From the time I was a little kid, I was fascinated by monsters. I used to sit on the couch next to my mother, transfixed by the old Universal horror classics on Chiller Theatre on WPIX out of New York. Saturday afternoons were spent at my grandparents’ house with Dr. Shock on Channel 17 out of Philadelphia. I remember the smell of the print and pulp of Forrest Ackerman’s “Famous Monsters of Filmland,” of the stale chewing gum in Topp’s Creature Feature trading cards, and of Testors Glue, with its warning of harmful vapors on the tube, as I assembled with sticky fingers Aurora monster models acquired from Hobby Hang-Out.
Monsters were my first passion. Then came comic books. Then came “Star Wars.” Then came classical music. Parallel to these ran a lifelong love of the movies, and movie monsters were my favorites.
I offer all this as preamble to the fact that Roy and I will be discussing “An American Werewolf in London” tomorrow night, as we continue our month-long celebration of Halloween, on Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner.
Ironically, I was a rather squeamish kid. I may have been drawn to monsters, but I always had complex feelings about the anguish and tragedy that were part and parcel of their existence, and certainly I didn’t want to see any blood. So into my teens I had mixed feelings about the Hammer films of the 1950s and ‘60s, with their buckets of Technicolor gore. And I was definitely very wary of anything more modern that ran the risk of splatter or viscera. I remember, I had a lot of apprehension when my mother took me to see “Day of the Dolphin” in the theater – not a monster movie, but rated PG!
My favorite monster was always the werewolf. I still have Nancy Garden’s book on the history of the werewolf (“Werewolves,” from Lippincott’s “The Weird and Horrible Library”) that my parents bought me at F.A.O. Schwarz on one of our trips in to New York City. Later, I acquired Sabine Baring-Gould’s 1865 study “The Book of Were-Wolves.” On one memorable occasion, when I was about 10 years old, my parents allowed me to stay up and watch “The Werewolf of London” with Henry Hull and Warner Oland.
The thing is, there weren’t very many good werewolf movies. I assume it’s because, of all the movie monsters, the werewolf was the hardest to pull off. Put a guy in a cape and give him fangs and you’ve got a vampire. But it took some real skill to engineer a palatable werewolf, especially in the old days. Even among all the monster cereals spawned by Count Chocula, including Franken Berry, Boo Berry, and the only vaguely recollected Yummy Mummy, Frute Brute was always the weakest.
Since I was weaned on the Universal films, I was all about atmosphere, broodingly-lit Gothic landscapes full of shadows and mists. Of course, these were necessary in order to effectively sustain believability, when nobody back in the day vaguely resembled a wolf. In the classic 1941 version of “The Wolfman,” always the best of the vintage werewolf movies, Bela Lugosi’s supporting character was represented, in monster form, by a genuine canine; but when it came to Lon Chaney, they gave him a toupée, teeth, and whiskers. Not that I loved him any the less for them. I hasten to add, the transformations, for the time, and certainly Jack Peirce’s makeup, were brilliant.
But by the 1980s, effects had come a long way, and now we could witness the genuine process of shapeshifting. What was sacrificed in terms of the power of suggestion was superseded by eyepopping elongation of limbs and growing fur. 1981 brought a werewolf bumper crop, between Joe Dante’s “The Howling,” with Rob Bottin’s never-look-away transformations, and John Landis’ “An American Werewolf in London,” with Rick Baker’s excruciating, interminable, and astonishing metamorphoses.
I was 15 years-old, dipping a toe into contemporary horror, but still apprehensive about anything too lurid. I was nervous about seeing “Excalibur,” of all things, as I was afraid, with its R rating, that there might be some arm-loppings. (There were.) I was a very sensitive teenager.
Yeah, there were some gross elements to “American Werewolf,” a real change of pace for director John Landis, then known pretty much for his comedies-of-excess “Animal House” and “The Blues Brothers,” but like “The Wolfman,” the film managed to insinuate itself into my consciousness, and I remember thinking about it for days afterward.
It’s been years since I’ve last seen it, and I have not really kept up with developments in the werewolf genre, being interested in neither graphic violence nor CGI, so “American Werewolf,” for me, was always the film that met the high-water mark set by Chaney. The scares and pathos were there, but bizarrely, at the time, there were also some pretty good jokes. The film ran with all the wild grace of a lone wolf. I can’t wait to rewatch it and talk about it tomorrow night.
There will be a bad moon rising, on the next “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner.” Bring your silver bullets to the comments section. It will be our time to howl, on Facebook, YouTube, etc., this Sunday evening at 7:00 EDT!
https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner
Last night, Roy’s special guest was filmmaker Jeffrey Morris, who dropped by to discuss some of his favorite episodes of “Space: 1999.” Morris is raising funds for a documentary about the cultural impact of the Eagle, the iconic spacecraft from the cult television series. Here’s a link to the show, if you’re a “1999” fan.
Also, the documentary’s Kickstarter page, if you would like to see it happen. Among the subjects who have agreed to take part in the project are actor Nick Tate, who played Alan Carter on the show, and Academy Award winning special effects artist Brian Johnson (both of whom have been past guests on “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner”). There are only five days left in the fundraiser, so think about it, and if it’s something you want to support, make your pledge. Morris is a dynamic personality, a passionate and skilled filmmaker who knows how to get things done. Every cent will be onscreen. The documentary is bound to bring fresh attention to a fondly-remembered show that is, nevertheless, always slipping further into the past. You can read more about Morris’ vision here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1924935609/the-eagle-has-landed-sci-fi-documentary
