Monday, October 3, 2011

News Update: The Howling Reborn

Though the buzz wasn't good, I had a sliver of hope for The Howling Reborn, especially for the prospect of seeing someone as beautiful as Landon Liboiron transforming into a werewolf. Pirated copies of the film are floating around online; having just skimmed through one, I'll have to add Landon to the growing list of incredibly handsome actors who were cast as werewolves but never given the chance to have a decent transformation. It's a painfully long list.

  The Howling Reborn has very little of interest on the TF front--a couple of minor morphs not worth posting here. Landon's TF consist of a close up of his eyes morphing. That's it. Isn't it pathetic that three decades after An American Werewolf In London, no one has made a real advance in depicting werewolf transformations? Instead filmmakers throw in a bit of CGI and cross their lazy fingers.

 This film was intended to reboot The Howling, a movie famous for its terrific transformation scene, and it harps a lot on the werewolf as coming-of-age motif, so it's doubly pathetic that it skimps so much on the transformations. I suppose one could excuse this by blaming the budget, but the actual werewolves look good (the suits are high quality) and the British Being Human worked wonders on a TV budget, so I'm skeptical. As for the quality of rest of the film, I can't speak as definitely, having only skimmed it, but yes, there was a lot of cheesy teenage angsting and bad music. The film is a dog. It should have been a wolf.

6 comments:

Furio said...

I know exactly how you feel. The TF from "The Howling" is still my favorite (and the reversion from "Romasanta" gets me the most aroused) due to its closeups, good music, and sexy growling/roaring. It really saddens me that there's not more "natural" TFs out there, but that just makes the ones we find all the more valuable.

You and I are VERY much alike in our source material! :) I visit "Visible Time" regularly for updates, and am always searching for the next best thing! :) It's going to be tough searching for things to suggest for your blog....you're better versed in searching than I am! :)

Do you happen to have access to material on FurAffinity.net ? There is a particular writer there who writes the most INCREDIBLE and WELL-DETAILED stories on transformation (MANY different kinds) that would be so perfect to put in visual form. Not sure how often you put up links to textual material, but it's something I always love to read and, erm...enjoy myself to. :-P

*BIG werebear hugs and huge thanks for all you do* :-D

Apuleius said...

Yes, the Romasanta TF is probably the best reversion I've seen. "Natural TFs" is a good way of putting it.
I usually do a google news and blog search for "werewolf" every weekday evening, but when it comes to other TFs I use the same resources you do.
I indeed have a furaffinity account, though I've yet to devote posts to the many excellent artists and writers creating TF artwork there. Is the writer you were thinking of Leo Todrius? I'll have to give him a shout-out someday.
Thanks for reading and commenting--I have always depended on the kindness of werebears!

Furio said...

Yep, Leo Todirus is the writer. I absolutely love his stuff, and am very glad you know about him, too. :)

Thank you for your friendly and informational replies back to me. I will send you the links to my friend's videos, for personal interest if nothing more, and regarding the evolution / de-evolution idea, here is one that arouses me quite a bit, from the Jonny Quest series:

http://youtu.be/QvI5Zb47aoM

The TF begins at around 2:00 . It's not too long or detailed, but the closeups of his feet and face excite me quite a bit, and it always makes me happy to think that we share such an intimate connection with such hunky primates like big muscular gorillas. :-P

I know of a few more exciting evolution clips from nature documentaries and the Fatboy Slim music video "Right Here Right Now" that I enjoy watching. I'll keep on the lookout, too! :) And I'm Furio on FurAffinity if you ever are searching for a walrus/werebear! :-P Thanks again! *BIG HUGS*

Anonymous said...

that's a huge disappointment. did the makers of this movie even understand the franchise they were taking on? Even the bad howling movies took the time to focus on the TF scene. What a letdown. Epic fail.

Reepicheep said...

Just goes to show you, the British know how to do stuff like this way better, in my opinion. I also think of the music video for Cooper Temple Clause a few years ago for their song, Blind Pilots. Excellent goat tf.

Apuleius said...

--Anonymous: your question is a good one. I think a low budget and lack of imagination, coupled with an impaired understanding of the nature of the franchise, proved fatal. Such a wasted opportunity.

--Reepicheep: Agreed! Budget restrictions can be beneficial if you have enough imagination, as the British demonstrated. The Blind Pilots video is indeed terific. I haven't featured it on this blog because it's a few years old and has been often discussed among TF fans, but perhaps I should give it a shout-out.