Weekly Cinemeh

Hello, and welcome back to Weekly Cinemeh. This week we continue our month of horror with werewolf movies! Werewolf movies are a nifty combination of gore and musings on the nature of humanity. What fun: To the list!

1: An American Werewolf in London
This movie is a dark comedy that is an interesting take on the classic Wolfman tale (the movie makes a few references to the original). The movie starts with a couple of tourists exploring the north of England when they get attacked by a werewolf. One of the men dies and the other survives with a few wounds from the beast. While recovering David, the guy who survived, starts to see his dead friend, who warns him that he is a werewolf who will kill a lot of people. All of the werewolf's victims are stuck in limbo and haunt the werewolf, encouraging them to kill themselves. The haunting combined with the feeling of uncertainty that comes from bizarre situations creates a good tension for the main character and audience. The idea that the main character might just be crazy is something shared by the doctor and nurse looking after David as well as the audience. The practical effects are good and the acting is 70's good. This is definitely a watch. Also, the last act starts in a porno theater with one of the funniest fake pornos ever. I never thought I would use the phrase "avant garde" to describe a porn, but I have been proven wrong.

Eshi: An American Werewolf in London is the sort of movie that warrants a two drink minimum. Not that its bad, its not, its just the kind of flat, soft-focus cinematography that mustachioed 70's directors designed to highlight a mid-afternoon buzz. My favorite character in this entire film is the dead friend. He's the driving force behind a lot of the actual humor in the movie and I can't help but be delighted by his casual insistence that David just cash in and go home. The obligatory enigmatically unhelpful country folk are always fun, and their interaction with the snooty London doctor is grand. Not a bad film to justify a popcorn binge.

2: Late Phases
This movie is the story of an old man being forced to live in a retirement community by his son. During his first night in his new place his next door neighbor and his dog are killed by werewolf. He realizes immediately that it is not a crazed animal picking off old people, and spends the next 30 days brooding, preparing to kill a werewolf, and trying to figure out who the werewolf is. This movie is interesting, it focuses a lot on how old/disabled people are looked down upon, but also goes out of is way to make a bunch of characters unlikable so you don't feel bad when they die. I mentioned brooding earlier, and while I was joking I wasn't being disingenuous. A lot of this movie is spend with the main character being grumpy and giving people reasons to not trust or like him. He is the stereotypical angry old war vet, who refuses help and alienates everyone around them, including family. Part of the movie is spent on his redemption from that, but he is still kind of a dick. Its entertaining, but a far from perfect movie. The acting is passable, and while its the very definition of slow burn the payoff is fun and cathartic, though I think the ending is kind of mediocre.

Eshi: I don't have good feelings about old people in general. Its not a hard prejudice, I've just spent a fair amount of time dealing with old people and they tend to be unpleasant for reasons cultural, personal and biological. So watching a movie about the exact type of really old people I dislike getting werewolf-oriented comeuppance is every fantasy I ever had at a nursing home picnic. That said in the first 15 minutes they kill off one of two characters I actually like and a dog. We've discussed killing dogs on film. The other likable character is the preacher, which feels like a weird thing to say. All in all Late Phases is fun, watch it with your Gandpa.

3: Wolfcop
This movie was so much better in my head. I wanted the movie to be far more campy then it was. I feel bad that my expectations probably stained it for me. The movie is about an alcoholic cop who gets turned into a werewolf via a cult of changelings who will use his blood for a ritual to maintain their power. There are a few laughs and some excellent effects, specifically when a guy gets his face ripped off and runs around screaming. I get the feeling watching this movie that it takes itself too seriously, though that is mostly from the tone. I do like that the cop becomes a werewolf and digs it instead of treating it like a curse. Its an ok movie, but I get the feeling that booze would have made it better.

Eshi: It probably doesn't say anything good about the genre how much its improved by intoxicants. Wolfcop is about lizard people ruling a redneck town through ritual sacrifice and a poorly crafted cocktail of guns, drugs and presumably fucking. The practical effects are pretty sold, including the werewolf transformation which is rare. I do feel obliged to inform you guys that there is like a 3 minute yiff scene that doesn't contribute to a great day. It has tits, gore and out-of-date cgi, what else could you want in a modern B movie.