Worst Werewolf Effects

to be honest I did hear they toned down the original werwolf morph so as not to frighten the many hordes of rugrats flocking to see this movie. But yeah it was pretty sad....

The anorexic werewolf is my only complaint about the entire movie. Somebody throw that wolf a kid!

DOG SOLDIERS didn't impress me. Bunch of guys with giant wolf heads on spindly bodies. The heads looked pretty cool, but the overall effect looked awful. Luckily, the director did okay shooting around them.

Frankly I enjoyed the transformation in Harry Potter way more than the ones in Van Helsing or Underworld. Of course, I guess it has a bit more emotional impact when it's actually in a good movie.

Nothing could be worse than the CGI abomination in BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF

Killed the movie for me

Those rubber ones in Ginger Snaps were pretty damn awful. -Clark

I second BROTHERHOOD.

Generally speaking the effects in AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS were terrible.

We can't have digs at "Dog Soldiers"! Low budget, no CGI crap...They were okay and they did a good job.

This is easy...
That awful 'Rat Muppet' in "Ginger Snaps".
The PS2 cutaway scene creation in "Van Helsing".
The lame CGI student project in "An American Werewolf in Paris".

Everything about AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS was awful.

SPOILERS FOR BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF
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It was a lion, not a werewolf.

Worst? When they resemble shaven Wookiees. Which would be the majority before "American Werewolf in London", I suppose.

This is pretty easy:

Werewolf '96
&
Haunted Honeymoon

The effects in:

An American Werewolf in Paris
Ginger Snaps
Silver Bullet
Project: Metalbeast

The transformation in Bad Moon. Worst. Transformation. Ever. Very cool actual werewolf, though.

Michael Jackson's Thriller video? Any takers, besides me, for that one?

I love the wolves in both Ginger Snaps and the latest Harry Potter. Weird looking, sure, but they look like monsters rather than stunt guys wearing furry costumes. That counts for a lot in my book.

Wasn't that the one with the hottie? Victoria Sanchez?


No that was Blood Moon. Sorry. I was thinking about Victoria's bod.

I've lost track of the amount of times I've watched a werewolf movie and -- when then wolf is finally revealed in all it's glory -- I've shouted 'What in all that is holy is that thing meant to be?'

Basically, dogs are dogs and wolves are wolves, nothing supernatural about those animals, so using them as 'the beast', can be functional, but nothing to write home about (one of the best things about a Werewolf is the hybrid/fusion nature of the beast).

The 'shaven wookie' syndrome (great description!), is VERY dated, and even variations on this thing would probably just bring back memories of TeenWolf and Wolf.

Any 'Big Wolf' type, generally looks dodgy for two reasons. Either a) the creature is prosthetics and doesn't MOVE right (because dogs and wolves move in a very specific way that's hard to replicate with a puppet) or b) the creature is CGI and looks goddammed awful, even if they are bouncing around the screen like a pinball in a machine. Ginger Snaps is evidence of the first type, American Werewolf in Paris for the second.

That leaves us with the 'Big Hairy Guy with a Wolf Head' form ('Crinos' form, for any Werewolf: The Apocalypse fans), which generally seems to be the most effective of the standard types, mostly because of the fact you can easily fuse puppet with CGI work. It also means that the animators can work of a simple and easily replicated muscle/movement structure.

I desperately would like to see a bit of originality, but every time they try, it all seems to go horribly wrong. I would guess it's the fur. CGI, furry things just generally don't look right, despite the advances made by Monsters Inc. and the like.

Much as I love the rest of the film, the naked molerat monster at the end of Ginger Snaps, probably wins the for the worst werewolf.

And since we're on the topic (again, this is like the third werewolf thread in as many weeks...not that I mind), the beast in GS 2 was pretty badass, aside from it's snout being too thin.

I liked the Ginger Snaps werewolf because it showcased human features, and it was actually a MONSTER, not a guy in a hairy suit walking on his hind legs. So what if it didn't have hair? The one in the sequel did, so I think of it as the Gingerwolf didn't have hair because it had just turned, and hadn't turned fully yet. The wolf in the sequel had been a werewolf for longer, hence it having hair, and as previously said, was badass.

I don't see how people can bitch about werewolf designs being too similar and then complain about the wolf in Harry Potter. I thought that creature was fantastic...the elongated limbs and the anthropomorphic features were like nothing I've ever seen in a werewolf flick before. Everything from the creature's transformation to its weird, loping gait felt fresh and unique. It wasn't photorealistic, but it had a great old school Harryhausen vibe that I really dug.

A cool design can overcome shoddy effects. That's why Universal's Werewolf of London and Hammer's Oliver Reed werewolf are fantastic lycanthropes. Better than many modern prosthetic and CGI abominations.
But the worst? Bad design meets shoddy effects.
I give you An American Werewolf In Paris.

I love werewolf films, but I have always had a problem with what they look like. I don't think I've ever seen a really good werewolf effect. I'm not a fan of the old Universal monster movies, but I think I like that style of werewolf (more human than wolf) rather than the played out, full-on CG animal ones that are all the rage.

I sort of agree with that. I was looking at this manga called "Crescent Moon" and their werewolf Akira looked more like what I think a good werewolf should be: A plausible balance of human and wolf.

Without a doubt, THE WORST...

I am saying this without hyperbole

WORST Werewolf ever captured on film, be it transformation effect or overall appearance is from The Howling: New Moon Rising.

It's the film that killed the heretofore "unkillable" franchise. I mean, Howling films survived II (featuring a writer who just wrote a vampire film and substituted the word "werewolf" for "vampire" in the script... and of course, the WEREWOLF ORGY~! ) and III (were-kangaroos and Dame Edna, anyone?), and rattled off another three (VI was actually pretty good, though).

Then this one came along.

And thus, The Howling franchise is dead.

Oh, well. I'm sure someone will remake the original in 5-10 years...

-DD

DAME EDNA?! REALLY?!

Anyway, this has propelled me to bring up a design I did years ago for Halloween, based on Brian BSB, "Big Wolf on Campus", Anime/Manga and Takarazuka. (What a hell of a combination, eh?)

BOO!

Now, what do you think of it? Shyte or not?

I actually thought the werewolf effects in Azkaban were one of the best parts of the film.

Anyone that thought a film with the title 'Howling III : The Marsupials' would be good, deserves EVERYTHING they get!!!

I didn't want to start a new thread, so I'd just include it in here. Japanese suitmaker Shinichi Wakasa (who designed several Millennium Godzilla suits) talked about a werewolf suit that could move realistically on two legs or four. I'm surprised that such a suit hasn't been utilized yet.

Actually, I believe they did the same thing for the Lycans in "Underworld". They had stilts concealed inside and metal grips for the claw movements. The "Making of" Featurette should explain it a little better...

... and this alone is testament to how bad it really was

Couldn't have said it better myself. My wife and I were both pretty damn happy with the werewolf in Harry Potter. Not that we're experts, but we're long time horror junkies. This was the freshest take I've seen on a werewolf in quite some time and I really enjoyed it. I thought between the werewolf and the Hippogriff, this Harry Potter film had some of the best CGI I've seen in quite some time.

Werewolf (aka Arizona Werewolf)

"They're not werewolves, they're members of the musical 'Cats'!"

Throw me in with the Lupin love. I loved the look of the werewolf in it, with its round, sad, mad little eyes and its face like David Thewlis.

All of the effects in HP3 were top-notch, in my opinion.

As for worst effects, my love for "Ginger Snaps" is huge but the wolf design at the end blows. Also, when she appears topless to the helpful drug dealer her supernumerary nipples also have a big case of the fakes.

The design for the werewolf transformation in "The Company of Wolves" also looks dated now, but the designs themselves are awesome.

Um... why?

Personally I hated the look of the werewolves in Underworld. They looked like shaved hyenas. It may also be my extreme hatred and disapointment with that film that drives my dislike of the werewolf designs.

Anyone remember the old show on Fox (before they were considered true network) "Werewolf"? I remember watching this show and enjoying it, but I really couldn't tell you what the werewolf looked like. It probably looked lame, but I was a kid what did I know about werewolves.

DarkWolf is the winner of this very coveted award by a mile...

How can you defend the effects in Dog Soldiers then complain about Ginger Snaps? It only had a budget of 1 million and they didn't use any CGI either.

lion ??? wolf ??? mechanical animal ???

We know it was not Paul Lynde, he was in the center square that day ...

It was an awful design, exectued so poorly that it killed the film

My vote for worst wolf ( because worst lion is too small of a category )

But it was a lion man, taken from Africa as a cub and raised as a killing machine for the brotherhood.

There are no lycans in that movie at all.

Plus Brotherhood of the wolf is an awesome movie. And since there are no Werewolves in the movie it can't be nominated for the "Worst Werewolf Effects", so there, put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Does 'Manimal' count?

Oz's "were-opossum" from Buffy is another one.

Seriously though, why the hell did they change his werewolf design? The first time he transformed, he was a "big bad wolf", but then all the other times, he turned into that damn opossum that ran around on four legs.

Brotherhood of the Wolf was a POS, bad creature effects or not.

Waxwork didn't exactly have the most state of the art lycanthrope. It looked pretty crap under the brightly lit monster battle at the end, but at least Hickox kept it in the dark for most of the main werewolf segment (which is my favorite part of Waxwork, after the steak tartar/vampires in the cellar bit)

Myself I loved Brotherhood of the Wolf.

I loved Dog Soldiers.

And as for Harry Potter? I liked it alot. the werewolf did look weird, but it was a monster. As you look at Sirius as a dog you realize that the effects team were not skimping, that was the image they wanted for the werewolf. They wanted it to reflect the man who becomes it. and it does match the book description pretty well.

If you are ever in doubt that they didn't want it to come off that way, just look at Buckbeak. I was sitting with my jaw dropped. That Hippogriff has the be the single most impressive CGI creature every put on film. Just beautiful.