FA+
Shop
Did the werewolfs lose the war?
16 years ago
Going to the cinema today I came to the startling realization that it seems as if all werewolf movies have died down dramatically recently, leaving only a abundance of vampire themed movies.
There's always been some sort of Hollywood war between the two themes of movies and you could generally always find a equal amount of both but whether its at the movies or on tv it seems nowadays that its rampant with vampire media,lets face it we've been flooded with vampires, theres twilight(yes has weres will get back to it in a bit),Blood the last vampire,Daybreakers, and True blood(tv series),where's all the werewolf movies gone?
It seems that the wolf has become an endangered species that if seen in a film gets poorly represented as a mindless beast with a poor character and and more often than not a testosterone driven mindless violent rage that only knows how to kill and give cheap thrills to the viewer, all of the above can be seen in the "Underworld trilogy" its sad I know and some will disagree,yea it might have started the lycan subculture but it still tries and force the old believes of a dumb beastly werewolf,that knows nothing except violence and has to merged with a vampire to become something intelligent, human like and less violent.
Hollywood has bought into vampires, wether that is because of the decades of poorly shot, exploited werewolf horror movies, or the sudden rise of the twilight semi/fandom.Twilight is probably the best example of whats wrong with the perception of weres (note I haven't read the second or third books yet) the main lead is in love with a smart sophisticated vampire, whom she just met and instantly falls in love with , he then teaches her that vampires aren't some evil blood sucking creatures but are caring and loving individuals,yet she completely ignores her childhood friend that has allways loved her, and eventually saves her when her vampire BF dumps her and cant save her from some evil vampires, its sad, really sad.
What I really would like to see is a role reversal for once,why cant a male lead character fall in love with a hot intelligent female werewolf,who shows him that were-wolfs are actually softies and nice and comfy to cuddle up in winter time with?
Maybe Neill Blomkamp can direct it :P (District9)
And why is all werewolf males?
PS this isn't meant to insult any one just to vent and act as a first blog post feel free to comment and discuss or pm me about how angry and upset you are because of the BS spewing from my mouth,but honestly so far it seems that the furry community is the only exception.
There's always been some sort of Hollywood war between the two themes of movies and you could generally always find a equal amount of both but whether its at the movies or on tv it seems nowadays that its rampant with vampire media,lets face it we've been flooded with vampires, theres twilight(yes has weres will get back to it in a bit),Blood the last vampire,Daybreakers, and True blood(tv series),where's all the werewolf movies gone?
It seems that the wolf has become an endangered species that if seen in a film gets poorly represented as a mindless beast with a poor character and and more often than not a testosterone driven mindless violent rage that only knows how to kill and give cheap thrills to the viewer, all of the above can be seen in the "Underworld trilogy" its sad I know and some will disagree,yea it might have started the lycan subculture but it still tries and force the old believes of a dumb beastly werewolf,that knows nothing except violence and has to merged with a vampire to become something intelligent, human like and less violent.
Hollywood has bought into vampires, wether that is because of the decades of poorly shot, exploited werewolf horror movies, or the sudden rise of the twilight semi/fandom.Twilight is probably the best example of whats wrong with the perception of weres (note I haven't read the second or third books yet) the main lead is in love with a smart sophisticated vampire, whom she just met and instantly falls in love with , he then teaches her that vampires aren't some evil blood sucking creatures but are caring and loving individuals,yet she completely ignores her childhood friend that has allways loved her, and eventually saves her when her vampire BF dumps her and cant save her from some evil vampires, its sad, really sad.
What I really would like to see is a role reversal for once,why cant a male lead character fall in love with a hot intelligent female werewolf,who shows him that were-wolfs are actually softies and nice and comfy to cuddle up in winter time with?
Maybe Neill Blomkamp can direct it :P (District9)
And why is all werewolf males?
PS this isn't meant to insult any one just to vent and act as a first blog post feel free to comment and discuss or pm me about how angry and upset you are because of the BS spewing from my mouth,but honestly so far it seems that the furry community is the only exception.
Vampire material is much easier to create than werewolf material. In terms of stories, costume design, acting, etc., vampires win out because it can be done by almost anybody, very easily and very cheaply. Most importantly, vampires are incredibly popular, and it's got pretty much everything to do with female sexual fantasy.
How so? Imagine you're a beautiful young woman, and you're walking home late at night, and suddenly, a luxurious horse-drawn carriage pulls alongside you. The door opens, and through it you can see an incredibly handsome man, his eyes gleaming as he looks at you. His hair is combed and jet black, and he's wearing a black suit. He reaches out to you with his glove-covered hand, offering you a ride. And once you succumb to his scent and flirting, he ravishes your body, biting gently into your neck, and makes you his eternal thrall.
(Fun Fact: Twilight was inspired my Stephanie Myer's wet dreams. Which is why she looks identical to the main girl of the story.)
Werewolves are far more difficult. Their costumes are difficult to make both realistic and comfortable, and are damned expensive. Stories are an even greater challenge. Focusing on the werewolf is hard because they're not completely human on the outside or inside; getting into their head and finding what makes them tick, and making them a character worth watching is not as easy as focusing on the humans of the story, the ones that hunt and eventually kill the werewolf. Humans have had a negative viewpoint towards wolves in general for a long time (ie. when we put a bunch of sheep on some plain surrounded by some wooden fence, drove away the bigger stronger animals nearby, and then complained when the wolves came for the sheep), which is why the werewolf image exist: as a monster.
Worst of all, a lot of "modern" werewolf films have been trying to modify the werewolf the same way that vampires were; they were put into modern landscapes and situation, had some changes from original lore, and tried to be the focus of a story in order to make them believable and likable to the audience. This had pretty much never worked (see Skinwalkers and Twilight: New Moon).
Until the vampire genre becomes overused and the werewolf genre gets a decent movie for once, I doubt we'll be seeing a rise of good werewolf material for a while.