I Was A Teenage Intellectual (1999) aka Byl Jsem Mladistvým Intelektuálem

2.5 / 5 May '11
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Marek Dobes, Stepan Kopriva
Written by: Marek Dobes, Stepan Kopriva
Actors include: Vladimír Skultéty, Sona Tomeckova, Robert Jaskow
Genre: Comedy, Horror, Short
Length: 17 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This really felt like a silly little joke which although it was a short film (at 16 minutes) it should have been maybe 3 minutes or so long. The gag is the comparison between intellectuallism and werewolfism which is kinda cute I guess but far from satisfying. Two junk food lovin' action fans are content in their lives until one of them is bitten by an intellectual. Suddenly he starts craving big words, big books and attending cult like meetings dressed in black. On a horror front this is very unsatisfying, and although I did laugh at the A Nightmare on Elm Street gag there isn't much else nice I could say.

Availability:  Not on DVD as far as I know

Teen Wolf (1985)

3 / 5
Tagline:  He always wanted to be special... but he never expected this!
Directed by:  Rod Daniel
Written by:  Jeph Loeb, Matthew Weisman
Actors include:  Michael J. Fox, James Hampton, Susan Ursitti
Genre:  Comedy
Length:  91 minutes
Banned:  Nope

Review:

Ever wonder what it must be like to be a typical teenager and a werewolf all at the same time?  Well Michael J. Fox answers this question in the role of Scott Howard.  Scott is on a sad basketball team that can't win, he can't get the attention of the girl he likes (as he isn't one of the cool kids) and well he's a pretty normal dude.  When a full moon approaches, everything changes and his palms are hairy for an entirely different reason.  See his Pa is a werewolf too, it runs in the family but he'd hoped that Scott wouldn't be afflicted but guess who was wrong.  The strange thing is that the werewolfism seems to make him popular.  Suddenly he has a new vibe about him the popular kids like, the girl starts to notice him and the basketball team does better.  Can he keep it all together without people finding out his secret?  It's cute enough but pretty mindless, something to perhaps catch on tv when bored.

Availability:  On DVD

Ginger Snaps (2000)

3.5 / 5  Nov '10
Tagline: Hungry like the Wolf.
Directed by: John Fawcett
Written by: John Fawcett, Karen Walton
Actors include: Emily Perkins, Katharine Isabelle, Chris Lemche
Genre: Horror, Drama
Length: 110 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Well it's definitely a puberty movie...it nearly beats the viewer over the head with it. I appreciate the concept (rather original) and the tie-ins are interesting but it's overkill in some ways. Two sisters who are rather outcasts and they enjoy talking about death and staging it immensely are out and about when one of them is attacked by a werewolf. At first everyone keeps telling her it's puberty and so forth, but when she starts to grow a tail and rip people apart it's hard to deny that it might be something more. The film does have a big of a sense of humor to it, and it's rather well made (though the full blown werewolf effects are laughable) for the most part. The two lead actresses are really quite terrific and they carry the movie, it's just an unusual situation and how they behave seems somewhat realistic (considering). It does have gore, it does have a decent story and it does have many things that make it worthy of a viewing, but I can see why this may appeal to girls more than lads.

Availability:  On DVD

The Company Of Wolves (1984)

4.5 / 5 Apr '10
Tagline: Where fairy stories meet horror stories
Directed by: Neil Jordan
Written by: Neil Jordan, Angela Carter
Actors include: Angela Lansbury, Sarah Patterson, David Warner
Genre: Horror, Fantasy
Length: 95 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This was a very unusual werewolf film in many ways. The style in which this was filmed is astoundingly beautiful...very haunting looking sort of like something one might expect from Tim Burton. The way it was assembled makes it quite unique too, it's almost like an anthology as it has several tales within and a major tale similar to Little Red Riding Hood as the main attraction. A beautiful young girl who's sister was killed by wolves listens to tales from her Grandmother (Angela Lansbury) warning her of wolves. Of course on her way to visit her Grandma out in the woods she encounters a man who's eyebrows join in the middle (Granny warned this was the sign of the wolf) who offers to race her to the house. The entire thing has a nightmarish quality to it and the effects are surprisingly awesome, especially in the first tale Granny tells. It is very entertaining and has some undercurrents of the girl coming of age and the blood coming and therefore enticing the wolves etc but it's not really in your face about it. Very lovely and conceptually fascinating, it maybe isn't as gratifying as it could have been but I'd definitely recommend it.

Availability:  On DVD and Blu-Ray

Silver Bullet (1985) aka Stephen King's Silver Bullet

2.5 / 5 Jan '10
Tagline: It started in May in a small town and every month after that whenever the moon is full... It came back.
Directed by: Daniel Attias
Written by: Stephen King
Actors include: Gary Busey, Everett McGill, Corey Haim
Genre: Horror, Drama, Adventure
Length: 95 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Definitely one of my least favorite werewolf tales and one of my least favorite King adaptations. It's just plainly cheesy and filled with drama that I couldn't care less about (family stuff). We follow around wheelchaired kid Marty (Corey Haim) and his sister Jane (Megan Follows aka Anne of Green Gables) and their family. See Jane is jealous of her brother Marty because she feels her folks blame her for everything. The overly nice (fake seeming) Marty is best buds with his Uncle Red (Gary Busey) who builds him a super wheelchair (silver bullet). As we follow all of that stuff Marty finds out that there is a werewolf about town. The effects are meh, the story isn't very interesting and really it doesn't have much to offer anyone. It's a shame that this didn't work out better (as I've heard the book was rather imaginative in the way it's displayed) but none of that translates here. This just feels like a very cheap werewolf movie that has a higher budget than it seems like it's used.

Availability:  On DVD