The 2016 October Horror Marathon

[noiseredux]

yeah I loved Prometheus, and the more I've read about it and re-watched the original Alien, the more well thought out prequel it becomes to me. I really think it's fascinating. I'm definitely pumped for Covenant.

[Ack]

18. The Curse of the Werewolf

Surprisingly for all the classic horror that Hammer Films were producing in the 1950s, it wasn't until the sequels to their versions of Frankenstein and Dracula were out before they turned to the tale of the werewolf in 1961. It's a classical take with a werewolf clearly pulling from the Lon Chaney aesthetic in a gothic horror tale set in Spain in the 18th century, and it served as both the start of Oliver Reed's acting career as well as the most notable screen performance of the alluring Yvonne Romain. While it's nowhere near as violent as some of Hammer's later pictures, it still has a bit of blood and murder, but no so much that it couldn't be handled.

What's much more disconcerting are the rapes, which form the basis of the tale. A mute servant girl is raped by a mad beggar thrown into prison and forgotten, and then she murders the local nobleman who employs her for trying to rape her the very next night. She escapes, is found by a good man in the woods nearly dead, but dies giving birth on Christmas Day, which in turn curses the baby with lycanthropy. From there we learn that the werewolf can actually be treated through love and kindness, but alas, it's a cruel world, and when poor Oliver Reed falls in love with the daughter of his boss and then has a bad night where he transforms and mauls several undeserving people, well, it's the beginning of the end.

This film is much more of a tragedy than a true tale of terror, one where innocents are ruined by the external acts of men in power and then are forced to face repeated hardships until their deaths. The werewolf is a sad figure, moreso in that he does not want to hurt anyone but is cursed to do so, and that the only cure than can save him is kept from him to the point that he willingly begs for death without it. As with many horror films, man is more terrible, but we simply can't shoot him. The monster we can shoot, though it is an act of mercy.

Unfortunately The Curse of the Werewolf does have some pacing issues; it's a full half hour before the werewolf is even born, so we really don't see the premise until the final thirty minutes. Once it comes, it comes in a rush, and the last two minutes resolve everything with a sudden end. While the effects were good for their time, they're also quite dated in a post-American Werewolf in London and Howling world. But it's still a fun watch, especially if you enjoyed the Universal tales of the 1930s and want to see how they evolved into their modern day counterparts.

18/31

1. Late Phases
2. Ghoulies
3. Nightbeast
4. Tombs of the Blind Dead
5. Return of the Blind Dead
6. The Ghost Galleon
7. Night of the Seagulls
8. Chopping Mall
9. Bad Moon
10. C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D.
11. Dead Heat
12. Varan the Unbelievable
13. The Milpitas Monster
14. Shock
15. Kingdom of the Spiders
16. Ghoulies II
17. Waxwork
18. The Curse of the Werewolf

[Jagosaurus]

yeah I loved Prometheus, and the more I've read about it and re-watched the original Alien, the more well thought out prequel it becomes to me. I really think it's fascinating. I'm definitely pumped for Covenant.

They did a great job with the tie ins.

I need to re-watch it then read up on the xeno life cycle. I was over analyzing that a bit during the movie lol.

[Xeogred]

Another Cronenberg homerun for me with Scanners (1981). I freaking loved it, it was so ridiculous. I've always enjoyed weird esper stuff in anime so I'm not super new to the concept. But wow this felt so weird and different for 1981 in an awesome way. Michael Ironside is always an S rank villain. The sound design and music is what really stood out here, love when an intense movie has such a dense and layered soundscape. The music was great in The Fly and Videodrome, but it was incredible here.

At this point, I won't expect a happy ending with Cronenberg.

[noiseredux]

ah, yes. Scanners is another classic. You'll probably enjoy Existenz as well.

It's funny watching you dig through these. I got really into Cronenberg right around the time I met my wife and we watched pretty much his entire filmography over the course of a year.

[Xeogred]

It's been nice to find another director with a crazy weird style and subject matter after finishing up David Lynch's filmography. I could maybe see Videodrome, The Fly, and Scanners being his best or my preference for their awesome 80's-isms, but I'm excited there's still a handful to check out. Maybe I'll get to Existenz today too since I'm just laying around in bed a little sick, lol.

I usually love some fun camp, but I love how insanely serious this Cronenberg stuff is in comparison to others. They feel super serious and confident. No denying Scanners cracked me up sometimes though, but yeah it was awesome.

[TSTR]

dude watch DEAD RINGERS sometime, amazing performance by Jeremy Irons and another Cronenberg great

[noiseredux]

Videodrome is my favorite, followed CLOSELY by Rabid. Please see Rabid! Haha. And also Shivers is awesome. He has a lot of great stuff. But seriously... see Rabid.

[Ack]

What about The Brood? You gotta watch The Brood.

Also, his modern "mainstream" stuff like Eastern Promises is worth checking out too. Not the same weirdness, but still enjoyable and frightening in its own way.

[noiseredux]

yeah The Brood is really good and so is Dead Ringers. And The Dead Zone. And Crash is insane.

I remember finding Spider pretty boring. I didn't really love History Of Violence, though. And never got around to Eastern Promises.