werewolf by night

If “Werewolf by Night – in Color!” isn’t a symptom of Marvel’s problems…

…then I don’t know what is.

The original was neat, creepy, and I enjoyed it being in black and white. That was part of the fun. This? This is sad.

Moe Lane

A remake of THEM! is in the works.

…I’ll allow it: “Film composer Michael Giacchino, who recently directed Marvel’s Werewolf By Night has landed his first big feature film directing gig and it’s gonna be a fun one! He will be directing a reboot of the classic 1954 sci-fi man-eating monster movie Them! for Warner Bros.”

…Provisionally. I want assurances that the new version will not treat the original THEM! too solemnly. We’re not talking about CASABLANCA, after all: THEM! was an Atomic Horror monster flick, however well-made. Neither should they make fun of the original, either. Something at the level of EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS* feels about right.

Moe Lane

*I don’t care what anybody says, that was a fun movie.

#commissionearned

Marvel planning two more WEREWOLF BY NIGHT Halloween specials.

Come, I will conceal nothing from you: I like the idea. I enjoyed Marvel’s WEREWOLF BY NIGHT as a mashup of two old-school horror comic traditions, and if they want to do something equally creepy and/or gruesome… sure! That would be swell. They should start by taking a good, long look at EC Comics (while not actually admitting that they’re taking that look, mind you). There’s an aesthetic there that could be profitably developed.

Just… cut down on the CGI, all right? Let’s get some practical effects going, for a change.

My mini-review of WEREWOLF BY NIGHT.

Short version: this is fun!

Okay, Marvel’s WEREWOLF BY NIGHT looks pretty sweet.

WEREWOLF BY NIGHT looks like it’s combining the classic black-and-white horror movie aesthetic with the now-classic* 1980s gory horror movie aesthetic, and I am there for it. I have no idea how Marvel’s getting away with putting it on Disney+, but that’s what parental controls are for. …Although that’s a theoretical concept in this household. Both of my kids are devotees of creepypasta, and so far it seems not to have done either any harm. October 7th!

*I truly regret having to remind you that AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON is forty-one years old. So is WOLFEN. THE THING is forty, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET is thirty-eight, THE LOST BOYS thirty-five**… that time period is as far away from us now as the 1940s and 1950s classic horror flicks were to me as a teenager. On the bright side: God damn, but the toys are awesome now. Not to mention the baseline medical care.

#commissionearned

**”CRYYYYYYY LITTLE SISTER… Sorry about that.