Saturday, August 27, 2011

News Update 4 (Dutchbull Updates, and Teen Wolf reactions)

Before I begin posting my own stuff, I should note that Dutchbull has once again updated his terrific site, and you should head over there now.
I particularly recommend checking out the clips from Outcast (a teenager to hulkish monster TF--an anonymous commenter notes that the beast is anatomically correct; pause at the 50 second mark for proof) and Le poil de la bête, a Quebecois werewolf movie. I'd planned on having these on my blog, but Dutchbull beat me to the punch. An obvious sign that I need to update more often!
Dutchbull updates every couple of months, but he always announces the exact date in advance and is always true to his word. How many other webmasters are so consistent and trustworthy? Dutchbull's site is especially valuable since Shadowlord Inc. (still the largest TF media site on the net) has been dormant for five months.

There's one other set of new clips on Dutchbull's site that I particularly recommend: those from Teen Wolf. Readers of this blog know that I was a supporter of the series well before it aired, despite the know-nothing carping from other netizens. I'm happy to say they were wrong and I was right--Teen Wolf is a critical and commercial success and will return for second season (shooting starts in November). Though its pilot was deceptively generic, the series began deftly toggling between thriller, horror, romance, comedy, and high school drama. Characters who first seemed like stereotypes ended up as well-developed members of an excellent ensemble cast. The mystery at the heart of the series (who was the Alpha?) was unexpectedly and wisely revealed before the finale, which left more than enough plot strands for next season's story arc. Showrunner Jeff Davis said the whole series was essentially structured like an eight-hour movie and was right. It also looks just as good as one--the photography and lighting were far above TV standards. Lastly, I don't think I've ever seen a better looking group of male werewolves on TV...

...Which means that I pretty much for forgive the show for being slightly disappointing in the TF department. Scott's transformations were quick, and being an omega werewolf, he didn't have all that far to transform (omegas are little more than humans with long ears and nails and gnarly facial features). The same went for Derek. That left the Alpha, who transformed into an honest-to-God wolf monster, but only once onscreen (watch it here). We mostly saw his back during the TF, though there were some nice muzzle-growth spasms beforehand. Mostly CGI too, but of decent quality. Anyway, we have to remember that Teen Wolf has a limited budget and managed to disguise that in other areas for most of its run. I hope that next season they'll have enough money to spend on (British)Being Human-style animatronics--especially since the new Alpha is played by a stunningly handsome actor who I would dearly love to see going through the throes of an American Werewolf-style TF.
In the meantime, congratulations to everyone involved with the show, and best wishes for the new season!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the Outcast video from dutchbull, you can see in very slow motion his (hairy) penis and half of his transformed torso at 0'50.

Apuleius said...

Good eye! The monster is anatomically correct--not only that, but if you freeze-frame other parts of the film, you'll see it's quite gifted too!

Apuleius said...

The actor also has a frontal scene earlier in the film--in purely human form, and that's riveting to watch as well!