Wyso And The Other Creepy Kids on Gerard Street
Man's Best
Sparkers
Better Dig 2
Completing our research on classic movie monsters and the recipe to their success, we reach our final of the Big Four, and my favorite, Wolf Man.
The Short of It
The most memorable monsters are continually being resurrected on the big screen, like the current undertaking by Universal to reboot such classic movie monsters as Dracula, The Mummy, Wolf Man, and Frankenstein.
I want to know why. And why don’t we have any new movie monsters that rival the Big Four.
And I want to find out what is needed to create one.
The Long of It
Over the last month we have studied three of the four classic monsters. Today we take a look at Wolf Man and why he has lasted through the ages and why, in general, werewolves—like vampires—are still fascinating characters in fiction and on screen whether they be heroes or villains.
First, let’s look to see if wolfman fits into the guidelines we have already established in prior blogs.
- He must be created from the imagination of a writer.
- The monster should be so detestable—in actions or appearance or both—that society and even his maker reject him and try to destroy him. This gives the monster something with which we as humans can empathize.
- His depravity is derived from something unnatural like the dead coming back to life, the undead, or being composed of the parts of numerous dead people.
- Love—either as its main squeeze or as a backstory for the journey of a monster.
- The monster must be brought to life on stage or screen.
Lon Chaney and Jack Nicholson bring the true essence of Wolf Man to life on the big screen in 1941 and 1994.
Probe-Filing
Does Wolf Man fit into our guidelines? Hmmm. Yes and no. Let’s take it point by point.
POINT 1: Though not created from the imagination of any one writer—like Shelley’s Frankenstein or Stoker’s Dracula—werewolves have been a part of legends, including literary depictions, since…forever. (ProbeNote: Just google werewolf timelines for actual dates.)
One of Wolf Man’s first literary appearances may have been in 39 B.C. The Roman poet Virgil wrote Eclogues and sings of Moeris, a man turned into a werewolf by the use of herbs.
Werewolves even have roots in Ancient Greek literature. Greek historian Herodotus writes about werewolves in his book Histories, recording that a tribe known as Neuri transformed into wolves once every year for several days, and then changed back into their human shape.
Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory, regarded as the best work of Arthurian legend, gives the tale of Marrok. A knight betrayed by his wife and forced to remain a werewolf for seven years.
POINT 2: In the original Wolf Man, we empathize with him as the human and detest him as the werewolf. As a human, he is unable to control his monster and feels remorse when he kills. He hates the evil within him. As a werewolf he verges on cannibalism and, at the very least, a malicious serial killer. The poem used in every Wolf Man movie:
POINT 2: In the original Wolf Man, we empathize with him as the human and detest him as the werewolf. As a human, he is unable to control his monster and feels remorse when he kills. He hates the evil within him. As a werewolf he verges on cannibalism and, at the very least, a malicious serial killer. The poem used in every Wolf Man movie:
Even a man who is pure in heart
and says his prayers by night
may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms
and the autumn moon is bright.
This speaks to us of a good man unable to control his monster. He is detestable and yet we empathize with his human-ness.
POINT 3: Love is an integral part of all the werewolf tales, whether it is a hateful, betraying wife or a lover.
POINT 4: And yes, Wolf Man, werewolf legends, were brought to life on the big screen most notably by the 1941 movie starring Lon Chaney, Jr., as Larry Talbot. (ProbeNote: The character of Talbot has become a legend in his own right representing the two sides of every man—good and evil.)
Lon Chaney’s Wolf Man
Wolf Man fits into each of our guidelines quite nicely. So what does he bring to the table. I think by all accounts it is his human-ness. As an audience we love him and we hate him, and would hate to be him. We feel for him, yet we want the killing to stop. This Wolf Man is very much a part of the original movie and the later 1994 remake starring Jack Nicholson.
Benicio Del Toro as the Wolf Man in 2010.
The most recent version of the Wolf Man, however—the 2010 movie starring Anthony Hawkins—failed to ignite that empathy from the audience. One reason, I believe, it failed to meet werewolf lovers expectations.
(ProbeNote: 2010 make-up artist Rick Baker chose to keep his version as close and faithful to the original design as much as possible. The original make-up on Lon Chaney for Wolf Man was done by Hollywood make-up artist Jack Pierce who is also the creator of the iconic make-up for the original Frankenstein and The Mummy.)
(ProbeNote: In November 2014, Universal hired Aaron Guzikowski to write a reboot of The Wolf Man.)
Summarizing the Quest
This concludes our quest in search of what makes a timeless monster. I was especially interested in Wolf Man. He has always been my favorite, and is so for the very fact that he is human not some cold-blooded thing resurrected from the dead or parts of the dead. He is a living, breathing thing sorry for the crimes he commits.
I am currently revising Book 1 of my Young Adult series called The Other Kind or TOK. It is all werewolf. No werewolves and vampires intermingling and messing up the storyline. Something I have wanted ever since I first watched and re-watched the 1941 classic.
The SIX ingredients needed to create a classic monster:
- He must be created from the imagination of a writer.
- The monster should be so detestable—in actions or appearance or both—that society and even his maker reject him and try to destroy him. This gives the monster something with which we as humans can empathize.
- His depravity is derived from something unnatural like the dead coming back to life, the undead, or being composed of the parts of numerous dead people.
- Love—either as its main squeeze or as a backstory for the journey of a monster.
- The monster must be brought to life on stage or screen.
- It must possess a human component—one with which the audience or reader can share.
Do the other monsters fit into the sixth point?
- Frankenstein is rejected by his creator.
- Dracula is rejected by society.
- The Mummy dies for love.
- Wolfman is unable to control his change, though he wants to.
I can relate, how about you? That is what makes these monsters classic.
We might add the element of frightening. But after Jacob and Edward in the Twilight series, who’s going to be afraid of the big bad wolf or a blood-sucking bat? Unless…have you seen the 2011 movie Priest? Some scary vampires in it and the best action scene I have ever seen! Movie trailer below.)
(Note to self: Must incorporate frightening into some other aspect of the story not just the monster. Sounds like a future blog post to me.)
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Which brings me to my question for today: What scares the bejeezus out of you?
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Probe image with wolf and eagle on Pixabay by thes26800.
blog post #101
New science fiction blog posts every Monday on The Probe.
The Probe—probing the unknown in science fiction, science, paranormal, fiction, ghosts, monsters, aliens, space, UFOs, strange, and weird.
Clara is creator of the popular Science Fiction novellas, "The Creep Mesquite Anthology." It's SyFy with monsters and a little romance, available on Amazon Kindle.
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Psychotic murderers who enjoy taunting their victims scare the beejezus out of me. Have you ever seen The Strangers… I think that movie epitomizes fear to me.
I love the wrap up of your 4 classic monsters and the tenements they are held up against. I enjoy how monsters explore the dark sides of ourselves, the moral dilemma of, say, living off the blood of others. This was a wonderful exploration.
Love your comments Dilloboi. You are always so insightful. And yes psychotic, serial killers who torture their victims scare the beejezus out of me as well.That is sooooo real! That’s why I like monsters. Especially the classics. They’re not real. So I get that scare, thrill ride all the while knowing such things don’t exist.
Or do they?