Tag Archives: werewolves

Retrospective: Werewolves on Wheels

19 Friday Nov 2021

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On paper, this flick leaps off the page with it’s fierce title and promise of a pack of motorcyclists like the infamous Hell’s Angels who are consumed with lycanthropy.
It feels like the kind of movie that would be jam packed with ferocity and lascivious behaviour. Unfortunately this proclamation couldn’t be further from the truth as the viewer is presented with experimental filmmaking as was typical of the early seventies, and a meandering of hope in pursuit of the boundaries of humanity. 

In many ways, this could be depicted as a variant of those who challenge authority and question the American Dream through the eyes of outlaws who take up more than they bargained for when they encounter a curious cult.
These hooded priests lead them into a deep, drug infused state, where they lose all senses, and have a curse placed upon them. Once infected, members of the gang start to turn into werewolves at nightfall, rampaging through the vast landscape.

The film escalates as the lead players try to find an end to the curse, only to be thrust into a time loop, throwing everything into question.

I’m usually a big fan of experimental filmmaking but this one left me trailing in the wind like a tumbleweed being tossed around in no man’s land. I really wanted to connect with this film, and there were elements that could easily have drawn me in. Instead though, there wasn’t enough substance for it to pay off, and appeared to focus on resting on its premise, with an Easy Rider’s vibe. A missed opportunity that could warrant another rewrite, with an amped up narrative that lives up to that cracking title.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Full Moon High (1981)

09 Saturday Oct 2021

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Director Larry Cohen was renowned for directing and producing exploitation movies such as The Stuff and It’s Alive, often with a satirical edge to grip the audience.
I was looking forward to watching Full Moon High coming in with high expectations, especially with the casting of both Alan and Adam Arkin in the mix but there were a few things that didn’t click into place for me. The movie is filled with that zany mad-cap humour that is typical of American filmmaking back in the day, but it feels strangely offbeat in this setting.

Adam Arkin plays teenager Tony, who is drifting aimlessly through life and disconnected which feels in large part due to his father, Colonel Walker, a man who is brash and ego-centric. When Tony is forced to accompany his father to Transylvania, he is left to his own devices, which unfortunately leads to him being bitten by a werewolf and gifted with the curse of an ever-lasting life. What he does with his life is the question though. Will he learn from his ways or be doomed to repeat the same mistakes all over again?

The cyclical theme is well in abundance here, as Tony returns to his old stomping grounds to reinvent himself, and finds that he wants to rekindle his school years.

Easier said when done, as he is doomed to get his lycanthrope on every full moon, and constantly trapped inside the body of a highly sexualised being.

That and the need to hide his identity from past friends and girlfriends is a constant issue for Tony.

The energy of Full Moon High doesn’t let up however it never feels like there are any downbeats in the movie to take a break from the relentless humour or attempt there at on display. If it wasn’t for the aforementioned Arkins, I may have been inclined to turn off, but they at least are engaging enough to bring you to the logical conclusion.

Maybe it’s just me and that Full Moon High simply isn’t my humour, but the struggle remained throughout the film and I have to mark this down as one I could have easily let pass me by and I would have been content to have let that happen.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie Review: Werewolves Within (2021)

27 Monday Sep 2021

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Since its US release back in June, there has been a fair bit of buzz around Werewolves Within, enough at least to put it on the Surgeons of Horror radar and wait patiently for the release here in Australia. 

Josh Ruben, who directed the admittedly underwhelming Scare Me (at least from a horror perspective) gets to tap into his stronger, comedic roots here and use this genre to amplify the horror elements when they arise.

Helping to craft his vision is a number of comedic performers in Sam Richardson (Veep, Promising Young Woman), Milana Vayntrub, and Catherine Curtin (Orange Is The New Black, Stranger Things)

Based on the multiplayer VR game of the same name which casts players in a medieval town with the aim of figuring out which one of them is the werewolf, Werewolves Within shifts focus in Beaverfield, a remote American town. 

When forest ranger Finn Wheeler (Richardson) is assigned to Beaverfield following a reprimand, he soon finds something lurking in the woods when a local dog is killed, forcing the locals into a panic and holing up at the local inn. Wheeler must try and unite an already divided town against a common enemy if they are to survive the night.

The Diagnosis:

It’s understandable why Werewolves Within resonates so well with its audience.

The film is deliciously coated in a comedic resonance thanks in part to Mishna Wolff’s screenplay and the talent who lift the words off the page and give it life on screen.

Sam Richardson and Milana Vayntrub have great chemistry together and feed off each other’s energy, much to the delight of the audience.

While the horror elements are few and far between, leaving most of the angst between the human counterparts as they fend for their own sense of wellbeing, Josh Ruben knows enough about timing to draw you in, tantalise your senses, and gift you with an enjoyable film.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: Teddy (2021)

11 Wednesday Aug 2021

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There is something that I find instantly appealing about French films and the way it both challenges and delivers in-depth personality.
There are times that it misses the mark, sure… but there is genuinely a unique appeal to the country’s artistic lens.
This is why you shouldn’t be deterred by this quirky take on an age-old tale set in the heart of a rural French town.
While it certainly isn’t an out and out scare fest, there is something reminiscent about the film that taps into Guy Endore’s The Werewolf of Paris. 

The writing/directing partnership of the Boukherma brothers Ludovic and Zoran inject some decent humour into this coming of age tale, centred around no-hoper Teddy (Anthony Bajon), the town’s laughing stock.
Teddy may have resigned himself to making ends meet at the local massage parlour, but he has grand plans to save up and build a home for him and his girlfriend Rebecca (Christine Gautier).
These plans turn sour though when Teddy is attacked by a wolf that has been roaming the woods and then the stuff of lycanthropy come to the fore, starting with the amped up sexual appetite, and leading into the bizarre such as hair growth on his tongue and protruding from his eyeball.

As much as he tries to hide these strange bodily changes, it soon overcomes him and right at a time when Rebecca appears to be losing interest in him.
The one person who seems to understand his plight and warns about the dangers of the monster lurking within, is his foster parent, Pepin (Ludovic Torrent) an admittedly slow-thinking man.

What the Boukherma brothers do remarkably well is own the grit and realism of both the setting and the characters including the actors who portray them.
Particular applause has to go to Bajon’s portrayal of the titular character, perfectly capturing the heartache and desperation.
When you’re already down, there’s no place to go but deeper and embrace the animal within.

The Diagnosis:

Yes there are flaws.
But some of those blemishes are part of Teddy’s attraction and at times the film borders on genius.
It’s a bold approach to a mythological tale and while it doesn’t necessarily scare, it does provide a quirky, and sympathetic slant that will satisfy those into curiosity.



– Saul Muerte

Teddy is currently streaming on Shudder ANZ

Retrospective: Wolfen (1981)

24 Saturday Jul 2021

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1981 proved to be big hitters for wolf kind with three notable films leaning into the subject in their own unique way.
While most people will have heard of John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London for its broad strokes of horror blended with comedy and creature fx, or Joe Dante’s The Howling for its pulpy investigative tale of lycanthropy, but the third feature among the group, Wolfen starring Albert Finney may not readily spring to mind.

Possibly this is because the nature of the film doesn’t play with the true mythology surrounding werewolves, but rather that of an American Indian legend based on wolf spirits.

The film also plays with the ‘whodunnit’ detective story, following Finney’s Detective Dewey Wilson, who is called back into the police force when a high profile murder warrants a guru to put a final stop to the murders that have been taking place throughout New York. The victims who have the common traits of supposed animal attacks at its core. 

Wilson is teamed up with criminal psychologist, Detective Rebecca Neff (Diane Venora) in a partnership that has all the hallmarks of an early Mulder and Scully vibe. Neff’s insights into the science and animalistic behaviour evidenced at the muder scene, helps to solidify their enquiry.

Early on in the piece, the pair are attacked by an unseen creature, barely surviving their ordeal at an abandoned church, which forms a tighter bond and highlights that their investigations have something more paranormal in origin.

The remainder of the film plays with the spiritual side of nature, suggesting that despite the hallmarks of a potential terrorist activity behind the murders, that there is a pack of God-like beings with wolf traits known as spirits or shapeshifters are the true cause. It is this angle that definitely sets it apart from AAWIL and The Howling, and possibly why it didn’t manage to make its mark in comparison. It’s a shame because the psychological component that is played with as a humanity versus nature, and our base animalistic behaviour that is drawn upon for survival is one that is deeply compelling and told in an engaging way, supported by the strong performances on show by Finney. Detective Dewey is a great character and one that Dustin Hoffman had his eyes on at one stage, which says a lot to his appeal and strength. As is the other cast members, Edward James Olmos, Gregory Hines, Tom Noonan, all of whom provide compelling characters to support the narrative.

It also boasted at the time a refreshing approach to the killer’s perspective using a thermography technique, now closely associated with films like Predator. 

Sure it doesn’t have the same fanfare as the other werewolf flicks that year, but it had a strong, mature approach to its storytelling that shouldn’t be neglected.

  • Saul Muerte