Quote:
Originally Posted by Cursebearer
A werewolf is a fictional monster and is not in most depictions meant to be biologically parallel to real wolves, in social structure or in physical structure. You'd be better off thinking of it as wolf-like monster than as a blending of human and wolf that tries to stay true to either.
|
Point taken, but one can also point out that it was only in the 20th century that werewolves became wolf-like monsters. During several hundred years of preceding folklore a werewolf either changed into an actual wolf or a wolf with just one or two human characteristics (lack of a tail, etc.). The concept has now drifted very far from that, with a few great results (the AWIL look) and many cliched bad ones. I think the original poster is on to something in asking to see werewolves that actually look like a blending of human and wolf--this would require filmmakers to actually study anatomy, instead of exaggerating the features of previous film werewolves.
A werewolf might be a fictional creature, but it still has to be somewhat wolflike, or else it's not a werewolf. The "spindly spider fingers," catlike claws, wrinkly skin, mindless antisociality, and overlong ears have nothing to do with wolves or humans. They can be fun but by now they've been overused. It would be interesting to see a werewolf that actually resembled a blend between a human and a real wolf. At this point it would be far more original too. I wouldn't want monster werewolves to go away, but the genre could use some variety. But I don't think it'll get any soon--expensive special effects and limited budgets (with even more limited imaginations) remain the curse of this subgenre.