Dissecting the Werewolf

The second half of the sixth and final season of Teen Wolf has just premiered and in honor of the occasion, I've been looking back through a lengthy catalogue of werewolf films, television series, and lore. A journalist recently interviewed me on the subject, wondering how Teen Wolf  fares amid the larger pantheon of werewolf figures and franchises on television and in film. She was particularly keen to discuss why vampires seem to be so much more prolific than werewolves in popular culture and what potential contributions the series Teen Wolf  has made to the image of the howling loup garou.


BACKGROUND
To tackle these questions, the production background of Teen Wolf immediately springs to mind. From the offset, series creator Jeff Davis (Criminal Minds) cited the film The Lost Boys (1987, Joel Schumacher) as inspiration, while television's Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003, Joss Whedon), reportedly helped sell the show to MTV. The former is a cult classic in the vampire films category, featuring a California setting and brooding adolescents (the title itself is a reference to the forever young residents of Neverland in Peter Pan) who provided the film with a rebellious and sensual quality thanks in no small part to Kiefer Sutherland's rock star persona. While the Beacon Hills of Teen Wolf is home to a range of supernatural creatures - various shapeshifters and the banshee Lydia to name a few - vampires are not part of this supernatural community, leaving the series free to borrow the rebellious romanticism, sex appeal, and color palette that characterize The Lost Boys or more recent  vampire tales, including True Blood (2008-2014, Alan Ball).


Owing more to the modern vampire's influence, the latest incarnation of Teen Wolf borrows little from its 1985 predecessor, the feature length film Teen Wolf (Rod Daniel). This version stars Micheal J. Fox as a high school student named Scott McCall whose hereditary lycanthropy manifests during his adolescence, transforming the maladroit basketball player into a popular school sports hero. In contrast to most werewolf scripts, Scott shifts in front of a packed school gymnasium and is immediately embraced by the local community. Firmly entrenched in comedy, there is nothing horrific about this "teen wolf" and his excess fur. Rather than focusing on adolescent angst or the type of witch hunt that numerous werewolves endure, the film narrates a positive coming of age story as we witness the protagonist gain confidence in himself and navigate his way through high school's challenges. In contrast, while the televised version of Teen Wolf features a lead character of the same name (played by Tyler Posey) and has its own humorous moments (high school shenanigans often involving Scott and his best friend Stiles), it remains far more of a horror-fantasy-romance hybrid that underlines teenage turbulence and the not so subtle "high school-as-hell" motif that forms the core of the first three seasons in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.


The 1985 Teen Wolf film was itself inspired by an earlier feature length film, I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957, Gene Fowler Jr.), that depicts an unstable high school student (Michael Landon) prone to violent outbursts. The therapy he is forced to undergo (a shady experiment that results in his lycanthropy) due to his anger management issues, alongside social pressure at school and from his girlfriend's family, provide the backdrop for a youth's adolescent turmoil. Despite any sympathy we might feel for these circumstances, he is portrayed as unlikable and brutish, unlike the appealingly rebellious werewolf (Derek Hale), or the naive romantic wolfling (Scott McCall), and other series regulars that populate Beacon Hills in television's Teen Wolf.



WEREWOLVES VERSUS VAMPIRES
It goes without saying that although the rules of each supernatural universe vary from title to title, vampires are characterized by their immortality, youthful good looks, sexual prowess, and hypnotic powers wielded easily over others. They are generally independent agents, free from government or social constraints. Vampires tend to transmit a sophisticated sense of cool, the result of being cultivated, wealthy, and well traveled; privileges that time has allowed them to acquire. Despite their violence, they fall upon their prey with such precision and emanate such a glamorous aura, that we tend to forgive their ghastly blood lust more readily than the werewolf's beastly burden. In the True Blood universe the vampire's hypnotic abilities are even called glamouring, a process surviving victims will have no memory of. The vampire's physical strength is often complemented by  enhanced senses and additional special abilities that include flying and/or rapid speed. Aside from their ubiquitous pallor, vampires may resemble us humans more than any other supernatural creature. They remain close enough to our corporeal form to allow us to relate to them, yet they distinguish themselves from us enough to inspire extreme envy and admiration.

The werewolf embodies the other end of the spectrum, our base animal instincts, the throes of transition (far from the years of development and cultivation that characterize the vampire) and the violent turbulence lurking within us. Werewolves are to the ground what vampires are to the air. Our resistance to change and the difficulties we encounter during life's transitions are all packed into the wolf creature's painful metamorphosis. Not only must werewolves adjust to their own evolving animal nature, they must also adapt to new social hierarchies within the wolf pack and lunar cycles that dictate an unrelenting schedule. In socio-economic terms, the werewolf can be equated with the working class, while the vampire represents the aristocracy. For example, the werewolves of True Blood although sensual and earthy, are also depicted as white trash bikers, while the vampires of this southern gothic milieu reside in former plantation homes. Similarly, Scott McCall in both the Teen Wolf film and series hails from a working class single parent household.

The beastly aspects of the werewolf are a far cry from the immaculate and smooth talking vampire: unpredictable mood swings, excessive hair, long claws, and pointy ears. Their own enhanced abilities, normally linked to an increased sense of smell and hearing, are sometimes a burden rather than an asset. In both Teen Wolf and I Was a Teenage Vampire, for instance, sensitivity to sound causes great discomfort to the young wolves at the beginning of their transformations. In Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination,  Lucy Armitt notes the ongoing currency of vampires in gothic literature and moving images by comparison, citing John B. Twitchell's remark that aside from a few exceptions, the werewolf is indeed too beastly to capture the uncanny qualities we associate with other gothic icons (2000: 171).

WHO IS THE BEAST?
The werewolf has typically been depicted as such throughout cinema history until television's cutest little werewolf Eddy Munster (Butch Patrick) and his stuffed "Woof-Woof" emerged in the sitcom The Munsters (1964-1966, Allen Burns & Chris Hayward). More recently, True Blood and Teen Wolf  began shifting (pun intended)  the representation of the traditional werewolf image (to varying degrees) in order to rival the attractive attributes normally associated with vampires. In both series, the werewolves are forces of strength, admired for their physical form and sensual qualities. The romantic rebel Derek Hall (Teen Wolf) or the muscular and fiercely loyal Alcide Herveaux of True Blood are acknowledged sex symbols. The latter serves to rival vampires residing in the same community (vampire characters Eric Northman and Bill Compton), while Teen Wolf eschews any need for vampires altogether.

 Because the vampire's life style and powers are so appealing, it is common for human characters to beg the vampire the "turn" them in order to join the ranks of the immortal. This has never been a common scenario in the werewolf plot, but in Teen Wolf, Scott's transformation attracts the attention of jocks like Jackson Whittemore (Colton Haynes). This character sees the interest of gaining enhanced sensory perception and physical strength that allows his classmate to excel on the lacrosse field and in romance. By the end of the first season, he has begged no less than three werewolves to turn him. This motif returns throughout the season, the abused teen Isaac Lahey (Daniel Sharman)  makes a similar request of Derek, for example, in season two.

The violence that normally troubles werewolves on screen is frequently transferred to others in Teen Wolf, underlining the plight of the werewolf and improving his likability. The cold calculations of the series' relentless werewolf hunters and high school bullies are on full display, while many of the werewolves struggle with deep-seated family and relationship issues that require sensitivity, loyalty, and introspection. As the supernatural pantheon of the series expands, what might be easily dismissed as simple plot development to maintain interest across multiple seasons, is in fact an interesting device that demonstrates how some of the young students enlarge their perspectives by integrating new creatures and customs into the fold. Their insular world of childhood is replaced by broadened horizons, whereas the narrow focus of the hunters or the high school bullies appears underdeveloped and unsophisticated by comparison.  Being at the fore of these new experiences, werewolves Scott and Derek acquire aspects of worldliness that otherwise typify the vampire. Additionally, these two werewolves draw obvious comparisons with lovesick "vegetarian" vampires, such as Edward Cullen or Angel (during his good phase) who protect their human loves from the more deadly variety of their own species.

This leaves us with a supernatural hybrid whose physique and powers capture the uncanny sensuality and transcendence of the vampire.  Despite lunar cycles and the transformations they oblige, teen wolves master their lyncanthropy and use it (mostly) as a force for good, whilst never appearing too furry, remaining far more manly than wolfmanly.

TAXONOMY OF THE SCREEN WOLF
Inspired by Teen Wolf's hybridity when it comes to characterization and formulae, below I'll compare several categories and classifications that might help better compare and contrast the uses of werewolf storytelling on screen. The examples are far from exhaustive and I've only noted a few to help illustrate each category, though some overlap among them is to be expected.

1. Characterization types

A)  Humorous and/or gawky: Scott and his father in the 1985 film Teen Wolf / George in television's Being Human / Monroe in television's Grimm / Eddie Munster of television's The Munsters.

B) Brooding and sensual: Teen Wolf the series /Alcide Herveaux in True Blood / Jacob of the Twilight saga.

C) Violent and unstable: I Was a Teenage Werewolf / Werewolf in the Girl's Dormitory / The Beast Must Die / some of the True Blood werewolves, particularly Debbi Pelt.

D) Composites (many werewolves evolve on screen, but some portrayals feature more crossover fare than others): Oz in Buffy the Vampire Slayer mixing humor and gravitas / Chris Jennings, one of Dark Shadows' soap opera werewolves, is gentle in human form but kills during the full moon before he makes an arrangement with Barnabas Collins to lock him up, perhaps the prototype for the tortured and pure-at-heart werewolf? / An American Werewolf in London (1981, John Landis) for its horror/comedy.

E) Curiosities: multiple werewolves in various Doctor Who seasons, merging intergalactic logic and supernatural archetypes as only Doctor Who can / Ned Flanders of The Simpsons becomes a werewolf in an episode of The Treehouse of Horror.

Doctor Who, "Tooth and Claw", series two.

2. Age

1.) Adolescence: This is by far the most common age for a screen werewolf, used in order to depict a pubescent transformation. The metaphor has never been subtle, but remains effective (Teen Wolf, I was a Teenage Werewolf, etc.). Eddy Munster, not yet an adolescent, is a rare example of a young wolf cub.

2.) Adulthood: If being a werewolf is not hereditary, the plot usually involves a traumatic encounter during which the protagonist is bitten. Similar to adolescence, the bite/sickness is an event that "happens" and must be overcome. Like the adolescent wolf, this usually involves a difficult transition, which is why the backdrop is often a new setting for the character or features new individuals and experiences in the protagonist's life, such as the American tourists at the heart of An American Werewolf in London (further compounded by David's sexual relationship with Alex in the film: new girlfriend, new sexual experience).


3. Corporality & Physical Appearance
The extent to which a werewolf is covered in fur and how beastly his body becomes is probably the biggest variable from werewolf to werewolf.

A) Dual nature: Remains mostly human below the neck, moves on two legs, and typically acquires pointy ears, claws, and furry hands, in addition to a furry face (varying in intensity from being entirely covered in The Wolf Man or in the Teen Wolf film, to fuzzy shadows created by CGI and make-up in Teen Wolf the series,). Examples of this corporality that underline the dual human/beast nature include: Teen Wolf (film and series), I Was a Teenage Werewolf, The Wolfman (all versions), Monroe in Grimm. Despite the growing popularity of depicting real wolves, this remains the most common appearance for a werewolf in screen history.

 The werewolves of Teen Wolf generally remain on two legs:

B) The Full Wolf: Whether filmed using real wolves, large dogs disguised as wolves (The Beast Must Die), or natural wolves enhanced during post-production, this werewolf form is far more naturalistic and fully transforms from human to animal, there is no in between. The man (sometimes woman) fully gives himself over to the beast. Examples include: Jacob and company in the Twilight saga, the silent film Wolf Blood: A Tale of the Forest (1925, George Chesebro), The Company of Wolves (1984, Neil Jordan), or television's True Blood.

Wolves and German Shepherds in Neil Jordan's The Company of Wolves:

C) Monster Wolf
This werewolf may or may not walk on two legs, but if it does, the human resemblance ends there. It is usually crafted through a full costume, a puppet form, or entirely through special effects. Without the more naturalistic attributes of a wolf, this diabolic corporality is for shock value. Examples include: the alpha in Teen Wolf (season one), An American Werewolf in London, The Howling (1981, Joe Dante), and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Full body wolf costume from Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

4. Depiction of Transformation 

One of the most important features of a werewolf film is the way in which the human to beast transition is filmed. It reveals aspects about the inner struggle of the character, how much they have come to terms with their dual nature and how difficult or easily controlled the transition is for them. At times the transition is painful, long, and appears physically difficult, signalling that the character struggles to maintain their humanity and is fighting the wolf-like nature within. Alternately, the violence with which the transition takes place also indicates the level of danger to follow (The Howling).

A) Off Camera: A low budget option that simplifies the process, but leaves the viewer unsatisfied. Without a transition, the camera generally cuts from human to beast, few to no steps in between. Examples: Wolf Blood: A Tale of the Forest. The sole example I have collected so far should indicate how essential the visual  transformation process is symbolically and as a narrative hook in most screen representations of the werewolf.

Full film of Wolf Blood; A Tale of the Forest from 1924 that uses the negative image of real wolves to give them a supernatural quality:

B) Lap Dissolves
The Wolf Man's on screen transition is an impressive process that illustrates in gradual increments how his human body morphs into that of a werewolf. In this extract, we witness two transitions, beginning with his feet and legs, we move to an extended closeup of his face, both filmed using lap dissolves:


Lon Chaney again in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948, Charles Barton):


C) Physical Acting & Special Effects: 
A far more common scenario involves a variation of physical acting and special effects. This method emphasizes the distinct physicality of the human/wolf and also frequently focuses on the painful experience it entails for the newly turned beast, a struggle to maintain the human form while battling the inevitable change that takes place. Variations can be seen (some painful, some smooth) in An American Werewolf in London, Teen Wolf, and True Blood, among numerous others. For example, Monroe in Grimm  captures the physicality of this process exclusively through the face by waving the head and neck (a transition known as "woge" [wave in German] on the series).

Monroe "woges" from wolf back to human again at around 0:52:



The more dramatic and painful transition seen in An American Werewolf in London:


One of the more grotesque transformations I've seen occurs in Joe Dante's The Howling
 

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