Some popular werewolf movies didn’t focus on the traditional vision of a werewolf, but concentrated on legends and tales centered on creatures with wolf-like qualities. Let’s take Wolfen (1981) for example. In this article, you will encounter facts and trivia about Wolfen, as well as Sleepwalkers (1992).
Wolfen (1981)
Directed by Michael Wadleigh, Wolfen was based on a novel by Whitley Strieber, which took a look at the legends of American Indian shape-shifters. At the center of the plot, there is a city cop who has been assigned to solve an odd bizarre set of violent murders that seem to have been committed by an animal. However, the deeper he gets in his investigation, the more twisted the reasoning behind the killings become. It seems that an Indian legend about wolf spirits is coming true.
Playing the role of the cop, Albert Finney received kudos for his portrayal. The beasts in the movie are actually equipped with a sense that allows them to zero in on the phobias of their victims. They can also protect themselves from eating bad “meat” by being able to detect prey riddled with disease. Other notable actors in this werewolf movie with a science fiction twist include Gregory Hines and Edward James Olmos.
A couple of facts and trivia concerning the movie include:
· Wolfen was the only film not related to Woodstock that the director, Michael Wadleigh, was a part of.
· The movie is known as one of the few films slated for a release using the “Megasound” sound system format. At the time, Megasound was a movie theater sound system that Warner Bros created in the early 1980s. In order to get the full effect, theaters were outfitted with additional speakers on the left, right and rear walls of the auditorium for Megasound productions. Then, selected soundtrack features that provided low-frequency content (like thuds, crashes, and explosions) were sent to the extra speakers at a high volume so that the audience felt like they were right in the middle of the movie.
· To increase the nocturnal point of view of the wolf-like killers, filming utilized a specilized day-for-night shooting process.
· In 1982, Wolfen won a Special Jury Award at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival, as well as tied with “Raiders of the Lost Ark” for a Golden Reel Award in Best Sound Editing at an awards ceremony for the Motion Picture Sound Editors.
Sleepwalkers (1992)
Director Mick Garris was given the task of transforming the writing of Stephen King into a movie for werewolf fanatics. Using the mythology regarding werewolves, King told the tale of a mother and son that liked to keep to themselves. The more into the movie you go, the identity of this duo is revealed, as they are actually shape-shifters with a taste for young virgins. Accompanying their animalistic qualities, the sleepwalkers are much harrier than full humans. A twist in the movie is that they are afraid of cats, which will play an important role by the end of the movie.
Interestingly, a host of cameo appearances show some of the top-notch directors in the horror film genre: Joe Dante (lab assistant), Clive Barker (forensic technician), John Landis (lab technician) and Tobe Hooper (forensic technician). Even the visionary of the tale, Stephen King, makes a cameo, as a graveyard caretaker.