Cinema & TV: An American Werewolf in London (1981) (full review from October 2011)

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As promised, here's a copy of my review of an old favourite of mine -  An American Werewolf in London - that was first published on The Lycanthropologist's Werewolf Movie Reviews blog on October 12th 2011. Although I feel some nostalgia towards this production, I tried to nitpick as much as possible nevertheless and remain as objective as I could be. As old as this post is, I hope those of you who haven't read it before will enjoy it!

Should my analysis and review spark your interest in the movie – or should you want to view it yourself before reading this article – you can do so thanks to Amazon Video, where you can rent or buy An American Werewolf in London for your viewing pleasure. Alternatively, you can watch it for free if you sign up for the free trial of Amazon Prime. Simply click on the poster of the movie that's in this article and it will take you to the appropriate page. Thank you and enjoy!

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Hello and welcome to yet another doze of shapeshifting extravaganza!

The full-moon is in the sky and so it is time for some talk about werewolf movies! I've been thinking about which movie to review as the first for a while now, but couldn't decide which one to pick from among a few good candidates. Should I start with a bad one or a good one? Should I pick one I would criticise from start to finish or not? Should my first review be epic in size or normal? Those were some of the questions I asked myself when choosing a candidate for the very beginning. I don't know if I've chosen well, but what's done is done and this month's review is:

Yes! Most of you interested in werewolf cinematography should be well familiar with this title. Since its release in 1981 it's become quite a classic and you can probably easily find it in stores even now, also on BluRay. Written and directed by John Landis, the movie was a box office success and received an Oscar in a category created specifically for this purpose during the 1981 Academy awards ceremony – Outstanding Achievement in Make-up - which exists to this day. It also won the 1981 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film, while in 2008 The Empire magazine named it as the 107th greatest movie of all time. Sixteen years later, it spawned a sequel, An American Werewolf in Paris, which, however, we’ll deal with another time.

Without further ado, here we go, so kick back and enjoy the show!

Summary

An American Werewolf in London is basically what the title says it is. Our two main characters are American students who, in the middle of their tour around Europe, find themselves in England. Once there, they are attacked by a creature that is later revealed to have been a werewolf. One of the men dies and the other survives to meet the fate of becoming a werewolf himself. After leaving hospital, he decides to stay for a while in London, where he meets the love interest of the movie. Once the full-moon comes, he transforms into a werewolf and goes on a rampage around the city until he is finally cornered and subsequently killed.

In-depth Analysis

So we start off with a view of a Scottish-looking landscape at sunset (or the break of dawn? Hard to tell at first) and Boby Vinton’s version of “Blue Moon” begins to play. Since the title werewolf is supposed to visit London, however, I’m inclined to say it’s more the landscape of England, maybe somewhere near the Lake District. The song is a peculiar touch that gives the viewer a breather from the usual spooky horror music which accompanies many other werewolf movies. It surely creates a peculiar mood as the title rolls onto the screen, followed by the cast.

A truck approaches along a deserted country road and we meet our two protagonists as they hitch a ride on a sheep wagon. Having dismounted, they already get warned by the driver to "keep off the moors, stick to the roads", but not much more is said. As they set off on foot to wherever they’re heading, I gotta say the dialogue is not of the most riveting kind, just some stereotypical male-students-on-vacation chat about girls and sex, with a couple of stupid jokes in between. The mood changes a little bit as night falls and our characters approach a small village and decide to step into the local pub for a drink and to get some rest. What they find is this:

Pretty… cool? Sick? Silly? Menacing? Surely a nice touch for those who are watching the movie, knowing that it’s a werewolf movie, but maybe not so much for the poor, unaware protagonists. One thing I’d like to know is why the hell there's a skewered wolf head (and what in the world is that weapon, a harpoon?...) on the sign when the pub’s name is The Slaughtered Lamb. I mean, shouldn’t there be a lamb there somewhere instead of a (were)wolf? Or maybe this is supposed to be an allusion to the popular saying about a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’, which would somehow correspond to a werewolf being a beast concealed in the shape of a man? But perhaps I’m asking too many questions than there are answers for. Oh, nice! Even the characters themselves voice their concern about there being no lamb on the sign-board a moment later! So now I have clarity… that there is none, actually *cough*.

The atmosphere of the pub is, to say the least, unwelcoming. As the two men enter, dead silence falls and everyone’s eyes become fixated on the travellers. As we learn, the pub offers not much except for beer. And, oh my god, now what do we find on one of the walls?

A pentagram! How lovely! I guess a more old-fashioned person would look at this and would probably say that ‘Oh dear, it’s the sign of the devil’, but I’m having quite different flashbacks to The Wolfman, where a similar pentagram was the sign that the main character is afflicted with the curse of werewolfism. Okay, so the reference couldn’t have been made more obvious when even one of the characters tells the other that ‘Lon Chaney Jr. (the actor who played the main role of The Wolfman – mem.) at Universal Studios maintains that’s the sign of the wolfman!’ a few moments later. Not much for me to add there, then. More signs that this movie is about werewolves, I say, more!

After Jack, the protagonist’s friend and fellow-companion, asks about the pentagram on the wall, the mood turns even more grim and the two students are forced to leave the pub because of the awkwardness that results from the locals’ unfriendliness. While the others shoo the boys away, the barmaid protests, arguing that they can’t just leave into the night, but her reasoning gets dismissed by everyone. One of the men once again warns the Americans, telling them to ‘beware the moon’ and ‘stick to the roads’. As we observe this whole scene unfold, it’s obvious that the people at the pub know about there being something out there in the moors, namely a werewolf, but they seem satisfied to stay with their pentagram and candles inside the warm pub. So let me get this straight - there’s a werewolf running around some English countryside, everyone knows about it, there’s more than a dozen strong men sitting in the pub drinking beer... and nobody cares about doing something about the whole situation and instead allow the foreigners to go out there and get killed just like that? Yeah, well, I guess we need to stick to the usual werewolf movie script, so f*** the foreigners, let’s all drink one more pint of booze and tell more jokes about the Alamo. Oh, as it turns out a bit later, the locals do feel some remorse about letting the two travellers go out on their own, but argue that they can’t let ‘their business’ be known to outsiders, even if it means sentencing the foreigners to death. Lovely folk they are, gotta say.

So night falls for good and the bright full-moon peeks out from beyond the clouds. As we might expect, our protagonists stray off the road and into the moors, singing as the rain begins to fall. Personally, I don’t know for what other reason than plot convenience would they step off the main road in a country they don’t know (and don’t seem to have any map of). Do they even know where they’re going? Since they decided to look for an inn after leaving the pub, I don’t suppose they’ll find one in the middle of the bloody fields! But they keep walking and after a while, they hear a strange howl in the distance, which reminds them they were to stick to the road. In what momentary amnesia of stupidity they didn’t notice they’re not walking on a concrete road I’ll never understand, but in the end they don’t seem to be too spooked out by all of this, or at least their acting doesn’t convey much of this kind of emotions at first. Subsequently, of course they get lost on the moors and stand face-to-face with the howling creature which they refer to as some kind of a sheep-dog (though a sheep dog like that would scare the living shit out of me, to be honest, and probably anyone who’s ever seen a sheep-dog before, too), so they try to escape from it and reach the main road again. Inevitably, their escape ends in a failure and the werewolf (as if it wasn’t obvious already) takes its chance to attack when David (the other of the two men) slips on the muddy grass.

The werewolf, which looks more like a bear than a wolf at first glance, attacks Jack first and while it’s occupied with him, David runs for his life, but hearing his friend’s desperate cries for help decides to overcome his fear and run back to help him. He’s late, however, and finds Jack already dead, lying in a pool of blood, while the werewolf attacks him now instead. During the struggle scenes we don’t get to see too much of the werewolf, but enough to have an idea what it looks like. I know I may be picky now, but notice how there’s no blood on the werewolf’s fangs even though he just ripped a man to shreds? But anyway, luckily (or not) for David, before the creature has a chance to kill him, a posse made up of the guilt-ridden locals arrives at the scene and packs a salve of shotgun bullets into its body. Before David loses consciousness, he turns his head towards where the werewolf fell and sees there a naked man all covered in blood from the gunshot wounds. Thus ends the first act of our English werewolf fairytale.

We now shift to a London hospital where David is being hospitalized. Still out cold, he calls out Jack’s name, and is the centre of interest of apparently sex-deprived nurses who wonder whether he’s Jewish or not until the doctor arrives. Apart from two deep scars on the man’s face, we don’t really know what other injuries that would cause him to be unconscious for so long he had sustained, but his state allows the transition into one of many characteristic for this movie dream sequences in which David slowly realizes he’s turning into a werewolf himself. The first one is pretty simple and innocent, showing a first-person view of the main character, as it is implied, running through a forest, seemingly on all fours. Having woken up, he learns of his friend’s death and that he was unconscious for a whole three weeks… Wait. Three weeks? THREE WEEKS after being attacked by an ‘escaped lunatic’ as they put it and having suffered no serious damage to the head? I’m sorry, but three f****** weeks seems like the beginning of a coma. Could the director of the movie really not think of any other moment in the plot to insert this handy time-skip so that we would be able to follow the protagonist’s struggle during the upcoming full moon? Even the doctor tells him he’s suffered not much more than a few cuts and bruises and lost a little blood and that nothing’s wrong with him. If you ask me, I’d say that lying in bed unconscious for three weeks with such “injuries” means there’s something really wrong with him. The writing.

So after a visit to the hospital by two officials from Scotland Yard (one of whom seems to be a failed attempt of a comedy relief) when David is informed that according to witnesses him and his friend were attacked by a madman and that his testimony of it being otherwise is not credible, thus making the case closed, we cut to yet another dream sequence in which we see a naked David running through a forest. Everything would be fine and dandy if it weren’t for this little bit:

where he attacks a doe, rips it apart with his bare hands apparently, and takes a juicy bite out of its leg. Nom nom nom. After that, as if nothing ever happened, we move on to establish that the nurse taking care of David is the movie’s love interest. Only for a short while though, as another dream sequence follows in which David is running through the forest (AGAIN), this time fully dressed (progress, first it was just a camera, then we saw him naked, now he’s dressed, what next? He’s gonna ride through the forest on a bike?). As he does so, he notices a bed in the middle of the forest in which he himself lies and sees himself turning into a bit more monstrous version of himself as he’s approached by the said nurse.

When David decides to inform his doctor about the nightmares he is having, we can see he’s got more scars in the shape of claw marks on his chest as he tries to convince the doctor that he and Jack were attacked by an animal, not a man.

Oh right, the conversation going on between the two reminded me of something. Explain to me this: if the two Americans were travelling through Northern England, how the hell did David end up as far away from that as LONDON? Are there no hospitals in Northern England?! If he had suffered a serious injury which would require a specialist to operate on him, maybe there would be some justification for bringing him all the way down to London. But since we already know that’s not the case, WHY THE HELL DID YOU DRAG THE GUY SO FAR AWAY TO PUT HIM IN A HOSPITAL? I took the liberty of digging into the matter a little more and what I found got me a bit confused. Namely, first of all the town East Proctor is a fictional name created for the purposes of the movie, but its model was the village of Crickadarn near Wales’ eastern border with England. Now, since the signpost at the beginning of the movie shows the fictional East Proctor in the same direction as the Welsh town of Erwood, I decided to assume that’s the general area where our two main characters were during the werewolf attack.

So how this is supposed to be Northern England, I have no idea, but besides that what in the world made you guys think it was a good idea to transport a man with light injuries all the way from near the Welsh border 380 kilometers east to London (and that’s in a straight line) when you could have reached a city of a population of over a million people (there MUST be at least one hospital for such a place, right?) by covering as little as 90 kilometres? (Taking into consideration only bigger cities, of course.) I DEMAND SENSE. NOT PLOT CONVENIENCE BECAUSE YOUR MOVIE HAS “IN LONDON” IN ITS TITLE.

*facepalm and a few moments of silence*

So after a little more chit-chat we get to see another dream that David is having and I must admit that when I was watching the American Werewolf for the first time this scene was the biggest “what the f***” of the whole movie and I’d say it still holds up to that position. What we get to see this time is a family, a member of whose David appears to be, watching TV and going about its usual business on a free evening, when suddenly they are attacked by Nazi werewolf-soldiers with machine guns. Yes. Exactly what you read and even though maybe they’re not Nazi cause I didn’t see any marks on their uniforms, that’s still what first comes to mind. Like, seriously, what the hell...

As we can expect the werewolf-soldiers open fire at the family and shoot everyone to death apart from David who gets his throat slit. To be honest I’m not sure how to look at this scene. The only logical interpretation that at the moment comes to my mind is that the soldiers are a manifestation of the destruction David’s becoming a werewolf will bring to people closest to him, subsequently ending in his own demise.

When he wakes up in the morning and gets his breakfast delivered by an attendant, for the first (of many) time David has a vision of his dead friend, Jack. Terrified by the unexpected apparition, wondering If he’s still asleep, David has an unsettling conversation with Jack during which he reluctantly learns that they had been attacked by a werewolf and also that Jack is forced to walk the earth “in limbo” until “the curse of the werewolf has been lifted.” Jack then warns him that he will too transform into a werewolf and will kill people and urges him to kill himself before that happens. David panics and calls for the nurse.

Haunted by the thought he might become a werewolf the next full moon, David goes on to stay at the nurse’s house for the time being before he sets out on his way. After they officially become lovers, David is once again visited by his dead friend who repeats his previous warning. David begins to wonder about his own sanity once more and talks to his new girlfriend about The Wolfman. He mentions the similarities between the movie and what Jack told him and concludes that a werewolf can only be killed by someone who loves him.

In the meantime, the good old doctor decides to visit East Proctor and step into the pub the two Americans were in the previous full moon. He creates unease among the locals when he asks about the incident and is soon forced to leave. Outside he meets one of the villagers who tells him that “there’s something wrong with this place” and that the one who survived (David) will change at the next full moon. He warns the doctor of the danger he and others around him are in before he gets cut off by another local who seems desperate to keep the town’s dark secret hidden.

The next day as the nurse leaves for work, David begins to notice strange things about him. Out in the street, a dog begins to bark furiously at him for no apparent reason (and this is one of the most popular clichés about someone being a werewolf and dogs being able to feel it). As the Creedence Clearwater Revival’s song “Bad Moon Rising” plays, we get to see David loafing around the house, waiting for the confirmation or disproval of Jack’s warnings. As night falls, the transformation however begins. Now these upcoming scenes are I would say are among the best werewolf transformation sequences in history and no wonder the movie was awarded the Academy’s statuette for the special effects involved in their creation. Many movies, past and present, can wish they had such a long and detailed scene of someone turning into a werewolf like this and all the CGI-based transformations, though some of them look good, are nothing compared to this raw, physical masterpiece. Together with a ballad version of “Blue Moon” by Sam Cooke it’s one of those things you’ll most probably remember for a long time after watching the American Werewolf even if you were to forget the rest of it.

Almost like Lon Chaney Jr., eh? Well anyway, realizing what is happening to him, David apologises to Jack and calls out for help, but none comes. Fully transformed, a spitting image of the previous werewolf, David escapes the house to hunt around London. It’s not explained how he manages to get out of the house, but let’s lay it on the werewolf’s intelligence that he maybe opened the window or the front door. I just don’t feel like being picky right now given the shape of the werewolf’s paws.

As for a few words about the werewolf itself, it’s obvious that the creators intended to create a human-wolf hybrid, but put it on all fours, unlike what the tendency is at present. The werewolf’s body is long and log-like, so to say, its legs, being transformed human limbs, are long and the hind legs need to be bent while the front ones remain outstretched. Though apparently fast, the creature moves in the fashion of a human trying to run on all fours, which is an interesting approach that signifies a tighter bond between a man’s body build and what would come out of its alteration into an animal-hybrid, so to say. The large mane on the werewolf’s head and back is a bit of an exaggeration in my opinion and makes it look a little clumsy, especially when viewed from the front – the legs then appear terribly short and fragile for the barrel-like rib-cage and torso which appear heavy. The ears could be a little more visible too since they get easily lost in the big mane. But now I guess I’m just starting to get picky. Anyway, the werewolf model in this movie is a lot better than in many other movies that preceded it, it’s ‘physical’ (non-CGI), so a lot harder to animate, which acts in its favour in spite of some other visual shortcomings. Now back to the plot.

I allowed myself to increase the contrast quite a bit 
so you could see the details of the werewolf's face.

As a werewolf David goes on a killing spree and kills a couple in a park, while the doctor tries to find clues as to his whereabouts, apparently convinced that what he heard in East Proctor is the truth. As David is running around various areas of London killing people, the doctor explains to the nurse what he saw during his visit in East Proctor and suspects that having suffered a severe trauma after the attack David may think of himself as a werewolf and because of that may hurt himself or others, not necessarily literally changing into a wolf. The doctor also voices his concerns about the case whose files have disappeared and about David’s wounds being “dressed and clean” even before he got to the hospital. Concerned about David’s safety, they decide to call the police after nobody picks up the phone at the nurse’s house. The scenes of the numerous killings are not too revealing, so don’t expect to see a lot of werewolf action in them. I guess the best you’ll get for the time being is this scene in the Tube:

This however gives us a general idea of the size of the creature and the way it moves on all-fours. When the night is through, David wakes up in the zoo, in the same cage as two wolves who seem to treat him with curiosity rather than hostility. It must have been extremely early for him to not be found by the staff to be honest >.> As he makes his escape and is on the way home, the newspapers are already booming about last night’s murders. When he gets back, he comments that he’s never felt so good before and that his body is overflowing with energy.

On the cab to the hospital where the doctor wants to take another look at him David learns of the murders and snaps, realizing that it’s him who committed them. He tries to get arrested by the police, but in vain. As if suspecting his nearing demise, David calls home to say goodbye and following his deceased friend’s words tries to take his life by cutting his wrists but in the end is unable to do so. Shortly after he leaves the phone booth he sees Jack again. They meet at a cinema and talk about what happened. This time, however along with Jack, David is confronted by all his (ketchup-covered) victims from the previous night who all unanimously tell him that he must die in order for them to be set free from limbo. The second night of the full moon falls and David begins to change again, this time in the cinema where he saw Jack.

By the power of increased contrast and brightness, 
I bring to thee the whole gory splendour of this scene.

Panic erupts as he begins killing people inside it and soon the police arrive as we approach the movie’s finale. Werewolf-David manages to escape from the cinema and runs rampant through Piccadilly Circus while the police are at a loose end as to what to do with him.

The ending scenes of the movie are the most revealing about our werewolf, as you can see. While David is wreaking havoc in Piccadilly Circus, the doctor and the nurse learn of the confusion that is going on there and immediately suspect it to be David, so they take a cab and hurry to the site. Once there, they find the werewolf cut off in a dead-end alley with the cavalry pointing their guns at him while he’s curled up against the wall. The nurse somehow manages to get through the crowd and approaches the creature, trying to get through to whatever was left of its humanity. For a moment it seems that the werewolf understands her words, but then suddenly leaps at her and immediately gets shot to death by the cavalry before he can harm her. Subsequently, instead of the werewolf creature they find the naked body of David. Credits follow without further plot to the sounds of a this time upbeat version of “Blue Moon” by The Marcels.

Impressions & Evaluation

Overall, one can’t call The American Werewolf in London a bad werewolf movie. It has its flaws and is a stereotypical story about someone becoming a werewolf, killing people and then meeting his demise, but somehow it also has its own specific charm that many werewolf movies of the present day lack. I raise my top-hat to the make-up team for creating a one-of-a-kind werewolf experience and also to the numerous The Wolfman allusions and a soundtrack full of songs related to the moon, which create a very peculiar mood that is so characteristic for this movie. Although the story is nothing revolutionary, the way this movie is made gives it an advantage over many other werewolf productions. The werewolf creature itself is in my opinion what serves as a big plus to the overall impression. With today’s technology, which wasn’t available back in 1981 when the movie was released, to some people it may seem a bit grotesque and old-fashioned, but it nevertheless has its own charm which led the movie to its becoming a cult classic. Putting the disc into your player, don’t expect anything revolutionary, but nevertheless it’s a pleasant ride to go on.

8.5/10

And that’s all for today folks, thank you very much for reading and what can I say? See you next time!

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News From the Dark Side of the Moon

Hello, hello and welcome! It's been quite some time since the last time I posted anything here - far longer than I'd ever expect, but life takes its twists and turns and forces us to focus on some matters and leave others behind. The good news is, however, that summer is starting and so I should have a little more time on my hands to fill up the blog with some more posts, mainly translations of my old posts from the original website, since I am nowhere near done transferring them here. Of course, I know how it is, so I'm not promising a whole slew of posts, but I do hope I manage to write a few new posts over the next three months. So that's one thing.

Next up, I've been following what's been happening over in the comments section under the post concerning ways of acquiring werewolfism reported in lore of various kinds, and I gotta say I'm a little disappointed and sad that my efforts to try and catalogue, sort of, all the various ways people have reported one can become a werewolf over the centuries have become a pretext for a lot of people to offend each other and throw metaphorical feces at each other instead of conducting a civilised discussion. Not all the comments were like that, but some were kind of pointless in their contents to the extent that sometimes I wondered if I should start deleting them altogether. But in the end I concluded that this is the Internet after all and the same kind of things that happen somewhere else (I'm looking at you, YouTube comments ;) ) are inevitably going to happen here as well and since there is freedom of speech and so on and so on, so I decided to just leave it all be. Obviously, I'm still reading everything that is posted. So once again, I send out a plea to all of you werewolf-lovers out there - be civilised, respect one another, and provide constructive feedback, don't toss obscenities at one another, because it's not really pleasant for me as the blog's owner nor people such things are aimed at nor new readers who visit the website for the first time and might become deterred by them. Apart from that, I guess I'm pretty flattered how popular the post's has become, so thank you all for your interest!

Last but not least, before I get down to writing something new, I decided to copy over the three movie reviews I did a while back, which were originally posted on my offshoot blog, TheLycanthropologist. Initially, it was supposed to be a blog devoted entirely to me reviewing werewolf-themed movies, but recently I've come to a conclusion that it would be better if I simply gathered everything in one place, namely here at Werewolf Theory, since a lot more people visit this website than the other one and also because time has shown that the movie review project blog isn't really going anywhere. I still need to grab a few files from the old netbook I wrote those reviews on, but I should be able to paste the reviews here next week, and of course finally create a new category on the right side of the page, listing movies and TV series (so I'll probably merge the Batman werewolf episode into that one category to avoid a mess).

I think that's about it as far as things I wanted to post for now are concerned. I'm still lurking in the shadows, observing the surroundings (currently following the development of a game I already mentioned in the past, Order 1886), trying to get into the mindset of writing some werewolf-themed stuff and filling this blog with some more content before I disappear again, like I tend to. In the meantime, enjoy what's already here and have a nice beginning of summer. I also added a poll to the right side of the blog, so if you feel like it, don't hesitate to vote.

Until next time!

Games: Killer Instinct: Count von Sabrewulf

Hello and welcome once again to another dose of werewolf trivia!

As promised, we are still staying in the world of gaming, since there have been a few interesting announcements made recently and we will remain in it for at least one more post. So if you don't like games - well, too bad for you, I guess, because here we go! Today's spotlight is:

C-C-C-C-Combo Breaker!

Killer Instinct, developed by Rare and published by Midway and then Nintendo, appeared in 1994 as an arcade fighting game, later getting a port to the Super Nintendo (SNES) and the Game Boy Pocket consoles. In appearance and gameplay, it resembles the two other popular arcade fighting games of the time, Tekken (1994) and Mortal Kombat (1992). As well as having borrowed a system of finishing moves from Mortal Kombat, the game shares a lot of elements present in its 1987 predecessor, Street Fighter. Its popularity led to the creation of a sequel and a series of comics by Acclaim Comics. On June 10th, 2013, during Microsoft's press conference, it was announced that the franchise will see a reboot as a digital-only game exclusive to Microsoft's brand-new console, the XBox One. The revamped version is currently slated to appear in November 2013. But first things first.

As with other such fighting games, the gameplay is based on the player controlling one of many available characters with the goal of winning against computer-controlled enemies in one-on-one combat. Killer Instinct features a varied cast of playable characters, each of whom have their own stage and theme music. Also, every character has a backstory and a final solution to the plot points that may have appeared in it at the end of the arcade mode, which is basically a reward for beating the game.

Story-wise, the action takes place in the non-specifically-defined future, where all the governments of the world have been turned into megacorporations. One such megacorporation - called Ultratech - likes to conduct what we would call immoral experiments, mainly dabbling in human DNA with the aim to create supersoldiers. They even go as far as discovering the technology to build bridges between different dimensions, which results in them freeing an ancient evil, Eyedol, from his prison in Limbo. Having created a few "failed experiments", Ultratech is staging its annual Killer Instinct fighting tournament both to test their creations and the participants in brutal combat, offering lush rewards to whoever succeeds in winning against the final challenge - Eyedol himself.

Count Dracula? Not this time!

Of course, I wouldn't be writing about a game if it didn't have a werewolf twist to it. Meet Count von Sabrewulf - or simply Sabrewulf, for short. He is one of the participants of the Killer Instinct tournament. From his backstory, we learn that at some point in his life he was bitten by a wolf and subsequently contracted an aggressive strain of the lycanthropy virus. The changes he underwent every full moon resulted in his being cast out of human society and him becoming a recluse. He has apparently spent a number of years alone in his tower keep. Nearly losing all hope of being cured after failing to revert back to human form, Sabrewulf is contacted by Ultratech who convince him to participate in this year's Killer Instinct tournament, promising to give him a cure for his lycanthropy if he is victorious. Having no other choice, Sabrewulf decides to take part in the competition.

Sabrewulf has the appearance of a greyish-blue bipedal humanoid wolf, with muscular arms and torso and an exceptionally thin waist. The only piece of clothing he wears is a torn rag (of various colours which can be picked in the character selection screen) that seems to be what remains of a shirt he used to wear. He has no tail, his eyes glow yellow and his attacks revolve around the sharp claws of his hands and his fangs. One of his moves involves him arcing back and howling. He moves primarily on two feet, but he can be seen crouching and on all-fours when blocking and biting. He doesn't speak during combat, the only sounds that can be heard being snarls and growls of all sorts, but in the comics it is stated that he can communicate despite his wolf form. Upon winning a match, Sabrewulf is seen sniffing towards the direction of the fourth wall. After that, a cutscene plays where Sabrewulf is shown all bloodied, tearing away at a piece of meat (the remains of the enemy, perhaps?) before throwing it away to triumphantly look at the camera. Sabrewulf's stage appears to be one of the many chambers of his gothic tower keep, with an old-fashioned fireplace in the middle, a shield and an old painting hanging on the wall. Every character in the game also has their theme music and so does Sabrewulf. Keeping with the idea of him being a count and living in an old castle-like keep, his theme is dark and the main melodic line resembles the sound of a harpsichord, or organs, which adds to the Gothic feel of the character.

After the player beats the arcade mode by defeating the last boss, Eyedol, Sabrewulf is shown returning from the tournament, having obtained the cure for his lycanthropy from Ultratech. As he approaches his home, the sun rises and he shapeshifts back into a human, finally able to return to living a normal life.

But not all is well that ends well...

In 1996, after the huge success of the first game, Killer Instinct 2 was released as an arcade-only title, but was later also ported to the Nintendo 64 under the name Killer Instinct Gold. The story of the sequel continues from where its predecessor finished, but unfortunately not all of the endings we saw in the first game turned out to be canon. After Eyedol is defeated by Orchid in front of the Ultratech building, a dimensional rift opens and transports most of the characters 2,000 years into the past. At the same time, Gargos - Eyedol's rival from the ages past - is set free from his prison in Limbo and released upon the world. Trapped in a primordial world, the characters battle against each other for the right to face and defeat Gargos - or simply to find a way to return to their homes.

It's probably safe to say that the endings retcon hit Sabrewulf the hardest. Remember that part where by winning the tournament he obtains the cure for his lycanthropy? Yeah, well, you can now pretend like it never happened. The official story of the sequel reveals to us that apparently Sabrewulf was defeated somewhere during the Killer Instinct tournament and severely injured. In this state, he was then captured and imprisoned by Ultratech who began conducting their gruesome experiments on the poor werewolf. They implant him with cybernetic arms and slowly drive him insane. Once Sabrewulf is sent back in time, the only force pushing him forwards is the thirst for revenge, since the hope of finding a cure for his condition after Ultratech's deceit is now almost gone.

The graphics of the sequel have been improved in comparison to the first game, so Sabrewulf looks a little different. His model is now a bit more detailed, he has cybernetic arms and no longer wears the rag from the previous game on his chest. Instead, he is clad in torn shorts of various colours which, I assume, can be chosen on the character selection screen like before. Sabrewulf's moves have remained a combination of tooth-and-claw attacks, but he now seems to spend less time on all-fours, blocking only with one arm. The howling move seems to have returned as well. After defeating an opponent, the cutscene shows Sabrewulf howl over what seems to be human remains against a backdrop of a full moon.

This time, there are two possible endings to Sabrewulf's story, each of them not even moderately satisfying. I guess the developers wanted to avoid writing themselves into a corner like they did in the first game, so that no more plot holes would occur. Which outcome the player gets depends on whether the player decides to spare Glacius or finish him off during the arcade playthrough. If Glacius is killed, after defeating Gargos Sabrewulf steps through the "Timeshift" portal and goes back to his time. Having still not found a cure, he loses all his hope and lives on in misery. If Glacius is spared, after defeating Gargos Sabrewulf bitterly regrets leaving his foe alive. At the same time, having found no cure, he succumbs to the beast within and the last remains of his humanity disappear.

Sabrewulf obtains a cure for lycanthropy in one of the unused endings.

From the information I've managed to gather, it appears that there were two other possible outcomes to Sabrewulf's story, but both of them were scrapped somewhere along the way. These two endings were to be dependent on the player destroying a part of the stage where Sabrewulf fights Glacius - in this scenario, if the proper part of the stage was destroyed, Sabrewulf would salvage technology from the wreckage of the alien spaceship, which would allow him to discover a cure for his lycanthropy. With that, the ending scene would feature Sabrewulf drinking the cure and becoming a human once and for all. But, I guess, this would make no sense - like in the case of the first game - if the developers wanted to ever continue the franchise in any form, Sabrewulf being one of its main characters. The second scrapped ending involves Sabrewulf sneaking into the alien spaceship in order to find a cure, but getting killed by the aliens once he has been found.

Sabrewulf in the Killer Instinct comics

In 1996, riding on the wave of the popularity of the franchise, three comic books and three specials were published by Acclaim Comics. Because I don't have those comics in my possession and there seems to be very little info about them on the web, I won't go into too much detail concerning their story. Generally speaking, it seems that the plot of the comics follows the events of the first game, with a few plot twists here and there. Sabrewulf, of course, appears in these comics, his motivation for participating in the tournament the same as always - to obtain a cure for lycanthropy. Knowing, however, that Ultratech will not give it to him just like that even if he wins the tournament, Sabrewulf is then helped by Black Orchid. The two sneak into where they figure Ultratech could be holding the cure. After defeating some enemies, the impatient Sabrewulf grabs the first thing he thinks is the cure and chugs it down, but instead of turning into a human, he becomes a giant monster and bursts out of the Ultratech building. Apparently, in the next issue, he is back to normal and this plot point is dropped completely. Also during the events of the comics, Sabrewulf at some point fights with Jago and wounds him, which subsequently causes Jago to become a werewolf himself. Desperate to find a cure, Orchid asks the Ultratech scientists for help. In reply, they state that the only way they can reverse the process is if they obtain either Jago's DNA from before when he was infected or the DNA of a blood relative (how exactly this would work in developing a cure I don't know). In the end, this plot point's only purpose is to establish that Orchid is Jago's long-lost sister, thanks to which the whole situation can be happily resolved.

The werewolf of E3

On June 10th, 2013, during Microsoft's press conference at the annual E3 convention, it was revealed that the Killer Instinct franchise would be rebooted later on this year as an XBox One-exclusive title, available as a digital download only. The gameplay that was shown during the presentation featured a fight between Sabrewulf and Jago. At this point, since the game is still in development, there are no details concerning the plot of the game, so we don't know if it will just be a remake of the first game or if it will have a completely new story (or maybe no story at all?). Rumour has it that the game will be free to play, but that characters will have to be purchased individually. Although Sabrewulf and Jago are so far the only characters that have been shown, the graphics look really, really good and the fighting takes place in a beautifully detailed arena. At the moment, the game is slated to appear in November 2013, being on the list of XBox One's release titles.

Sabrewulf leaps into battle and roars at the start of the fight.

Compared to the previous games, Sabrewulf's appearance has also been reworked to match the evolution of graphics on gaming consoles. His model is so detailed that you can see the scars on his skin and even veins on his muscles (not sure if this is such a pleasant sight, though). Sabrewulf now looks like you would expect your every run-of-the-mill crinos werewolf to look. Except you probably wouldn't expect him to be blue. He is muscular, but his waist is no longer incredibly thin, giving way to a more realistic design. He now has a mane stretching from the top of his head down his back, braided into three braids on each side of his face, some chest hair and a few tufts of fur here an there, mainly on his limbs. An interesting addition which was not present in the previous games is the fact that here Sabrewulf appears to have a short tail (which, unfortunately, can't be seen from the screenshots posted in this article). Kudos to the developers for that, it's nice to see a crinos werewolf with a tail that doesn't look quite silly. The only thing that looks a bit clumsy are his feet, but it's a detail that is generally lost during gameplay, because of nice animation and seems to look weird just in screenshots. His cybernetic arm implants are also gone, which would suggest that maybe this is a remake of the original game or is a part of a different continuity. Then again, I have also been reading some bizarre stuff about Sabrewulf supposedly ripping out the implants by himself after giving in to the beast inside him and then regrowing his natural arms with the use of dark magic, but I couldn't find when exactly this was supposed to happen.

When it comes to clothing, as an homage to Killer Instinct 2, Sabrewulf wears the same kind of pants he used to wear back in 1996. This time, however, he is also wearing leather bracers on his wrists and some bloodied bandages underneath. In a mirror match, the colour of the pants changes to dark blue, the character's eyes are red (compared to the original yellow ones) and he is of a slightly brighter shade of blue.

But why is he blue?

There is no longer any doubt - this time Sabrewulf's fur is definitely blue. Although he has always been kind of blueish in colour, the significance of this may go deeper than just the creators' fancy. It dates back to 1984 to a ZX Spectrum game called Sabre Wulf. The game was developed by Tim and Chris Stamper - the later co-founders of Rare - and featured a blue wolf called Sabre Wulf. This wolf would then become the inspiration for Rare's Killer Instinct werewolf, Count von Sabrewulf. In 2004, Rare developed yet another game under the same title for the Game Boy Advanced, in which the blue wolf made his return and was also placed on the cover of the box. Looking at all of this, it is safe to say that Sabrewulf is Rare's homage to the Sabre Wulf series of games and this time, with the advanced graphics engine at their disposal, they could make him blatantly blue without making him look super silly.

So now that we know why Sabrewulf is blue, we can move on. One last thing I wanted to mention at this time is the way he behaves during a fight. Sabrewulf is still a beast and he is now more ferocious than ever before. He still has his array of fang and claw attacks. Slashing with his claws, biting into the opponent, jump kicks, charges, juggles, it's all there. This time, however, for fast movement Sabrewulf runs at his opponent on all-fours. He also has a move where he leaps at the enemy from all-fours, striking them with his claws. The howl that existed in the previous games is gone, but as a power-up, Sabrewulf arches back, roars and becomes surrounded by a green aura, allowing him to perform a special combo. Having won, the present Sabrewulf smashes his fists on the ground, arches back and howls, similarly to the 1996 game.

And since we don't know much more at the moment about the 2013 reboot, I will leave it at that. I will try to update this post as any relevant new info is released. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed reading about our blue werewolf Count and that you now know where he came from :) We will see in time if the reboot of Killer Instinct is successful. For now, there are a few videos of gameplay already on YouTube, both official and unofficial, so if you want to find out a bit more, I redirect you there. For now, have two more nice screenshots of the current version of Sabrewulf. In them, you can see some of the differences between the original model and the mirror match alternate version.

Sabrewulf's alternate costume.

Also, the next post will probably not be as long as this one. Anyway, I'm signing off for now. Will try to post something new (or old) soonish. For now, enjoy and I'll see you next time!

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Games: Smite: Fenrir, the Unbound (2012/13)

Hello and welcome yet again!

First of all, I'd like to thank all the visitors who have stumbled upon this blog so far - thanks to all of you the new website, although still young compared to the old one and lacking content in comparison, has managed to break 10,000 views. This is also important because of the fact that this year, namely in about two weeks, Werewolf Theory will be 10 years old. It's unbelievable how fast time flies, but that's life, I guess. Thank you all once again!

Cutting to the chase, however... I know I've been quite silent for a while now, but a lot of things have been happening in my personal life and in addition to that other responsibilities needed more of my attention. But, of course, that doesn't mean that there hasn't been anything werewolf-related happening in the world. As summer vacation draws near, I will try to come back to a more regular posting routine to get all the stuff from the old website onto this one - and, naturally, add more. Before, however, we move on to the revelations of this year's E3 convention, let's look at something that is still in development, but which many people can already play a little thanks to the existing beta. And yes, the next few posts will be about games, but after that we'll hopefully move to other fields as well :)

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What is Smite?

Many gamers have probably already heard about Smite. In short, it is a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game (MOBA for short) with an Action Real-Time Strategy (ARTS) which is currently in development by Hi-Rez Studios. In it, two teams consisting of 5 players each battle against each other on a special arena-like map. Each player can choose from a variety of deities from different mythologies and religions as their playable character and battle with them. The team which defeats the opposing team's boss minotaur wins the sessions. Needless to say, every deity has a unique set of skills that they can use and each of them has their own playstyle and role in the assault on the enemy team's base.

Fenrir, the Unbound

As the development process progresses, Hi-Rez Studios is adding more and more playable deities for the players to choose from. At the end of April 2013 as part of their God Reveal series of videos, it was announced that Fenrir, the mythical wolf from Norse mythology, would become a playable character. While theoretically both the original mythological Fenrir and his Smite counterpart are described as 'monstrous wolves' and not werewolves, I thought that it would still be good to write about them in light of the in-game Fenrir's appearance which at first glance brings werewolves to mind rather than normal wolves. At any rate, Fenrir is no ordinary wolf, being a bipedal creature with chains still binding some of his limbs, not to mention that he can speak during combat, so he fits our needs nicely. The lore behind Fenrir in Smite is based on the original mythology, which we'll look at a little later. In the meantime, the official reveal video of Fenrir, explaining in short his backstory and presenting his respective abilities, can be viewed on Smite's official YouTube channel (Here's a link to the video in question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqsf3ThdGRE).

For those who don't feel like watching the video right now, here is a short summary of the lore behind this new character. In Smite, Fenrir - one of the children of the Norse god of mischief, Loki - has somehow freed himself from his bindings. Similarly to the original Fenrir, this big bad wolf was bound by the Norse gods three times. Every time, the gods presented the bindings to Fenrir as a test of strength, promising him fame should he break free from them. First and second bindings were forged by the gods, but proved no match for the wolf's strength. The third one, made by the dwarves and resembling a silk ribbon, was the strongest of them all. By the time the gods approached Fenrir with the third binding, however, the wolf had already become suspicious of their true intentions and said he would allow the ribbon to be placed on him only if one of the gods put their hand between his great jaws as a sign of good faith. Týr was the only god brave enough to put his hand into the wolf's mouth. The dwarf ribbon, magical in nature, proved too strong for Fenrir to tear apart and, seeing the gods' deceit, he flew into a rage and bit off Týr's right hand. Now, Fenrir has broken free (although no-one knows exactly how) and is joining the fray of battle in the Smite arenas, seeking revenge against the gods that had previously bound him.

Fenrir currently has two skins in the game, one normal and one special:

Fenrir's default skin.

"Frostfang" skin for Fenrir.

That said, I've decided to make a separate post concerning the original Fenrir, since it will be a lot easier to link to it when needed without having to scroll through this post whose concern is mainly the playable character of a game. I will also be able to go into more detail in such a post, presenting information that would be redundant otherwise.

Smite, though still officially in beta, can already be played and is free of charge. The game client can be downloaded from the official website at: http://www.smitegame.com/gods/fenrir/ where you can also find some more details concerning Fenrir's (and all the other gods') abilities and roles. Hope you enjoyed reading about Fenrir and Smite and I promise to post some more werewolf news in the nearest future. For the time being, I'm signing off and I wish you a pleasant Sunday. Let the light of the moon guide you, as always. Till next time!

Update 26/08/2015

I've updated the link in the post above so it now directs to the new Smite website and directly to Fenrir's page. There have been new skins added for Fenrir, which can also be viewed on the above-mentioned website :) 

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