#American werewolf in London my beloved <3<3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[slasherbat]

Rating werewolf designs from movies because I really fucking love werewolves alright let's go:

The Cabin In The Woods (2011 or 2012, depends on how you see it)

I FUCKING LOVE THIS DUDE. I love this guy, one thing about me is that I think these kind of werewolves are peak design. They're a perfect balance between human and wolf, and although it's no big surprise I love this movie more than anything else, this werewolf is a huge factor as to why. It's such a well done design, and I just love it. Sigourney Weaver I understand you, I'd wanna work with this werewolf.

An American Werewolf In London (1981)

A classic, a beloved favorite for a lot of people, and of all the werewolf designs I've seen that are far more wolf heavy, this is my favorite. The transformation scene in this movie is my favorite part, and this movie and design simply cannot be defeated. Absolutely perfect.

An American Werewolf In Paris (1997)

What the actual fuck am I looking at? This is a disgrace of design, I hate it. It looks like it's been run over by a truck and someone who has never seen a werewolf before in their life made one. What went wrong? The downgrade from London is incredible, I've never seen anything like it. Why does it have human ears?

Ginger Snaps (2000)

I love this movie, it's phenomenal and simply a cult classic. I love the take this film had with the slow and gradual transformation. It built up a lot of excitement for me to see the final result! Needless to say, I was a bit disappointed, there's a lack of fur and the arms feel to human for me. Yet I still do like the design, I think it's trying it's best and I can applaud it.

Cursed (2004)

Everytime I saw this werewolf it looked so incredibly different. This films history is something fascinating to me with all the changes it's had. Including the storyline, R-rated to PG-13, going from Pratical Effects to CGI. I've got mixed feelings about these designs, and truly wish I could one day get to witness what Wes Craven himself had in mind. Anyway, sum it up. Mixed feelings, I prefer the design it has in the first image out of all 3 pictured.

Van Helsing (2004)

Before I watched this movie, I loves this werewolf design. It was really great, but after actually having seen the film, my feelings have faltered. It's not the best here, but it's not the worst. I think it could look a little bit better, but hey, it made me watch this film, and compared to what so many people say. It was enjoyable, not really re-watchable, but still the film and design were fun

And that is the end for me and this post. Perhaps I will get to reviewing werewolf designs from TV shows. I will leave you all with this photo I have saved of the Cabin werewolf and Kristen Connolly, I bid you all farewell.

[bloodcoveredgf]

hi!! I rly like yr idea of watching movies from each decade & I wanna try to do the same thing (although probably not as many lol) do u have any fave 80s horror movies u would rec :)

omg yessss i do !! i would rec dead ringers and the lost boys but i know youve seen those unless i am making that up.. sooo! the thing is fantastic if you like body horror and watching a group of men who cant trust eachother struggle to survive against a shape shifting creature etc etc also kurt russell serving cunt. - re-animator is great if you love gore and mad scientists and corpses and some silliness in your horror alongside some very interesting compelling dynamics :) - near dark is a moody atmospheric vampire flick that is serious and not serious at the same time and focuses a lot on characters and their dynamics but has found family drifter vamps who ride around in stolen cars and camp out in hotels and its something id rec to fans of the lost boys even knowing its not as good... its very fun imo! i enjoy the characters a lot :) - the hitcher is a great cat and mouse game movie with some serious Vibes between the protagonist and antagonist and theyre both super great in it the antagonist is insane and that makes it extra enjoyable and wild! also i adore nash. - fright night is another vampire movie but pretty different imo especially with all its characters and dynamics and is mainly a beloved of mine because of the practical effects theyre very good and i find the movie super enthralling. so 80s :-) the blob is also a very fun movie if you like body horror and a fucked up big pink blob alien creature taking over and devouring a town! - killer klowns from outer space is soooo silly fun too and colorful and insane and has a great score and a must-watch for anyone that enjoys clowns and practical effects it also gets kinda brutal and the clowns are awesome i love it !! - an american werewolf in london is just one of the greatest werewolf movies of all time with some of the best practical effects everrrr and had some very silly comedic aspects while also getting brutal and heartbreaking at times. - night of the comet is a great one about two sisters making it through the apocalypse with cannibal mutants but its also so much more than that and is so interesting to me also very visually stunning with the setting and sky shots and cinematography! - elvira mistress of the dark is just one of the movies of all time its so camp and funny and elvira is Everything absolutely a must watch imo! <3 oohh i have a lot more favorites and im not sure im doing these justice with my very short descriptions but honorable mentions to two of my newly discovered underappreciated favorites terror train and fade to black also you can filter my films to 80s and horror on my letterboxd to see more if you wanna :)

[house-of-slayterr]

Fang- as a part of slasher education, what would you recommend be in the first few slasher films someone watches? Whether it's because they're classics, or your favorites, or any reason, what are the top 3-5 (or more if you have a lot you want to share!) slasher films you would suggest someone watch?

Oh god, it’s happening, I have to make choices… 😅

Fang's Favourite Movie of All Time:

Silence of the Lambs <3

Top Five I Rewatch:

My Bloody Valentine - 1981

Trick R’ Treat - 2007

Child’s Play - 1988

Jennifer’s Body - 2009

Scream - 1991

Top 5 Beginner Movies:

Halloween - 1978

The Amityville Horror - 1997 (I almost named myself after it so I think that speaks volumes. It was the first horror movie I was "allowed" to watch, but I watched many before)

Alien - 1979

An American Werewolf in London - 1981

Candyman - 1992

Top 5 Movie Franchices:

Child's Play

Saw (My Beloved <3)

The Evil Dead

Halloween

Friday the 13th

Top 5 Classic Movies:

Rosemary's Baby - 1968

Basket Case - 1982

Suspiria -1977

Black Christmas - 1974

The Thing - 1982

Watch at Your Own Risk:

Geunily watch with caution, these movies are heavy and I've seen people throw up while watching some of them...

The Human Centipede - 2009

Martyrs - 2008

Tusk - 2014

The House That Jack Built - 2018 <3

Cannibal Holocaust - 1980

Eden Lake - 2008

The Green Inferno - 2013

Green room - 2015 <3

I Spit on your grave 1-3 - 2010

Raw - 2017 <3

Honourable Mentions:

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil - 2010

Cabin in the Woods - 2012

Children of the Corn - 1984

Bloodsucking Bastards - 2015

The Belko Experiment - 2016

You're Next - 2011

House of 1000 Corpses - 2003

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon - 2006

Re-Animator - 1985

Joyride - 2001

Joyride - 2001

I plan to cover most of these movies and more on my podcast when I get it up and running. So Fang's School of Slashers will be a very real thing! If ya'll ever want to hear me talk about any movie or book (doesn't have to be horror related) just let me know! Media, in general, is one of my biggest special interests, as I love very part fo the creative process. So I'm happy to talk about anything ever!

[ratthumbsup]

4 and 5!!

omg hi sam

4. Movie of the year?

hmmmm i'm struggling to remember what i saw. i watched scream twice and had SUCH a fun time. i loved nope. OH AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON! i don't think i talked about this one enough but i did like it a lot.

5. TV show of the year?

while i complained and complained to nicki and kes i did have a lot of fun watching yellowjackets and i'm excited for season two. there were just a couple of things that drove me NUTS but i talked about it enough for it to define my year sob. and it's a show i watched myself and wasn't part of the hivemind

season one of kevin can fuck himself was awesome too.

OH also the owl house. eda my beloved. i'm just searching through my discord messages now. the bear was AWESOME.

but the real answer is barry season 3. sorry this got so long i got there.

[just-spacetrash]

sunny my beloved mutual do you know about/have you seen An American Werewolf in London? its got doomed yaoi and cool practical effects and a goofy guy who gets gored and by the end of the movie is a mostly decayed living corpse missing half his face (but he stays silly <3 )

i know about it but i havent seen it yet!!! its definitely on my watchlist, ive seen some clips of it and it seems like such a fun time :Dddd

[bugpoke-remaking]

xtras

[vallygirl285]

Okay so I wouldn’t spend the money that fan conventions….especially Creation but I use to love going to cons back in the 80s and 90s. Below are my top 10 favorite actors I got to see, and these aren’t in a particular order.

#10 Tom Baker

The man may be a little eccentric, but he is fun to listen to on subjects that really matter to him. I remember I gave him a rose (versus the Dr. Who toys others had for him) at the meet and greet which was a very fast-moving line and he smiled at me and literally began talking to me about his garden. I swear if the handler wasn’t there to move the line along, he would have continued the conversation because he was genuinely so happy to discuss his love of gardening.

# 9 Jon Pertwee

Yup there are several original Dr. Who(s) on this list. This man was truly fascinating and definitely what you would call a renaissance man. He didn’t discuss it, but I would have loved to hear him discuss his military service during WW2 and if you’re not familiar with his military service here’s a link for

# 8 Peter Davison

Heh I got to see Peter Davison while he was still the Doctor(I think his last episodes aired in the UK at the time) and honestly he was so different than Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee. The other two men were both very funny but still a little more reserved and formal. Peter Davison not so much.

Oh, my he has a wicked sense of humor, casual and had a little more ‘no hold barred’ attitude. He had no problem talking about the problem the first two seasons of Dr. Who that he did and that they seemed to have waited until his last season to give him some decent stories (which I completely agreed with).

# 7 Rick Baker

I have to admit I went to his panel because it was sweltering out and the AC in the convention sellers area wasn’t working so we went into the hall and heard some laughter coming from one of the smaller rooms. We poked our heads in it was blissfully cool so we decided to sit in on the panel.

There weren’t many people in the room, so it was actually kind of informal but seriously this man was fascinating. His love of special effects make up was inspiring and Mr. Baker was also one of the more charming and delightful speakers I’ve ever seen.

I still think American Werewolf in London had amazing special effect make up.

# 6 Jonathan Frakes

I saw him in 1993 and he was so funny from the moment he came out to What a Man by Salt N Pepper to jokingly calling Deep Space Nine Deep Throat Nine.

I wish I could remember more but seriously the man could do stand up, I never stopped laughing during his whole panel.

# 5 John de Lancie

A true renaissance man. He isn’t for everyone, and I don’t agree with everything he says but he didn’t shy away from controversial topics, and I respect his intelligent and thoughtful responses. I was always a little surprised he never ran for public office.

# 4 Janet Fielding

I always felt bad for Ms. Fielding because she was one of the companions that fans didn’t warm up to.

There was a point back in those days after Elizabeth Sladen left that fans compared the other companions to Sarah Jane which was so hard because she was such a beloved character.

Plus Ms. Fielding definitely dealt with some pretty obvious sexual harassment on and off set but she was also so sweet to the fans even when they would repeatedly ask about her ‘boob tube’ costume.

Seriously I still can’t believe how professional she was. The woman is just a class act…unfortunately can’t say the same for a couple of her costars and the pervy fans she dealt with.

# 3 Nichelle Nichols

There are few people I would say left me completely star struck, and meeting Nichelle Nichols was it.

I know she is hailed as an inspiration for young African Americans girls in the sixties (and obviously she was) but she was an inspiration to all young girls in the 60s and 70s and I wish people would say that more.

I grew up in the 70s where the female role models on TV were housewives or if they were working women they were normally nurses or teachers. There were a few female cops or military officers.

She was the woman who could do what she wanted and as far as we were concerned she was equal to her male counterparts on the show.

Plus, when she spoke about the point, she thought about leaving the show and Dr. King spoke to her sent literal chills down my spine. I have to post this part from her biography where she spoke about the encounter:

“You cannot and you must not,” she recalls him saying. “Don’t you realize how important your presence, your character is? ... Don’t you see? This is not a Black role, and this is not a female role. You have the first non stereotypical role on television, male or female. You have broken ground.

“... For the first time,” he continued, “the world sees us as we should be seen, as equals, as intelligent people — as we should be.”

I still feel blessed to have met this amazing woman!

#2 Paul Darrow, Michael Keating, Mark Ryan, and Michael Praed

I know that’s four people, but I went to a small Blake's 7 and Robin of Sherwood con twice back in the 80s and these four men were just the bomb.

They were all laid back and the con was in hotel where there wasn’t much around, so you pretty much spent the whole time inside and these men hung with the fans.

You would go to the restaurant for breakfast and if they came in they would stop by your table to say hello, ask if you were having fun. If you were in the bar they would sit down and have a drink with the fans.

Security…what’s that…this con I swear didn’t have any and the wranglers were only around during actual events to keep things moving. Free time nobody told you to give the guests space…hell they sought the fans out and hung out with us. Just the chilliest con I ever went to.

Actually, the first time i went Michael Praed wasn’t a guest but the next year he came, and I believe him when he said he came because Mark Ryan told him what a blast the con was.

Oh, and when he did the con, he was still on the original Dynasty which average about 20 million viewers an episode. So seriously an all-around awesome guy who was completely down to earth.

# 1 William Shatner

Yup Captain Kirk!!! My nieces husbands are both Trekkies and think I’m the bomb because I got to see everyone from the original show (except Leonard Nimoy sadly) and I swear their mouths dropped open when I told them I saw Shatner.

Bill Shatner just makes me giggle like a schoolgirl. I will say he is definitely someone who has his tongue firmly planted in his cheek when it comes to mocking himself.

Hell, he’s had a second career playing up this and did some of his best work. Watch Boston Legal if you don’t believe me. Him and James Spader were wonderful together.

And yes, I know he's not politically correct, but I don't care...he's CAPTAIN KIRK.

[filmnoirsbian]

could u recommend some good horror movies? I can pretty much watch anything as long as there aren’t explicit torture scenes (like saw for example)

Hmmm ok so we're gonna break this down bc i have different recommendations for different moods lol

Horror for when u want to think: get out, silence of the lambs, the thing, 28 days later, snowpiercer (some people don't consider this horror but they're wrong), night of the living dead, suspiria, a quiet place, audition (this does have some torture in it but mostly it's just gross body horror so skip it if that bothers u), the fly, the candyman, ginger snaps, ringu, ju-on: the grudge, a tale of two sisters, possession, an american haunting, the exorcist, let the right one in, byzantium, teeth, raw, rec, the babbadook, midsommar, el orfanato, beloved, stoker, ganja & hess, the last house on the left (i prefer the 2009 remake because the actress was really mistreated in the original), the shape of water, a nightmare on elm street (original and 2010 remake), the exorcism of emily rose, alien, alien vs predator, i am mother, oldboy, the others, insidious, it (2017), black swan, coraline, pan's labyrinth, mother!, the crow

Horror for when u want to laugh: jennifer's body, shaun of the dead, cabin in the woods, zombieland, scream, bad kids go to hell, ready or not, the babysitter, fright night (original and 2011 remake), krampus, happy death day, wrinkles the clown, one cut of the dead, the love witch, evil dead (original only, the 2013 remake is not funny at all), dark shadows, dead snow, zombeavers, trick r treat, jason takes manhattan (is not necessary to watch the other friday the 13ths first), an american werewolf in london, elvira, eight legged freaks, sharknado, sharktopus, lake placid

Horror for when u just want to watch people die: halloween and halloween 2 (original only. If u watch the rob zombie version, only watch the first), final destination (i like them all), scream 2-4, friday the 13th, you're next, carrie (original), black christmas (original and 2019 remake), the brothers grimm, us, train to busan, 28 weeks later, quarantine, i know what you did last summer, drag me to hell, repo the genetic opera (not to be confused with repo men), the omen, the exorcist 3, silent nignt deadly night, prom night (original), my bloody valentine (original but the 2009 remake has dean supernatural in it which is very funny. Sam supernatural is in the 2009 friday the 13th remake which is also very funny. It's like they had a pact), shark night, the ritual, resident evil 1-3, underworld, blade, blade 2, van helsing, mojin, rampant, pitch black

Creature features for the monster fuckers out there: wolfman (look up the cast for this terrible movie it's insane), blood and chocolate (watch it for hugh dancy and agnes bruckner if nothing else), mama, creature from the black lagoon, prey, beneath, night of the wild, the descent, slither, pumpkinhead

Hope this helps!

[wild-zamboni]

Trapped yet another friend into letting me info dump about the special effects in American Werewolf in London. Done by Rick Baker my beloved <3

[littlemusicreviews]

200 Best Songs of the 2010s

200. Neon Indian – “Annie”

199. Hop Along – “Somewhere A Judge”

198. Empress Of – “Standard”

197. Mitski – “Townie”

196. The 1975 – “It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)”

195. Jessica Mauboy (feat. Ludacris) – “Saturday Night”

194. Sheer Mag – “Worth The Tears”

193. The Range – “Florida”

192. Tove Lo – “Disco Tits”

191. Jamie xx (feat. Young Thug & Popcaan) – “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)

190. Florence + The Machine – “Queen Of Peace”

189. School ’94 – “Common Sense”

188. Majical Cloudz – “Heavy”

187. Years & Years – “All For You”

186. Sleigh Bells – “Sugarcane”

185. Britney Spears – “Man On The Moon”

184. Miike Snow – “Bavarian #1 (Say You Will)”

183. Justin Timberlake – “Mirrors”

182. Taylor Swift – “Cruel Summer”

181. Animal Collective – “FloriDada”

180. easyFun – “Blink”

179. Kacey Musgraves – “Dime Store Cowgirl”

178. Lykke Li – “Gunshot”

177. Lana Del Rey – “Ride”

176. Elliphant – “Not Ready”

175. Phoenix – “Chloroform”

174. Kim Petras – “Hillside Boys”

173. Natalia Kills – “Free”

172. Chelsea Wolfe – “After The Fall”

171. Sky Ferreira – “One”

170. Charli XCX – “You (Ha Ha Ha)”

169. CHAI – “Feel The Beat”

168. Lim Kim – “Awoo”

167. Justin Bieber – “Sorry”

166. Liz – “When I Rule The World”

165. Normani – “Motivation”

164. Teyana Taylor – “WTP”

163. Mac DeMarco – “Passing Out Pieces”

162. Sam Smith – “I’m Not The Only One”

161. Icona Pop – “Light Me Up”

160. Jessie J – “Domino”

159. Phantogram – “Don’t Move”

158. Miguel – “Adorn”

157. Susanne Sundfør – “White Foxes”

156. Kero Kero Bonito – “Picture This”

155. Crystal Castles – “Celestica”

154. Alexis Jordan – “Happiness”

153. Sharon Van Etten – “Your Love Is Killing Me”

152. Solange – “Losing You”

151. Washed Out – “All I Know”

150. Caribou – “Odessa”

149. Beyoncé – “XO”

148. Georgia – “About Work The Dancefloor”

147. Jamila Woods – “Blk Girl Soldier”

146. Empress Of – “When I’m With Him”

145. A$AP Rocky (feat. Skrillex) – “Wild For The Night”

144. Dreamtrak – “Odyssey, Pt. 2 (A. G. Cook Remix)”

143. SBTRKT (feat. Little Dragon) – “Wildfire”

142. Avril Lavigne – “What The Hell”

141. Cults – “Oh My God”

140. Alvvays – “Archie, Marry Me”

139. Kacey Musgraves – “Slow Burn”

138. James Blake (feat. Bon Iver) – “I Need A Forest Fire”

137. Charli XCX (feat. MØ) – “3AM (Pull Up)”

136. Sir Babygirl – “Pink Lite”

135. CEO – “Illuminata”

134. Katy Perry – “Teenage Dream”

133. Japanese Breakfast – “Rugged Country”

132. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Cut To The Feeling”

131. SOPHIE – “Bipp”

130. Charli XCX – “Vroom Vroom”

129. Katy Perry – “Wide Awake”

128. A. G. Cook (feat. Hannah Diamond) – “Keri Baby”

127. Julianna Barwick – “Vow”

126. Sleigh Bells – “Comeback Kid”

125. Hatchie – “Sleep”

124. Ke$ha – “Die Young”

123. Blanck Mass – “Please”

122. B.o.B (feat. Hayley Williams) – “Airplanes”

121. The Wonder Years – “Passing Through A Screen Door”

120. Sevdaliza – “Hubris”

119. Tobias Jesso Jr. – “How Could You Babe”

118. Kanye West (feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver) – “Monster”

117. Joanna Newsom – “Anecdotes”

116. Purity Ring – “Stranger Than Earth”

115. Vampire Weekend – “Unbearably White”

114. Local Natives – “Heavy Feet”

113. Last Dinosaurs – “Andy”

112. fun. – “Some Nights”

111. Danny Brown – “Ain’t It Funny”

110. Neon Indian – “Polish Girl”

109. Regina Spektor – “The Light”

108. Rhye – “Open”

107. Lana Del Rey – “Brooklyn Baby”

106. hellogoodbye – “Finding Something To Do”

105. Bruno Mars – “Just The Way You Are”

104. Bon Iver – “Holocene”

103. CHVRCHES – “Clearest Blue”

102. Mount Eerie – “Seaweed”

101. Fiona Apple – “Werewolf”

100. Edward Maya (feat. Vika Jigulina) – “Stereo Love”

99. How To Dress Well – “Words I Don’t Remember”

98. AlunaGeorge – “Your Drums, Your Love”

97. LIGHTS – “Banner”

96. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – “Home”

95. Kendrick Lamar – “The Blacker The Berry”

94. Starfucker – “The White Of Noon”

93. Everything Everything – “Regret”

92. Two Door Cinema Club – “Undercover Martyn”

91. Bombay Bicycle Club – “Shuffle”

90. Marina & The Diamonds – “Oh No!”

89. Ed Sheeran – “Castle On The Hill”

88. Lykke Li – “Sadness Is A Blessing”

87. Julia Holter – “Feel You”

86. Real Estate – “Talking Backwards”

85. Tame Impala – “‘Cause I’m A Man”

84. Passion Pit – “Constant Conversations”

83. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu – “PONPONPON”

82. Adele – “Someone Like You”

81. Calvin Harris – “Feel So Close”

80. You, Me, And Everyone We Know – “The Puzzle”

79. Waxahatchee – “8 Ball”

78. Grimes – “Artangels”

77. Florist – “Glowing Brightly”

76. Perfume Genius – “Mr. Peterson”

75. Sky Ferreira – “Werewolf (I Like You)”

74. Big Thief – “Forgotten Eyes”

73. Christine And The Queens – “iT”

72. Drake (feat. Rihanna) – “Take Care”

71. Autre Ne Veut – “Play By Play”

70. James Blake – “Retrograde”

69. Mitski – “Geyser”

68. Perfume Genius – “Hood”

67. Weyes Blood – “Movies”

66. Vanessa Carlton – “London”

65. Waxahatchee – “Air”

64. Crystal Castles – “Affection”

63. Charli XCX – “Boom Clap”

62. Bombay Bicycle Club – “Home By Now”

61. Vampire Weekend – “White Sky”

60. Big Thief – “Mythological Beauty”

59. Ariana Grande (feat. Zedd) – “Break Free”

58. Marina & The Diamonds – “Froot”

57. Kendrick Lamar – “Swimming Pools (Drank)”

56. Mayday Parade – “Stay”

55. Cee-Lo – “Fuck You”

54. Marina & The Diamonds – “Primadonna”

53. Sigur Rós – “Ísjaki”

52. Beach House – “Woo”

51. SZA – “Garden (Say It Like That)”

50. Wynter Gordon – “Dirty Talk”

49. Alt-J – “Breezeblocks”

48. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Want You In My Room”

47. Sky Ferreira – “Everything Is Embarrassing”

46. Ball Park Music – “It’s Nice To Be Alive”

45. Hundred Waters – “Wave To Anchor”

44. Florence + The Machine – “Never Let Me Go”

43. FKA twigs – “Cellophane”

42. Youth Lagoon – “Mute”

41. Ariana Grande – “Into You”

40. Of Monsters And Men – “Mountain Sound”

39. Björk – “Stonemilker”

38. Paramore – “Still Into You”

37. Future Islands – “Seasons (Waiting On You)”

36. Solange – “Cranes In The Sky”

35. Lorde – “Perfect Places”

34. Ball Park Music – “Coming Down”

33. Rihanna (feat. Drake) – “What’s My Name”

32. Perfume Genius – “Slip Away”

31. CHVRCHES – “The Mother We Share”

30. SOPHIE – “Immaterial”

29. Vampire Weekend – “Hannah Hunt”

28. Sufjan Stevens – “John My Beloved”

27. A.A.L (Against All Logic) – “I Never Dream”

26. Deakin – “Good House”

25. Beach House – “Silver Soul”

24. ANOHNI – “Drone Bomb Me”

23. M83 – “Midnight City”

22. Sampha – “(No One Knows Me) Like The Piano”

21. Lorde – “A World Alone”

20. Beach House – “Myth”

19. Sabrina Claudio – “Wanna Know”

18. Grimes – “Genesis”

17. Purity Ring – “Fineshrine”

16. The Wonder Years – “And Now I’m Nothing”

15. Beach House – “Sparks”

14. Hatchie – “Without A Blush”

13. Robyn – “Dancing On My Own”

12. Rihanna (feat. Calvin Harris) – “We Found Love”

11. Alvvays – “In Undertow”

10. Nicki Minaj – “Super Bass”

9. Frank Ocean – “Thinkin Bout You”

8. Beyoncé – “Countdown”

7. Lana Del Rey – “Born To Die”

6. Deerhunter – “Helicopter”

5. Azealia Banks (feat. Lazy Jay) – “212”

4. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Run Away With Me”

3. FKA twigs – “Two Weeks”

2. Sky Ferreira – “I Blame Myself”

1. Mitski – “Your Best American Girl”

[ihavethoughtsplural]

Blood and Chocolate: An Adaptation in Name Only

Previously:  Section 0 – Introduction, Section 1 – The Book

Section 2 – Adaptation Challenges

Preface: I’m writing this section in the aftermath of the Artemis Fowl movie.

(Yikes?  Definitely yikes.)

Most of the professional reviews mention the lack of originality, the ineptitude, and the stink of franchise aspirations.  However, if you take a look at the audience reviews, you’ll notice a trend: lots of fans of the book are absolutely livid about the adaptation changes.  

To the fans of the books, I am so sorry, and I feel your pain because I’ve been there.

 An adaptation with only superficial connections to the source material?   

 An adaptation that almost seems like a deliberate insult to the book? 

An adaptation that legendarily misses the point of the original?  

I know that rage because I’ve been through it.  Blood and Chocolate fans know the pain that Artemis Fowl fans are currently experiencing.

But, why?  Why have so many beloved books been butchered in the name of film adaptation?  Let’s take a look at the process that took the 1997 Blood and Chocolate novel and turned it into the 2007 Blood and Chocolate movie.

Adaptation History: After its 1997 publication, Blood and Chocolate enjoyed some popularity and acclaim.  Unlike later YA behemoths like Twilight, The Hunger Games and Divergent, Blood and Chocolate doesn’t seem to have made an appearance on the New York Times Bestseller’s List, so it’s difficult to quantify exactly how much popularity it enjoyed.  Later that same year, MGM optioned the film rights, indicating that, at some point in the future, we could expect an adaptation. No news was heard on that front until 2004, when a screenplay appeared.  The US Copyright Office records the document as, “Blood and chocolate; motion picture project & screenplay / Screenplay written by Christopher Landon, with revisions by Jon Harmon Feldman, Leslie Libman and Larry Williams, Christopher Landon and Jeff King, with current revisions by Ehren Kruger.”  That’s one original script and six writers working on revisions – none of whom are the original author, Annette Curtis Klause.   According to a 2006-ish interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith. Klause was completely out of the loop when it came to the production, stating, “…I’m afraid that if you aren’t Anne Rice, J.K. Rowling, or Stephen King you don’t get much say in what the film companies do. The producers don’t even keep me up to date–I find my information on the Web.”

Book Challenges: Before we go any further, we need to acknowledge that any adaptation of Blood and Chocolate faced some necessary changes.  The story, as written, was never going to pass from book to movie unscathed.  Some of the major problems were:

o   The Esme Question: Esme’s relationship with Gabriel would be one of the first things on the chopping block. It was a minor detail in the book, it didn’t really impact the overall plot, and it honestly shouldn’t have been included at all.

o   The Age Differences:  No studio targeting a mainstream US audience is going to tell a love story between a 16-year-old girl and a 24-year-old man.  Filmmakers would need to adjust the age dynamics in the story, and they would probably choose to age the younger characters up.  This would enable them to skirt the complicated legalities of hiring underage actors and avoid Dawson Casting significantly older actors to play teenagers.

o   The Large Cast: The novel has a large number of named characters contributing to the plot in various ways.  An adaptation that keeps all of these characters would need to spend time establishing who they are and making them distinct from the other characters.  For reference, a list of the named characters includes: Vivian, Gabriel, Aiden, Astrid, Rafe, Esme, Rudy, Ivan, Lucien, Tomas, Bucky, Jean, Persia, Orlando, Finn, Gregory, Willem, Ulf, Quince, Kelly, Bingo, Jem, and Skull.  Including these characters and setting them up in a way that is memorable for an audience would take a LOT of screentime.  Cuts were necessary.  Roles would have to be condensed and some characters would need to be excised entirely.

o   The Rating: A strictly faithful adaptation of the novel would contain: Male and female nudity, explicit language, violence, gore, substance abuse, and sexual situations. This would likely have earned the film an “R” rating.  For those unfamiliar with the MPAA ratings, an “R”, or “Restricted” rating restricts the audience of the film so that those under 17 are required to have an accompanying parent or adult guardian to be allowed to see the film in theaters.  For a film based on a YA novel, an R rating would basically be the kiss of death – it would kill the film’s money making potential. Filmmakers would realistically have to edit the content of the source material to ensure a much more accessible – and profitable – PG-13 rating.

Film Challenges: In addition to the challenges inherited from the source material, translating the story from book to film creates a number of extra difficulties.

o   The Budget: Blood and Chocolate didn’t spawn the enthusiastic fanbase that Harry Potter or Twilight did, meaning that there was less of a “guaranteed” audience for the film.  The decade-long gap between publication and adaptation probably didn’t help matters, either.  As a result, an adaptation would entail a certain amount of risk.  Would the film have enough appeal to get non-fans into the theater?  What if they spent millions and millions of dollars on a film that only book fans wanted to see?  With no assurances of success, the adaptation’s budget would have to be restricted to what the producers considered an acceptable loss – what were they willing to lose if the film flopped?

o   The Special Effects:  In the novel, Klause goes into vivid detail while describing the bone-crunching, sinew-snapping transformations that take characters from human to wolf.  An adaptation, as a werewolf movie, would be expected to follow genre conventions and include these transformations on screen. However, this rubs up against the first point as including such transformations often comes at great costs. They had two options: practical effects or computer-generated imagery (CGI).  Rendering the transformations with practical effects would follow in the footsteps of genre classics like An American Werewolf in London and The Howling, but it could necessitate months of behind the scenes preparation and hours of painstaking makeup application.  

(This?  This won the first Oscar for Best Makeup ever .)

CGI would be cheaper, but less satisfying for traditional horror fans (an audience the filmmakers would probably want to appeal to).

(This was... less acclaimed.)

Studio Considerations: Let’s take a minute and talk about Lakeshore Entertainment.

o   Underworld, released in September 2003 by production company Lakeshore Entertainment, was a thriller featuring supernatural creatures, a forbidden romance, secret societies, and a muted color palette.  The story was ostensibly an original creation (although the role-playing game company White Wolf alleged otherwise).  It grossed $95.7 million worldwide against a $22 million budget and spawned a franchise that is currently in its 6th installment.

o   Underworld: Evolution, released in January 2006 by production company Lakeshore Entertainment, followed its predecessor and was a thriller featuring supernatural creatures, a forbidden romance, secret societies, and a muted color palette.  It grossed $111 million worldwide against a $50 million budget.

o   The Covenant, released in September 2006 by production company Lakeshore Entertainment, was a thriller featuring supernatural creatures, a forbidden romance, a secret society, and a muted color palette.  The story was an original creation.  It grossed $37.6 million worldwide against a $20 million budget.

o   Blood and Chocolate, released in January 2007 by production company Lakeshore Entertainment, was a thriller featuring supernatural creatures, a forbidden romance, a secret society, and a muted color palette.  The story was adapted from a popular YA novel.  It grossed $6.3 million worldwide against a $15 million budget – an $8.7 million loss. Now, let’s be clear:  Blood and Chocolate started filming before the numbers for its sister productions were in.  I don’t think that the diminishing returns seen by Underworld: Evolution and The Covenant affected the budget for Blood and Chocolate – its smaller budget is likely attributable to the more restrained story.  After all, Blood and Chocolate doesn’t feature a Mustang de-and re-materializing.  

It is a comparatively low key movie.  

So why did it fail? We’re going to get elbow-deep into that autopsy, but before we do, we need to take a look at the movie itself.

Next: Section 3 – The Adaptation

[vintage1981]

#FlashbackFriday to Jess Franco’s Faceless/Gorezone Issue 6

Toward the end of the decade of decadence (aka the 80s) exploitation auteur Jess Franco attempted to break into the commercial horror market. Faceless is the most notable production, with a cast that brings together ex-porn actress (and Jean Rollin regular) Brigitte Lahaie, British genre icon Caroline Munro, German character actor Anton Diffring, Luchino Visconti muse Helmut Berger, and seventies US TV and film superstar, Telly Savalas! Although still a low budget affair, this Rene Chateau production does offer a slick and glamourous look, unlike anything typically seen in a Jess Franco production.

Dr Frank Flamand (Helmut Berger) runs a posh clinic that specialises in expensive beauty treatments and quack "youth-enhancing" therapies for the excessively rich and vain. What his pampered clients do not know though is that many of their treatments are developed at the expense of kidnapped experimental subjects who are kept prisoner in the soundproof padded cells behind a locked door deep within the labyrinthine corridors of the clinic!

When a dissatisfied patient (who was horribly scarred during bungled plastic surgery) attempts to gain revenge by throwing acid in Flamand's face, she instead hits his beautiful sister, Ingrid (Christiane Jean) and badly disfigures her. Flamand vows to restore the beauty of his beloved sister and, together with his ice-cold assistant (and lover) Nathalie (Brigitte Lahaie), organises the kidnapping of coke-addicted model Barbara Hallen (Caroline Munro) with the intention of using her in a new face-transplant operation he intends to develop for his sisters benefit. Barbara is the daughter of wealthy industrialist Terry Hallen (Telly Savalas) and after his daughter's disappearance, Hallen hires American private detective Sam Morgan (Chris Mitchum) to find her. Meanwhile, Flamand and Nathalie consult Dr. Karl Heinz Mozer (Anton Diffring), an ex-Nazi associate of Flamand's mentor Dr Orloff (Howard Vernon), and employ him to help them experiment on more kidnapped victims in their attempts to perfect the complicated operation.

Gorezone Issue 6: Caroline Does Splatter by Steve Swires

Fantasy films’ first lady has been systematically subjected to an onslaught of cinematic indignities — stalked by slashers, menaced by madmen and terrorized by tormentors. Rarely, however, has she been asked to exercise her acting ability; usually, she is merely required to look helpless, scream her lungs out and defer to the heroics of her male co-stars.

Finally, after two decades of dramatic dues-paying in such creatively constrained circumstances, Caroline Munro feels confident enough to test her talent. A veteran of 13 consecutive genre excursions— including Dracula A.D. 1972, Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, Maniac and The Last Horror Film — she recently ended her involuntary screen hiatus by starring in two new English-language European horror movies, Paul Naschy’s Spanish-lensed The Howl of the Devil and Jess Franco’s French Faceless. Reaching beyond the limitations of her cult status, she also made her first non-genre appearance in 20 years, in the British TV movie Maigret.

Selected by her Slaughter High collaborators Peter Litten and George Dugdale to play the female lead in their proposed big-budget production of Dr. Who: The Movie as well as the title role in their unorthodox multimedia creation Roxscene, Munro grew increasingly restless as both major projects were delayed by a lengthy development process. Anxious to resume her acting career after four years as hostess of the popular British TV game/variety series 3-2-1, she gratefully accepted the unexpected offers of overseas employment.

“The more I’m on camera, the better it is for me,” the British actress reasons, relaxing one morning in her London flat. “As with an athlete or a dancer, an actor must keep training. Since Doctor Who and Roxscene have yet to reach fruition. The Howl of the Devil, Faceless and Maigret gave me an opportunity to get out and do a bit of work. Frankly, I become very bored when I’m not working.”

There were few occasions for boredom on the rugged Spanish locations of The Howl of the Devil (a.k.a. El Aullido del Diablo). Shot in Madrid and the quaint mountain village of Loyzoya— complete with cobbled streets and an 11th-century monastery — during July and August of 1987, the film was written, directed by and stars Paul Naschy. A short, toupeed, barrel-chested John Belushi look-alike whose real name is Jacinto Molina, Naschy has appeared in more than 75 Spanish movies bearing such luridly Anglicized titles as Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror, The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman, Count Dracula’s Great Love and Night of the Howling Beast, earning him the crown of Spain’s King of Horror.

Designed as an ambitious showcase for his performing abilities, Howl presents Naschy in 10 different roles, reflecting his affection for the classic Hollywood movie monsters of his youth. A demented retired actor named Hector lives with his young nephew Adrian in an ominous chalet, where he dresses up as Fu Manchu, Rasputin and Bluebeard to torture nubile female victims procured by his loyal manservant Erik, portrayed by Howard Vernon. A horror fan himself, Adrian (played by Naschy’s 12-year-old son, Sergio Molina) fantasizes visits from his favorite celluloid creatures, recreated in elaborate prosthetic makeup by Fernando Florido and embodied by the ubiquitous Naschy: the Frankenstein Monster, the Phantom of the Opera, Quasimodo, Mr. Hyde and — inevitably— Naschy’s best-known character, the melancholy werewolf Waldemar Daninsky. This Happy home life is eventually interrupted by the reappearance of Adrian’s dead father, Hector’s twin brother Alex, a rotting corpse also essayed by the resilient Naschy.

Cast by novice producer Juan Gomez after he spotted her photo in David Quinlan’s book The Illustrated Directory of Film Stars, Munro plays a poor Spanish maid named Carmen, relentlessly pursued by the homicidally horny Hector. Unfamiliar with Naschy or his work, Munro asked her solicitor father to read the clumsily translated screenplay, which was filled with guilt and retribution, sexual repression and religious obsession. “Obviously, he didn’t think it was brilliant,” she admits. “But he said, ‘It’s certainly no worse than some others you’ve done, and it might be an interesting part for you.’ I thought it could be a mistake for me to do it, but because I liked my part, I decided to take a chance. Besides, if my dad thought it was all right, then it must be OK.”

Burdened by an unwanted glamor image as a perennial sex symbol, Munro enthusiastically donned plain-looking clothes, flat shoes and an apron, and pinned back her long dark hair to* convincingly portray her earthy character. Likewise, Munro actually scrubbed floors and even chopped the head off a real dead chicken on camera. “I wasn’t very keen on that,” she concedes. “Paul gave me a whacking great knife — twice the size of Crocodile’ Dundee’s, knife— and said, ‘Cut the head off the chicken.’ I told him, I can’t do that.’ I just cut it gently down the middle. He said, ‘That’s no good. You must look like you’ve done it all your life.’ So I finally did cut the head off. It was a touch of the Tom Savini there.” A popular genre figure in Europe and Japan, Naschy has yet to conquer the more demanding American market, his voice will subsequently be dubbed by an American actor. This unusual production problem created an awkward acting situation for Munro, who performed her part with her normal British accent, at Naschy’s instruction. “It was a bit more difficult than I was used to, but that made it more of a challenge,” she notes. "Most of the master shots were done over Paul’s shoulder, showing me speaking. Some of the time, he was actually speaking Spanish. Because I understand Spanish fairly well and I knew the intention of the scenes, I could tell what he was saying and when it was time for me to speak. “I was nervous at first, because Paul is a foreboding-looking fellow with a great deal of energy. He is very intense in his work, very European in his approach, with extraordinarily piercing eyes. But he was exactly right for his character. Once we began working together, I found him quite easy to get on with.” Naschy even allowed Munro to rewrite her own dialogue. “I’m hopeless at writing,” she maintains. “But the script left something to be desired, because it was translated too literally from Spanish to though three of his films were released here theatrically in the mid- 1970s by Sam Sherman’s Independent-International Pictures and several of his other movies are currently available on home video. To facilitate American distribution, Naschy shot The Howl of the Devil since he doesn’t speak the language, he delivered his dialogue phonetically, and English. Many of the lines were archaic and ungrammatical. So I rewrote my dialogue to make it more conversational. I offered to help rewrite the rest of the dialogue as well, but Paul didn’t want to confuse the other actors.” Adding her creative input in such a manner is a new occurrence for Munro, who previously would passively accept her scenes as written, regardless of any misgivings. “That comes with experience,” she observes. “You learn what you will or won’t do in a scene. There are certain things I won’t do. Generally, there isn’t much substance to the characters in most genre movies, unless you create some for yourself. Now, I feel I’m in a position — at my age — to be thinking more about characterization.” Munro, satisfied with her Spanish sojourn, believes The Howl of the Devil will spotlight a more self-confident side of her acting personality. “I won’t say I enjoyed every minute,” she acknowledges, “but I was certainly kept on my toes. I hope people will see more range from me as an actress than they’ve seen before. I had to extend myself more in the role. I had some initial reservations, but everything felt right while we were making it. There was nothing about my scenes that offended me. Of course, I don’t know how the finished film will turn out, but for my part, I’m really pleased I did it.” Completing her Howl of the Devil role in 12 shooting days over a three-week period, Munro next flew to Geneva, Switzerland to star in the unusual industrial show The New Travels of Marco Polo. While in Geneva, she was contacted by director Jess Franco, offering her a leading role in his latest thriller Faceless. Filmed in and around Paris during November and December of 1987, Faceless (a.k.a. Les Predators de la Nuit) revives the moribund subgenre of surgical atrocity movies initiated in 1959 by Georges Franju’s classic Eyes Without A Face (a.k.a. The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus) and imitated by Franco’s own The Awful Dr. Orloff in 1961. The first feature produced by Rene Chateau, France’s leading video distributor, Faceless boasts an impressive international cast including Helmut Berger, Telly Savalas, Anton Diffring, Chris Mitchum and 79-year-old Howard Vernon , reprising his tireless Dr. Orloff persona. Jacques (Lifeforce) Gastineau provides graphic makeup FX. Doubling as screenwriter under the pseudonym “Fred Castle,” Chateau personally chose Munro, having seen her work in Starcrash and Maniac, which he released on video in France. In a resonant bit of casting, she plays jet-set American model Barbara Hallen, whose mysterious disappearance motivates the entire storyline. Kidnapped from a modeling session by actress Brigitte Lahaie (France’s most notorious porno queen in a rare mainstream role), Barbara is brought to a fashionable health farm run by sinister plastic surgeon Doctor Flamand (Berger), who constantly requires fresh blood and organs with which to rejuvenate his chic clientele. 

Aided by ex-Nazi scientist Juan Moser (Diffring), Flamand plans to graft Barbara’s exquisite face onto his horribly disfigured sister, until a savage assault renders her skin unusable. Meanwhile, alarmed by his daughter’s inexplicable absence, New York millionaire Terry Hallen (Savalas) sends Vietnam-veteran-turned-private-detective Morgan (Mitchum) to Paris to discover her whereabouts. As Morgan’s investigation draws him closer to the truth, Flamand and his sadistic henchman Gordon sharpen their chainsaws and drills for the inevitably gruesome final confrontation.

Chiefly confined to a padded cell in an actual clinic undergoing renovation, Munro spends most of her screen time in a short white hospital smock. As her character recovers from her brutal attack, she is repeatedly injected with debilitating drugs, hastening her mental and physical deterioration. Abdicating her reluctant glamor image with a vengeance, Munro had no qualms about appearing progressively more disheveled. “I wanted to look as extreme as I could get,” she insists. “In fact, I encouraged them to make me look worse. It actually helped me as an actress. The worse I looked and felt, the better my performance.

When I was crying, my tears were real. I didn’t need glycerine, because I felt truly degraded. It had to be that way, it was so important to see the change in Barbara— to show the glamorous, confident, attractive woman at the beginning, and the poor, sad, pathetic creature at the end. Otherwise, the film wouldn’t work.”

Responsive to the actress’ concerns. Franco thoughtfully decided to shoot Munro’s unpleasant scenes in reverse order. “That way, I could look forward to feeling clean,” she points out. “It was a good method, because I hated being so dirty. I had grease in my hair. I really looked a mess. But it felt absolutely right for the part. “In fact, I looked almost too convincing,” Munro smiles. “At one point, I was walking down the back stairs at the clinic, wearing only a little white smock. I was made up with a bloody cut on my face. One of the real nurses saw me and exclaimed, ‘Oh, mon Dieu! What happened?’ She thought I had really been injured. Many of the actual patients gave me very funny looks. I should think it put them off going back to that clinic.”

Jess Franco, according to Munro, proved to be a surprisingly careful and considerate filmmaker. “I had never heard of Jess before, but I enjoyed working with him very much,” Munro remarks. “I trusted him and felt confident with him. He speaks very good English. I could ask him questions, and he would help me. He has a great sensitivity with actors. He understood how we felt and gave us encouragement.”

A former model herself, Munro easily mastered the American accent she delivers in Faceless. “It’s better than the American accent I did in Slaughter High,” she comments, “because I’ve had more experience at it. But it’s still quite a soft American accent, since the character has been living and working in Europe, and that has affected the way she speaks. I suppose it’s more of a mid-Atlantic accent. I just hope people won’t assume I’ve been dubbed by an American actress again.”

Finishing her Faceless fright fest after three hectic weeks in France, Munro next appeared in her first TV movie, Maigret. Directed by Paul (Prom Night) Lynch, the film is based on a popular series of mystery novels by Georges Simenon. Munro portrays Carolyn Pace, power hungry secretary to scheming American millionaire Patrick O’Neal.

“I just want to be a working actress,” she says, then pauses to reflect on her future plans. “Frankly, I never thought of myself any other way. I’ve never wanted the huge success that other people have wanted for me. I’m very happy doing smaller films. “Without shouting to the whole world, I can push myself quite far within these roles and not be looked at too critically,” Munro decides. “The success or failure of these movies is not on my shoulders. Each one’s just another acting experience for me. And I find I get better with each new experience; I’m still learning my craft all the time.”

[kevinpolowy]

Hollywood's Record Holders for Most Oscar Wins

We typically think Meryl Streep when it comes to Oscar records, with the master thespian having amassed an incredible 19 nominations. But when it comes to actual wins, Streep’s not in the record books. Instead you’ll find names both famous (Walt Disney, John Williams, Katharine Hepburn) and less familiar (art director Cedric Gibbons, soundman Gary Rydstrom). As we get ready for Oscar night on Feb. 26, here are the folks who have been awarded the most statuettes. (We’re only counting “competitive” Oscars and not honorary/memorial recognition.)

Walt Disney (22 Oscars)

The man behind the Mouse House holds the all-time record for Academy Award wins (22) and nominations (59). The vast majority of those wins (20, to be exact) came for producing short-form cartoons, while the other two came for producing documentaries. Disney won four alone in 1954, also an Oscars record. (He was also recognized with an additional four honorary awards, including, yes, one for creating Mickey Mouse.) (Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Source: Yahoo Movies

Cedric Gibbons (11 Oscars)

Not counting short film winners, your all-time Oscar champ would be this art director/production designer whose wins included ‘Pride and Prejudice’ (1940), ‘An American in Paris’ (1951), and ‘Somebody Up There Likes Me’ (1956). Gibbons was nominated, but did not win, for a little film called ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939). His tally was no doubt helped by the fact that for many years there were two categories that recognized art direction: one for color and one for black-and-white. (Photo: Everett Collection)

Source: Yahoo Movies

Alfred Newman (9 Oscars)

The music composer (not to be confused with ‘Mad Magazine’ poster boy Alfred E. Neuman) had 43 nominations total, ranking him third all time on that list (behind Walt Disney and John Williams). His wins included the famous stage adaptations ‘The King and I’ (1956) and ‘Camelot’ (1967). (Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Source: Yahoo Movies

Edith Head (8 Oscars)

Head, a costume designer who frequently worked with Alfred Hitchcock, holds the all-time record for female winners. Her eight Oscars (from 35 nominations) included Best Picture victors ‘All About Eve’ (1950) and ‘The Sting’ (1973), as well as romantic favorites ‘Roman Holiday’ (1953) and ‘Sabrina’ (1954). She was also the inspiration for the beloved animated character Edna Mode in Pixar’s ‘The Incredibles.’ (Photo: AP Photo)

Source: Yahoo Movies

Alan Menken (8 Oscars)

The Disney maestro won two Academy Awards apiece (in the song and score categories) for ‘The Little Mermaid’ (1989), ‘The Beauty and the Beast’ (1991), ‘Aladdin’ (1992), and ‘Pocahontas’ (1995). His only non-Disney nomination (of 19 total) was also his first, for 1986’s musical-horror-comedy ‘Little Shop of Horrors.’ (Photo: Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage)

Source: Yahoo Movies

Fred Quimby (8 Oscars)

Like Walt Disney, MGM exec Quimby flourished in the animated-short categories, winning all eight of his Oscars in those races. Seven out of eight of those were for ‘Tom and Jerry’ ‘toons. (Photo: AP Photo)

Source: Yahoo Movies

Rick Baker (7 Oscars)

Considered one of film’s all-time greatest creature creators, the makeup artist has an impressive batting average when it comes to the Oscars, winning seven of 11 nominations. Those triumphs included ‘An American Werewolf in London’ (1981), ‘Harry and the Hendersons’ (1987), ‘The Nutty Professor’ (1996), and ‘Men in Black’ (1997). (Photo: Dan MacMedan/WireImage)

Source: Yahoo Movies

Gary Rydstrom (7 Oscars)

Nominated for 17 total Academy Awards in various sound categories over the years, Rydstrom snagged two Oscars apiece for ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ (1991), ‘Jurassic Park’ (1993), and ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (1998), while also taking home a statue for the Best Picture/box-office winner ‘Titanic’ (1997). (Photo: Monica Schipper/FilmMagic)

Source: Yahoo Movies

Billy Wilder (6 Oscars)

The revered writer-director-producer won three Oscars alone for 1960’s ‘The Apartment’ (Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing). He also claimed two trophies for 1945’s ‘The Lost Weekend’ (Best Director, Best Writing) and only one for 1951’s ‘Sunset Boulevard.’ (Best Writing). He received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1988.

Source: Yahoo Movies

Denis Muren (6 Oscars)

The FX ace has worked on every episode of ‘Star Wars’ except one (‘Revenge of the Sith’), and was honored with Special Achievement Awards for ‘Empire Strikes Back’ and ‘Return of the Jedi’ because the Best Visual Effects category didn’t yet exist. His competitive wins include ‘E.T.’ (1982), ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ (1984), and ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ (1991). So yeah, he’s got a pretty cool résumé. (Photo: AP Photo)

Source: Yahoo Movies

Francis Ford Coppola (5 Oscars)

After earning an Oscar for co-writing the Best Picture-winning war bio ‘Patton’ (1970), Coppola gleaned plenty of gold out from the ‘Godfather’ saga. He shared a Best Writing Oscar with author Mario Puzo for ‘The Godfather’ (1972), then won three statuettes for its 1974 follow-up, ‘The Godfather Part II’ (Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing). (Photo: Getty Images)

Source: Yahoo Movies

John Williams (5 Oscars)

The famed composer has earned a staggering 50 Academy Award nominations, including one last year for ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens.’ He is the most nominated person alive, and second all time to Walt Disney. But amazingly, he’s only won five times, for ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ (1971), ‘Jaws’ (1975), ‘Star Wars’ (1977), ‘E.T.’ (1982), and ‘Schindler’s List’ (1993). (Photo: Getty Images for Capitol Concerts)

Source: Yahoo Movies

John Barry (5 Oscars)

The late composer was responsible for the famous scores to 11 James Bond films, but those netted him exactly zero Oscar nominations (guess he was no Sam Smith?). He was nominated and won for 1966’s ‘Born Free’ (Best Original Song and Best Original Score), ‘The Lion in Winter’ (1968), ‘Out of Africa’ (1985), and ‘Dances With Wolves’ (1990). (Photo: Getty Images)

Source: Yahoo Movies

Lyle R. Wheeler (5 Oscars)

Known as “the dean of art directors,” Wheeler’s most celebrated work came in 1939’s ‘Gone With the Wind,’ which would earn him his first Academy Award. He also won for ‘Anna and the King of Siam’ (1946), ‘The Robe’ (1953), ‘The King and I’ (1956), and ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ (1959), and nabbed an additional 17 nominations.

Source: Yahoo Movies

Johnny Green (5 Oscars)

Born John Waldo Green but nicknamed “Beulah,” the songwriter-composer won four Oscars for original film scores (including 1961’s ‘West Side Story’ and 1968’s ‘Oliver!’) and a fifth for producing the 1953 symphony-driven short ‘Overture to the Merry Wives of Windsor.’ (Credit: Everett Collection)

Source: Yahoo Movies

Katharine Hepburn (4 Oscars)

The iconic screen star holds the all-time record for most Academy Awards won by an actress. Not only that, all four of her statuettes were won in the lead Best Actress race. She won for her first nomination, ‘Morning Glory’ (1933), and final three — ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ (1968), ‘The Lion in Winter ‘(1969), and ‘On Golden Pond’ (1981) — with an additional eight nods in between. (Photo: Getty Images)

Source: Yahoo Movies

John Ford (4 Oscars)

Ford is the only filmmaker to win four Academy Awards in the Best Director category, collecting those for ‘The Informer’ (1935), ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ (1940), ‘How Green Was My Valley’ (1941), and ‘The Quiet Man’ (1952). Yet he was not even nominated for some of his most famous Westerns, including ‘The Searchers’ (1956) and ‘The Man Who Shot the Liberty Valence’ (1962). (Photo: Getty Images)

Source: Yahoo Movies

Joseph Ruttenberg and Leon Shamroy (4 Oscars)

Rutternberg (a 10-time nominee who won for ‘The Great Waltz,’ ‘Mrs. Miniver,’ ‘Somebody Up There Likes Me,’ and ‘Gigi’) and Shamroy (an 18-time nominee who won for ‘The Black Swan,’ ‘Wilson,’ ‘Leave Her to Heaven,’ and ‘Cleopatra’) share the record for most Oscars in Best Cinematography. (Photo: Everett Collection)

Source: Yahoo Movies

Woody Allen (4 Oscars)

Allen won two Oscars for his breakout rom-com, ‘Annie Hall’ (1977), including his only Best Director statuette to date. But he’s also in a five-way tie in the record for most screenwriting wins, having earned gold for ‘Annie Hall,’ ‘Hannah and Her Sisters’ (1986), and ‘Midnight in Paris’ (2011). He has 24 nominations total.

Source: Yahoo Movies

Jack Nicholson (3 Oscars)

If you’ve ever wondered why Jack always gets the best seats in the house on Oscar night… his 12 nominations is a record for male actors. He’s also one of only three men to win three acting Academy Awards, having snagged Best Supporting Actor for ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ (1975) and ‘Terms of Endearment’ (1983), and Best Actor for ‘As Good as It Gets’ (1997). (Photo: AP Photo)

Source: Yahoo Movies

Daniel Day-Lewis (3 Oscars)

Day-Lewis, however, is the only man to have won three Academy Awards for Best Actor. Those came for his highly acclaimed performances in ‘My Left Foot’ (1989), ‘There Will Be Blood’ (2007), and ‘Lincoln’ (2012). Day-Lewis has five nominations since 1990, despite only having appeared in 12 films in that time. (Photo: AP Photo)

Source: Yahoo Movies

Walter Brennan (3 Oscars)

In good company with Nicholson and Day-Lewis is Western legend Brennan, who earned four Oscar nominations over the course of six years and won for three of those: ‘Come And Get It’ (1936), ‘Kentucky’ (1938), and ‘The Westerner’ (1940). He lost for 1941’s ‘Sergeant York.’ (Photo: Getty Images)

Source: Yahoo Movies

Charles Brackett and Paddy Chayefsky (3 Oscars)

Two more who are included in that five-way tie for most screenwriting wins, along with Billy Wilder, Francis Ford Coppola, and Woody Allen: Brackett, who co-wrote ‘The Lost Weekend’ and ‘Sunset Boulevard’ with Wilder, as well as ‘Titanic’ (1953); and Chayefsky, who penned ‘Marty’ (1955), ‘The Hospital’ (1971), and ‘Network’ (1976). (Photo: AP Photo/Everett Collection)

Source: Yahoo Movies

[brianroweauthor]

Watching Like a Writer: Werewolves

Watching Like a Writer is a movie review series that looks at films from the perspective of a fiction writer, complete with one writing takeaway, and an exercise that will help better your fiction! Each Wednesday I will look at the five best movies of a director, actor, genre, series, year in film, etc.

While werewolves are as widely known, beloved, and discussed in popular culture as vampires and zombies, there aren’t nearly as many successful films about the howling creature. Vampires have Dracula and Buffy, and zombies have the Night of the Living Dead series, but werewolves have little more than a Lon Chaney classic and an '80s comedy horror masterpiece. And no, Jacob Black doesn’t count! With Underworld: Blood Wars currently in theaters, it's time to take a look at the five best werewolf movies...

5. Silver Bullet (1985)

It’s not one of the better known Stephen King adaptations; this one might rank with the B-grade The Mangler and Graveyard Shift as movies people are aware of. One of his few adaptations that King wrote the screenplay for himself, this (unintentionally?) funny film, about a handicapped boy who assumes a mad killer on the loose isn’t a person at all but a werewolf, stars Gary Busey, Lost’s Terry O’Quinn, and a young Corey Haim.

4. The Howling (1981)

Director pals Joe Dante and John Landis, who would both team up to direct segments of the Twilight Zone movie, made werewolf movies around the same time, and Dante’s came first, this supremely entertaining film starring Dee Wallace. The movie, which inspired an endless series of direct-to-video sequels, and was written by accomplished writer/director John Sayles, has impressive scares, performances, and special effects make-up.

3. Ginger Snaps (2000)

This is one of those movies that come out of nowhere to scare the living bejeezus out of its viewers. Released straight-to-video in the US in 2001, this film has developed a cult following over the last decade. Shot on a tight budget, and featuring mostly unknown actors, this gothic rollercoaster ride that presents werewolf transformations as a metaphor for puberty starts slow and careens toward a bloody, shocking ending.

2. The Wolf Man (1941)

She-Wolf of London and Werewolf of London are two entertaining werewolf classics, but no older film comes close to the joys and timelessness of Universal Pictures’ The Wolf Man, starring the great Lon Chaney, Jr. When people think of werewolf movies, this is probably the one that most often comes to mind, as it’s one of the most famous and certainly the most iconic. It’s also a ton of fun.

1. An American Werewolf in London (1981)

While it might be difficult to pick a favorite in other best-of movie lists, the top choice here is far and away the best werewolf movie out there. This is the one that gets everything right, with a near-perfect mix of comedy, horror, romance, and surprises. The acting is top-notch, the song choices are unique and memorable, and Rick Baker’s Oscar-winning make-up is a wonder to behold. This is a must-see horror gem.

Watching Like a Writer: John Landis' fantastic An American Werewolf in London makes me think about how to blend comedy with horror in my fiction. My Grisly High trilogy, which I wrote in 2011 and 2012, blended moments of silliness and hilarity with moments of sheer terror, and I feel like I pulled off this difficult mix maybe fifty percent of the time. If horror fiction becomes too silly, it's impossible to then later make that same story scary, and so there needs to be a delicate balance between comedy and terror in a work of horror fiction.

Exercise! Think of your favorite horror novel or short story that had moments of comedy to help alleviate the tension. How was the comedy added effectively? Leave your comments below, or in the Facebook group, Watching Like a Writer!