New Wolfman is sounding a little like Werewolf of London

[chrisnurse]

I don't think Hollywood can help but tamper when it comes to remakes; they ruin great stories constantly, and also remake films that don't need to be remade.

The original Wolf Man is flawless to me. I think it's the nature of Hollywood to try and find a 'new angle'. I'm not convinced by Benicio Del Toro as Larry Talbot either,  I love him as an actor and apparently he is a huge Wolf Man memorabilia collector – but he just doesn't seem right for the role to me, I just don't know why.

Also the move from Wales (my place of birth) to London sounds a little alarming, Wales at the time was very rural, and London has been a sprawling metropolis for centuries. Saying all that Rick Baker could save the day.

What's worse is that Breck Eisner is doing the creature remake. Oh woe!

[Tom Smith Monsternut]

Here is the trailer again..

http://www.worstpreviews.com/trailer2.php?id=785&item=0

[Wolf Man]

Just to express my own view on this movie, I don't think I have ever been this excited about a film coming out.  I just hope I am home from Iraq to see it on the big screen.  I have read conflicting reports on the release date but I am not due home until April 14.  I hope it is still playing.  I plan on seeing it many times. 

Lets face it, we have had our share of really bad werewolf movies over the years.  I would venture a guess that we can not make up a list of five that we all agree are good. 

From the Trailer and stills this promises to at the very least be a good, well made werewolf movie.  At the most this could be a modern classic on the same level or better than Bram Stokers Dracula.  Regardless if there are a few differences between this and the classic Wolf Man or maybe even a disappointing scene or two this still proves to be an exceptional werewolf film.  Just look at the list of high calibur actors in this and it has Rick Baker, the modern version of Jack Pierce. 

I remind myself that we should not be too critical of this movie.  How many opportunities do we get to see a well made, period monster movie on the big screen?  We should all count ourselves lucky, go watch this thing, enjoy it for what it is, eat popcorn, make the movie a financial success and buy the DVD when it comes out.  If it is not absolutely perfect, well what movie really ever is.  As UMA members we owe it to ourselves to support any monster movies.  It is that support that encourages film makers to make more, make them better, even make the sequels and keep us in the monster business. 

[josie monster]

 Well said Wolf Man, well said.  I also am looking forward to this, and will probably see it at least twice it's first week of release.

[Wolf Man]

Thanks Monsternut for posting that trailer, it gave me goose bumps, what little I could watch of it.  Unfortumately the internet is so darn slow here in Iraq that I could only see little choppy pieces of it.  I also lost the internet connection about have way through it. 

Is there anyone who would like to put this on a DVD for me and send it out here?  I would love to be able to watch it all the way through, full screen and get to play it over and over again. 

If so I can give you my address here and would be happy to pay for postage and the DVD.  Stinks being out here when exciting things are happening.  I would have been at the San Diego Comic Con when that originally played if not for being here. 

As Herman Munster would say......Darn, Darn, Darn, Darn, Darn

[Creature Features]

That sucks man. If i had the equiptment, i'd send you the trailer, and any other cool stuff you wanted.

Can't wait until the movie comes out so we can discuss it in greater detail.

[Crazy1van]

I'm in the same proverbial boat, Wolf Man; I don't get back till sometime in April myself.  I just hope it's still showing; I do not wanna miss this one on the big screen.

[Wolf Man]

I will be very disappointed if I cannot see this on the big screen.  I have been anxiously awaiting this movie ever since I heard it was being made.  I plan on purchasing a very large flat screen high def tv this December when I am home on R&R.  My wife said if I miss it in theaters I can just watch it when it comes out on DVD.  I just want to pat her on her little head.  Wives are so cute even though they simply do not understand the enormous negative implications of not seeing this in the theater. 

[Crazy1van]

I can't say for Iraq, but in the UAE and Bahrain, getting bootlegs of movies the weekend they open is pretty easy.  Most of the Russian bootlegs are pretty high quality.  If I happen to be somewhere I can nab one, I'll send it to ya. 

[Wolf Man]

Oh, you are right about the bootlegs.  We get them just about when they open.  That isn't really the problem for me.  I don't want to just see the film but see it in all its glory with an awesome sound system of a theater.  There are few films these days that I care about seeing in the theater on the big screen but that is definately one of them.  If I can't see it in a theater I may just prefer to wait for the Blu Ray and watch it on my home theater system for the first time.  I will just have to avoid threads that talk about it.  My plan is to buy between a 60" and 72" High Def flat screen this December so I am sure the film will be awesome on that with surround sound so I here the Wolf Man creeping up behind me.  

I also have a friend that has build a home movie theater.  His screen is 103" and he has theater recliners and a special sound system and theater construction for the best accoustics.  So that would also be a possibility of seeing it on the big screen.  We also have a big screen tv here in the station so that would be a last resort.  Either way I will wait for the best possible viewing before I relegate myself to watching it over and over again.  Some good things are worth the wait.  

As long as I don't get killed first though.  That would kinda suck.  

[Wolf Man]

Here is some more food for thought concerning the potential difference between the classic Wolf Man and the current updated version. 

As I sit here and watch the classic it occurs to me that critics could pick apart the techinical aspects of this film. 

For example, when he first turns into the Wolf Man he is clearly wearing a plaid pant and an undershirt.   He then appears in the woods with a completely different set of pants and shirt.  So what happened, he is going through this aweful transformation and decided he would be more chic to wear a going out on the hunt shirt and pants?  This clothing change may not have been noticed by audiences of the day but today we are more sophisticated and question these little fo pas that do not make any sense. 

Another example is Llanwelly village.  This is a small quaint Welsh village and yet they have this incredible Cathedral church.  I know it was a re-use of the Notre Dame set of Chaney Sr. but this size church with all its trimmings would not have been in such a small village. 

Then there is the way the gravedigger just sort of stands there and lets the Wolf Man kill him.  The Wolf Man literaly strolls up to him to kill him.  He doesn't try and hit the Wolf Man with the shovel or run away or anything of the sort.  Not even a scream or scream for help. 

Then there is Jenny Williams Mother.  She does not shed a tear or show any sadness and shows up to church the following Sunday as if nothing ever happened.  Where is the grief over loosing her daughter?

What is up with all the people in church turning around and staring at Lawrence Talbot?  Like anyone would ever do that in real life. 

I could go on but the point I am making with all this is not to cut down one of my favorite classic films but to illustrate that we should not be too critical with the new film being made.  I look forward to all these little technical problems being corrected and the film being more mature and sophisticated for our viewing maturity that we possess in today's world.  As todays critics would pick apart all the blunders of the classic we overlook them because it is a classic.  We should not go and view the new Wolf Man looking to pick apart any and all the details of the film unless we really want to also acknowledge all the  less mature blunders of the original. 

I always look forward to updated versions of the classics because we don't see these kinds of blunders.  We are better film makers today for our more sophisticated audiences.  I usually use Bram Stokers Dracula as the example since I could find numerous flaws in the plot lines but it is still one of the best if not the best versions of Dracula filmed so far.  I know there are a number of other remakes in the works that we should try not to judge too harshly.  If one of them ends up being really bad then oh well, we always have the classic.  If they turn out to be at the very least decent movies then yeah, we have an updated, less flawed version to enjoy along side the classic. 

So, rock on film makers and keep trying at least. 

[Crazy1van]

The gothic church wasn't that much of a stretch.  The name Llanwelly implies that the village was built around a church, and don't forget that Sir John Talbot lived in a genuine castle.

But that aside, yes the new movie is different.  From what I've read, it will be different like De Niro's Frankenstein, not nearly as extreme as Brendan Frasier's Mummy, but not as similar as Coppola's Dracula.  I'm not worried about the changes that have been revealed so far; the setting is gonna change the flavor of the characters, but should not affect the story overly much.  The search for John Jr seems to be a better motivator than Larry's frivolous dalliances with a girl he spies on through a telescope.  The loss of Bela Blasko is understandable in a big city setting, where gypsies wouldn't be able to hawk their trade so readily.

[Toy Ranch]

Here's another kind of Wolf Man (and Wolf Woman)

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=6082101

[Wolf Man]

I would prefer my food raw, not regurgitated.  That is just wrong.  Where do you find this stuff?  That makes folks like us seem absolutely normal. 

[depressedlarrytalbot]

Are there any Welshmen on the boards? I came away from some phonetic misadventures when holidaying in Wales in 1984, which have led me since to the belief that Llanwelly would actually be pronounced like ... Shchanweshy??  But no need to tell me that too is pitifully inadequate / inaccurate. Of course by making it the English village of Blackmoor, it appears this remake has sidestepped the issue entirely. Pity.
Anyway if you're ever in Wales, don't tell anyone you've just arrived from "Dollgelow". That's NOT how you pronounce "Dolgellau".