The World

Well.
After the initial shock of the American presidential election outcome has somewhat subsided I feel the need to talk a little bit about what seems to be going on in the world.
No, I’m obviously not a Trump supporter, but that is actually beside the point.

There’s this wave that seems to be sweeping over the world nowadays, of people digging their heels in and refusing to fall in line anymore.
Here in Sweden the Sweden Democrats have surprisingly grown from nothingness to the second/ third largest party in just a few years. A party that I in no way support, yet I can see quite clearly the reasons for this happening.
It’s the same reasons Trump won the presidential election. The same reasons Putin is so wildly popular, not only in Russia but even in America.

Media and politicians

The media has been manipulating us for a long time. No longer are they independently reporting current events. There’s an agenda. We all know it and the disgruntlement and discontent is growing exponentially among the people of the world. We’re starting to feel like pawns, pieces on an enormous chessboard.
The professional politicians are another huge factor in this mess we’re currently in. For much too long they have been playing their own game while completely disregarding the public and our opinions. They have relied on the media to angle the news and thereby swaying us to fall in line and adopt the opinions they feed us.
Both the politicians and the media failed in picking up on the magnitude of the ever growing need to pull the emergency brake among us mere mortals. They thought they were omnipotent. They thought they had us eating out of the palm of their hand. They thought we  were powerless to resist.

But resist we have.
These events of late is nothing but a massive yanking on the emergency brake. It’s us saying STOP!

Werewolf Movies

Waiting for me to post something?
I know, there hasn’t been much posting lately, so instead I thought I’d make a list of Werewolf movies to watch in this dark month of November.

SILVER BULLET

1985 (IMDb 6.4)

This will always be my favorite Werewolf movie I think. Yes, it’s getting a bit long in the tooth so to speak and yes, the werewolf itself may not be so incredibly sexy by today’s standards, but it comes with  a good story and characters you actually become invested in.
I remember the first time I came across the Stephen King novel the movie is based upon. It was illustrated. I was sold!
This movie feels like an actual movie from the 80’s. It’s not just presenting some feeble, weak characters and story to fill in the gaps between the appearance of the creature. In fact, you don’t see the creature much, instead you are held in suspense, knowing that it’s around, lurking in the darkness, with music and general atmosphere building up tension.
My grade: 8

DOG SOLDIERS

2002 (IMDb 6.8)

It’s rare to find a well made Werewolf movie with characters you actually care about and with an at least somewhat believable storyline. This movie however pulls off that first part at least quite well.
It takes place in Scotland, a remote area from what we can surmise. A routine military exercise turns into something much less mundane when a pack of howling things get tossed in the mix.
Granted, story-wise this isn’t exactly Oscar-material, lol, but the werewolves are quite well made and scary which means you accept it anyway. In fact, the Dog Soldier werewolves seem to be very reminiscent of the actual cryptid creature Dogman according to witnesses.
My grade: 6 (but the werewolves get a solid 9)

BAD MOON 

1996 (IMDb 5.7)

The werewolf in this movie looks…not bad, but not exactly good either. It’s acceptable but you don’t really feel like it’s a living creature.
The movie has a relatively interesting story, and most importantly- it has a wonderful dog which really raises this flick. You really love this dog, and worry about it, and strangely this dog actually helps turn this movie from a generic horror flick to a decent dramatization which happens to involve werewolves.
My grade: 6.5

VAN HELSING

2004 (IMDb 6.0)

There’s a history to this character which I’m not going to go into here. Instead I’ll just comment on this particular movie.
Van Helsing is a monster slaying hero with pretty much supernatural abilities. If you’re a stickler for hardcore believability and realism his antics will bother you…
Another thing that will bother most is Kate Beckinsale… I don’t know if it’s her personally or if this is just how the director angled it but GEEZ! That’s all I’m going to say about it.
On the other hand, the movie is absolutely beautiful, stunning, amazing-looking! The werewolves, especially the black one, look awesome. Here too we find a werewolf that reminds people a lot about actual Dogmen.
We have the hottest Dracula ever in this movie. He may be the antagonist but droooool… (I know I should adore Hugh Jackman but I’ve always been weird, lol)
All in all. It’s a gorgeous movie which is quite dumb yet engaging.
My grade: 6

THE WOLFMAN

2010 (IMDb 5.8)

Alright. Here we find a typical example of the werewolf I don’t like. It just looks like a man with hypertrichosis and bad manners. To be honest- it looks ridiculous!
Still, it has a relatively interesting story and I know it looks the way it looks because it was based on the old Wolfman movie from 1941.
A classic as that one might be, the werewolf is not in any way a werewolf for me and I couldn’t hate it more.
The story in both of these movies is quite compelling however, involving gypsies and curses and interesting twists. I just wish they would redo this movie with a proper werewolf. Now THAT would be a movie!
My grade: 6 for the story, 1 for the werewolf

GINGER SNAPS

2000 (IMDb 6.8)

I know a lot of people like these movies and I’m not saying I don’t.
I do, I just don’t think they are as good as the hype says.
It’s a different type of werewolf movie, that’s for sure, and this franchise really does need new blood, so to speak.
It’s kind of a twisted type of movie, not at all what you would expect.
The werewolf looks decent, acceptable without being particularly special in any way.
The story and the characters may take more than one watch to appreciate since it really isn’t your classic, run-of-the-mill werewolf flick.
There are sequels too. I’ve seen one of them (something about a fort) I just can’t quite care enough for these two twisted sisters. These movies tend to leave me quite unaffected, yet I can sense there’s something here, so I’ll try watching them again and see if they grow on me.
My grade: 6

DARK MOON RISING

2015 (IMDb 5.2)

OK… Trip, trippely trip…
This movie was different. Was it good?
Not sure. I actually couldn’t finish it.
I’m assuming this movie was an effort to take on an artsier, twistier approach to the werewolf genre, but halfway through you still have no idea who’s really who or what motivates them.
And the werewolves? Some are regular wolves. Some look decent for a second in particular light. Some look absolutely ridiculous!
I’m just going to have to say no. If there was anything to be gained from this movie it was hidden in the second half.
I’m going to forget about this right now.
My grade: 2

 

Well, there you have 6 movies to watch and one to avoid. Then there’s always the Underworld movies, of which I haven’t seen one all the way through. The werewolves look good enough, a bit square in the muzzle but pretty decent. I don’t know if it’s Kate Beckinsale again turning me off them, but I just can’t seem to sit through a whole one for some reason.

If you’re poor like me there are places you can go to watch movies for free. Just don’t make a habit of it. The poor actors need their income for important things, like botox 😉

Have a good November peeps! 🙂