Werewolf By Night | October 7th 2022 | Disney+

[Heavy Metal Spike]

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K - so having stayed up to watch as soon as it was available, this is a bit of a mixed bag.

IMO, Man-Thing totally steals the show, along with Laura Donnelly as Elsa Bloodstone (although the large Scotsman was pretty cool character too).

The story was a bit slow in places (right pace for a 1hr 30 movie, wrong pace for something only 50mins long), but it was a reasonable way of introducing what could be the start of a "Legion of Monsters" type team going forward (cough - Ghost Rider - cough).

Well worth the watch, but I'll admit my 2 fave moments were when Jack said his friends name was "Ted" (chills!) and the Mike Ploog style Werewolf pic in the end credits.

Did NOT like the facial makeup for our title character, and wasn't fond of his non-American accent, but I DID (surprisingly) like that Man-Thing was not the mindless beast as he's portrayed in the comics, and loved the relationship between him and Jack. The final conversational scene was cool & funny.

Well worth a watch, but if you're expecting more than cursory similarities to the original comics - you'll be disappointed. Having said that, those stories were shocking & interesting when they were first introduced . . . 51 years ago for Man-Thing (1971), and 50 for Werewolf-by-Night (and Ghost Rider) . . . but they would have to be beefed up a bit to keep peoples attention these days, and I don't think the budget was anywhere near big enough to do those stories justice.

Let's hope this is a "test" that will serve as a springboard for the main characters going forward. Time will tell.


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[Jmek]

I really enjoyed it to be honest, well directed and scripted. The only let down was the werewolf make up, way too minimal and not like Ploog's artwork. Hope to see more like this, Tomb Of Dracula would be nice.

 

[choombaz]

Surprised how much I enjoyed this but yes agree if I’m honest a bit of a mixed bag. Didn’t really like Bernal initially but he got better as it went along. Was really flat for parts and unbelievably dull looking in parts but at other times it looked fantastic. Loved the way they did the transformation, just brilliant. Man-Thing was possibly the MVP, I just staggered at how faithful they were with his look. Maybe a bit too Groot but I read Man-Thing waay before Guardians so appreciated it. Some great humor in it as well, the coffin says “This Way Up” on the back I loved and it times it reminded me of something Joe Dante might have made. All in all a successes. Genuinely surprised by the gore, what is this rated in the States? I wanted to show my kids but maybe not now, it’s MA in Australia (which is 15 and above from memory).

 

[chrisstbh]

Oh this came out?

 

[Buttmunch]

Surprised how much I enjoyed this but yes agree if I’m honest a bit of a mixed bag. Didn’t really like Bernal initially but he got better as it went along. Was really flat for parts and unbelievably dull looking in parts but at other times it looked fantastic. Loved the way they did the transformation, just brilliant. Man-Thing was possibly the MVP, I just staggered at how faithful they were with his look. Maybe a bit too Groot but I read Man-Thing waay before Guardians so appreciated it. Some great humor in it as well, the coffin says “This Way Up” on the back I loved and it times it reminded me of something Joe Dante might have made. All in all a successes. Genuinely surprised by the gore, what is this rated in the States? I wanted to show my kids but maybe not now, it’s MA in Australia (which is 15 and above from memory).

It’s TV-14, so essentially PG-13. I read they went in assuming they’d get MA but figured the black and white must have squeezed in the lower rating.

 

[Heavy Metal Spike]

It’s TV-14, so essentially PG-13. I read they went in assuming they’d get MA but figured the black and white must have squeezed in the lower rating.

Yeah - ditto.

Didn't think there was anything particularly "scary" about this, but I guess the violence of Jack's activities, along with the incendiary power of our swamp-muck beastie was going to attract a bit of concern as regards audience.

I'd still have preferred everything to have looked more like the Ploog versions (the man is a genius of design) . . . the Werewolf, Man-Thing, and (of course) Jack looking more like a young Kurt Russell instead of the "fade into the background" actor we got . . . but I'm still glad they made this.

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[Asta]

The aged black and white effect was atmospheric, but the illusion was shattered as soon as you see the characters in their modern clothing, and the security guards with their contemporary equipment.

So rather than immersing the viewer in the Universal monster era, it challenges them with conflicting imagery. Using more modern characters with that setting becomes an odd gimmick. There were episodes of the X-Files and Supernatural that also did that, and they stand out as being dream-like entries in the series. Albeit fun entries.

Man-Thing and the Werewolf were good though.

 

[wormlander]

This will either be amazing or absolutely awful.

And It definitely was...

 

[TheBatman]

Ehh....

 

[davejames]

I thought it was pretty good overall. Loved the stylish look of the film and the over the top performances, and Bernal and Donnelly were both great. But after all the buildup I agree the actual werewolf design was pretty underwhelming.

 

[choombaz]

The aged black and white effect was atmospheric, but the illusion was shattered as soon as you see the characters in their modern clothing, and the security guards with their contemporary equipment.

So rather than immersing the viewer in the Universal monster era, it challenges them with conflicting imagery. Using more modern characters with that setting becomes an odd gimmick. There were episodes of the X-Files and Supernatural that also did that, and they stand out as being dream-like entries in the series. Albeit fun entries.

Man-Thing and the Werewolf were good though.

Agree, I’m just not sure these days how careful you have to be in emulating an old Universal horror film without being sued.

 

[KitbashOfficer]

And It definitely was...

Yep. I will call it: "Werewolf by Alright". Merely alright, Teen Wolf's werewolf look was better. I'd preorder a Man-Thing figure though.

 

[jye4ever]

Holy crap there are no words to describe just how bad this was.

Yeah sure a Universal homage my ass more like an embarrassing homage.

Worst looking hunters ever.

A low rent Blade.

A whatever ridiculous David Bowie Marilyn Manson wanna be seriously what a ridiculous looking character who the hell would ever want a toy of that cringe!

The rest are not even worth mentioning.

This so called homage coming from the biggest movie studio in the world had a huge opportunity to give the world its next memorable Werewolf transformation and they failed miserably!

His suit was so visible you could see the freaking zipper line he looked like the gremlin from Twilight Zone had grown up lol

The wall shadow strobe light during the transformation was a great idea but that should’ve just been a part of it instead of it being the only thing used.

The plot made zero sense.

To hunt monsters to protect the innocents is fine BUT the monster was already in captivity just KILL IT!!

If the monsters are out in a wild then ok fine you need hunters but instead they make a game of it with a captive monster, WUT!

So stupid.

Man Thing looked phenomenal literally the only good thing in the entire crap fest.

Man MCU really did peak with the Infinity Saga which is a masterpiece now looking back when compared to everything after End Game.

Seriously between this, that CW show called The Rings of Power and House of the Boring Family Drama i’m going to go thank the heavens that at least Andor is delivering quality programming.

Excuse me while I cleanse my palette with a proper horror movie, Cannibal Campout.

 

[davejames]

Well I mean, they were using the hunt to help select a new leader who would hold the bloodstone. Not sure what didn't make sense about that.

 

[jye4ever]

Well I mean, they were using the hunt to help select a new leader who would hold the bloodstone. Not sure what didn't make sense about that.

The entire thing is absolutely absurd.

Her family is meant to protect innocents as specifically described in the show so the solution is to send hunters, who are meant to be the protectors of innocents in the world, into a battle royal last man standing competition against each other and a monster in captivity, really lol

So instead of having 10 qualified hunters to protect innocents from monsters the system is built to have a captive monster kill them or because of their lust for power kill each other as well.

What would happen if between the monster or by their own hands no hunter survived the ordeal…the test…then what…no one left to protect the innocent I guess.



The other dumb thing was when they all walked in masked, and then just removed the masks.

What was the purpose of wearing it these were the same people from the start of the show lol

Nothing made any sense.

 

[Darth Snoopy]

I enjoyed the episode overall.

I loved the stylized look, the over-the-top performances, and that it was in B&W. The Werewolf reveal was a bit underwhelming however it did remind me of the comic version so I was good with it.

 

[Heavy Metal Spike]

. . . The Werewolf reveal was a bit underwhelming however it did remind me of the comic version so I was good with it.

That'll be this one ? - yes?

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[Darth Snoopy]

That'll be this one ? - yes?

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More like...

 

[Heavy Metal Spike]

More like...

Now THAT is the classic look!


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[Darth Snoopy]

Now THAT is the classic look!


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Indeed!