Of Werewolves and Bloodhounds

Yeah, it’s a odd combination. But I don’t post often as it is, and both of these have been bouncing about in my head for the past week. So…

I gave myself a mid-week movie night out (Wednesday well spent = comics, dinner, movie) and went to see Cursed. My reasons? Directed by Wes Craven. Written by Kevin Williamson. It’s a werewolf movie. At the time, I had no idea that the film had been plagued with production and post-production problems. I still would have seen it, probably (did I mention it’s a werewolf movie?), but I might have been more suitably braced for disappointment.

Y’see, I expected something… well, if not actually good at least better than what I found. I really respect Wes Craven; he’s not quite on the pseudo cerebral level of David Cronenberg at his weirdest, but he’s sure smarter than most horror movie hacks; he’s done some self-aware sort of postmodern genre riffs before, with Scream and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, so I though this might have something original or at east clever to offer. Kevin Williamson not only gave us Scream, but also wrote The Faculty, which I really enjoyed. I was expecting… more.

Not that Cursed wasn’t enjoyable. I had fun. There just wasn’t much satisfaction. The movie doesn’t contribute much, if anything, new to the whole werewolf mythos. There’re hints of a level of self awareness and genre reflexivity that don’t follow through into anything. Even given the rumored production problems (recasting and reshoots) I suspect more studio tampering once the thing left Craven’s hands.

Looks like it’s still up to me to revitalize the werewolf genre.


I found out that the next issue of DC’s Bloodhound will be the last. It’s a shame, not only because I’ll miss the book but because this is exactly the sort of comic that DC should be publishing and the sort that should be finding a wider audience. It’s not really a superhero book, although it is set in the DC Universe. (Its one superhero crossover, with Firestorm, gave us what I think were the series’ weakest issues.) The paranormal aspects are more along the lines of The X-Files. The characters are great, the writing sharp, and the art has been a joy. The book has made me laugh out loud more than once, with wholly character-driven humor. That alone wins it points.

I’ll miss the book. It’s one of the books I read each month as soon as I get it. At least I’ll have a complete run. I can file it alongside the issues of Chase, another off-the-beaten-path book that never found its audience and dies too soon. Actually, the two have an awful lot in common. Say… a Chase/Bloodhound team-up… now there’s a book I’d like to see…