head be it...

In the Tower of Maun, in the cursed land of Lupravia, the hero of Howl of the Werewolf is likely to run into a Werebat. I was thrilled with Martin McKenna's rendition of this particular monster which I have reproduced for you here.



Of course, in a book about were-creatures, I was looking to include all sorts of variations on a familiar theme. Bats and vampires go together like toast and butter, so a werebat seemed like a suitable addition to the storyline.

While I was imaging this particular scene, I inevitably found the image of Dracula as bat-monster from Bram Stoker's Dracula coming to the fore in my mind. However, there was also another influence - that of the Man-Bat from Batman.

In the DC Universe, Dr. Kirk Langstrom is a scientist specializing in the study of bats. He develops an extract which is intended to give humans the bat's sonar sense and tests the formula on himself - of course - because he is becoming deaf. While it works, it has a horrific side-effect, transforming him into a hideous humanoid bat-like monster.


In case you were wondering, the Man-Bat's latest incarnation appears in the next Lego Batman: The Video Game.