Werewolf (1996 film)
Encyclopedia
Werewolf is a 1996 direct-to-video
horror film
that was lampooned in a 1998 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000
.
working in Arizona
find a werewolf
skeleton. The ill-tempered foreman, Yuri (played by Jorge Rivero) gets into a fight with his crew, Tommy, Joel, and Bill. In the course of the fight, Tommy is scratched by the werewolf skeleton. This greatly alarms his fellow diggers, especially Joel (played by Joe Estevez). The head archaeologist, Noel, details what he knows of werewolf behavior, which he bases on American Indian
mythology
. Here the werewolf, or yetiglanchi takes on strange behavior including "sleeping nose to anus."
Tommy is taken to the hospital, where he begins showing signs of lycanthropy
, finally turning into a werewolf and attacking people. Joel and Bill arm themselves with shotguns and silver bullets and succeed in subduing Tommy.
The scene now shifts to a house in suburban Flagstaff
. A writer named Paul Niles (Federico Cavalli) arrives. At a party, he is introduced to one of the archaeologists, Natalie Burke (Adrianna Miles) and takes a romantic interest in her. Yuri is jealous and behaves badly - he is expelled from the party by his boss Noel. Yuri, (who is known for his drastically changing hairstyles) walks to the laboratory and conspires to create a new werewolf: he drugs a security guard (played by director Tony Zarindast) and injects him with blood drawn from Tommy. A new werewolf is indeed created, but the werewolf makes the unfortunate choice of driving itself home, and it suddenly crashes into some oil drums (Inexplicably placed in the middle of the road) and dies in the ensuing fire.
The following day, Paul visits the lab at Natalie's invitation. He gets into a fight with Yuri, who attacks him with the werewolf skull. Paul is scratched by the skull, and now it is his turn to start showing symptoms of lycanthropy. He starts attacking people at night, but remembers little of it. Finally, Natalie and Yuri spy him changing. Yuri plots to capture Paul and take him to the lab, Natalie tries to help him. In a murky chase sequence, Paul, in werewolf form, kills Yuri. He and Natalie (now a werewolf, herself, with no explanation as to how she became one although the trailer of the film hints at a sex scene not shown in the film) reunite at the end of the movie.
. The lab scenes took place in the old Physical Science building before it was refurbished in the early 2000s. The footbridge that crosses Verdugo Road., in front of the College, is seen in several nighttime shots.
. It's noteworthy for having been mocked on MST3k only two years after its release, and was also the most recent film to be featured on the series. Mike and the bots joked about the film's incredibly poor special effects, with the titular monster appearing to be "simply a wolf, other times a kind of man-bear, other times a sort of fruit bat puppet, and at still other times, just a guy with the mumps overdue for a shave." - and the thick accents of its leading actors ("Paul! You is a waerwelf!").
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
that was lampooned in a 1998 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
.
Plot
ArchaeologistsArchaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
working in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
find a werewolf
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
skeleton. The ill-tempered foreman, Yuri (played by Jorge Rivero) gets into a fight with his crew, Tommy, Joel, and Bill. In the course of the fight, Tommy is scratched by the werewolf skeleton. This greatly alarms his fellow diggers, especially Joel (played by Joe Estevez). The head archaeologist, Noel, details what he knows of werewolf behavior, which he bases on American Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
. Here the werewolf, or yetiglanchi takes on strange behavior including "sleeping nose to anus."
Tommy is taken to the hospital, where he begins showing signs of lycanthropy
Lycanthropy
Lycanthropy is the professed ability or power of a human being to undergo transformation into a werewolf, or to gain wolf-like characteristics. The term comes from Greek Lykànthropos : λύκος, lykos + άνθρωπος, ànthrōpos...
, finally turning into a werewolf and attacking people. Joel and Bill arm themselves with shotguns and silver bullets and succeed in subduing Tommy.
The scene now shifts to a house in suburban Flagstaff
Flagstaff, Arizona
Flagstaff is a city located in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2010, the city's population was 65,870. The population of the Metropolitan Statistical Area was at 134,421 in 2010. It is the county seat of Coconino County...
. A writer named Paul Niles (Federico Cavalli) arrives. At a party, he is introduced to one of the archaeologists, Natalie Burke (Adrianna Miles) and takes a romantic interest in her. Yuri is jealous and behaves badly - he is expelled from the party by his boss Noel. Yuri, (who is known for his drastically changing hairstyles) walks to the laboratory and conspires to create a new werewolf: he drugs a security guard (played by director Tony Zarindast) and injects him with blood drawn from Tommy. A new werewolf is indeed created, but the werewolf makes the unfortunate choice of driving itself home, and it suddenly crashes into some oil drums (Inexplicably placed in the middle of the road) and dies in the ensuing fire.
The following day, Paul visits the lab at Natalie's invitation. He gets into a fight with Yuri, who attacks him with the werewolf skull. Paul is scratched by the skull, and now it is his turn to start showing symptoms of lycanthropy. He starts attacking people at night, but remembers little of it. Finally, Natalie and Yuri spy him changing. Yuri plots to capture Paul and take him to the lab, Natalie tries to help him. In a murky chase sequence, Paul, in werewolf form, kills Yuri. He and Natalie (now a werewolf, herself, with no explanation as to how she became one although the trailer of the film hints at a sex scene not shown in the film) reunite at the end of the movie.
Cast
- Jorge Rivero — Yuri
- Richard Lynch — Noel
- Federico Cavalli — Paul Miles
- Adrianna Miles - Natalie Burke
- Joe Estevez - Joel
- R.C. Bates - Sam "the Keeper"
Production notes
Several scenes from Werewolf were shot on the campus of Glendale Community College in Glendale, CaliforniaGlendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
. The lab scenes took place in the old Physical Science building before it was refurbished in the early 2000s. The footbridge that crosses Verdugo Road., in front of the College, is seen in several nighttime shots.
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Werewolf was lampooned in a 1998 episode of movie-mocking television comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
. It's noteworthy for having been mocked on MST3k only two years after its release, and was also the most recent film to be featured on the series. Mike and the bots joked about the film's incredibly poor special effects, with the titular monster appearing to be "simply a wolf, other times a kind of man-bear, other times a sort of fruit bat puppet, and at still other times, just a guy with the mumps overdue for a shave." - and the thick accents of its leading actors ("Paul! You is a waerwelf!").