Werewolf By Night: A Howling Delight
By Eoin O’Brien (Staff Writer)
Werewolf By Night is the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which began back in 2008 with Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man. If you told anyone back when this all started that we’d go from a colourful, action-packed, big budget movie about a man flying around in a CGI metal suit to a black and white, 1930s horror-inspired 50-minute special about a werewolf, which would go onto being one of the studio’s best reviewed projects, they wouldn’t have believed you.
Werewolf By Night as a character first appeared in the comic Marvel Spotlight #2 in February 1972 and then was given his own solo comic run which lasted for 43 issues, finishing in March 1977. The character remained on the fringes of the Marvel brand, often left in the background and side-lined.
However, one person was determined to bring this character to the screen, Michael Giacchino. Giacchino is an Oscar Award winning music composer, best known for his musical work on many franchises such as Mission Impossible, Jurassic Park, and Star Trek. Werewolf By Night is Giacchino’s first major directing project, having only previously directed a small number of short films.
Giacchino pitched Werewolf By Night to the head of Marvel Studios directly, saying that it was a “no-brainer” for him, as he had been a fan of the character since he first read the comics as a child. What made his pitch stand out was his inspiration from classic horror films such as King Kong (1933), The Wolf Man (1941) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). This shines through in the final product, which he both directed and composed.
From the very beginning of the special, Giacchino captivates you with his chilling musical score and impressive camerawork which invokes the spirit of classic horror. He doesn’t just stop at the monochromatic imagery, the special is filled with monsters designed entirely with practical effects, a rare sight for Marvel Studios. From the collection of impressive and intricately detailed monster heads mounted on the walls in Bloodstone Manor to the entirely practical werewolf suit used, it’s evident that an extreme amount of dedication and care was taken by Giacchino in executing his vision.
What made this special excel for me was its plot, which introduced the audience to compelling characters and turned classic horror tropes on their head, all within a considerably short runtime. The horror genre from its very inception used the audience’s fear of ‘The Other’ to drive its stories. ‘The Other’ was always presented as the monster, the villain, who challenges and opposes the way of life of everyone else. The story here, penned by Heather Quinn, turns this trope around, making ‘The Other’ characters the heroes of the story, with the most monstrous individuals on display being the humans.
Gael García Bernal plays Jack, the titular Werewolf By Night, who despite being viewed as a bloodthirsty monster once his lycanthropic secret is uncovered, displays the most humanity out of the ensemble. Bernal is a delight to watch on screen, commanding the viewers’ attention at ease. Thanks to Quinn’s writing and Bernal’s performance the character of Jack instantly becomes a fan-favourite, accomplishing what the special set out to do, making audiences want to see more of this character in future projects.
Going back to how ‘The Other’ is presented in this special, the monstrous hulking swamp creature, simply known as Ted, would typically be presented as an antagonistic and destructive beast. However here he is characterised as a frightened, empathetic monster, who only causes harm when directly provoked and threatened by the humans, showcasing how Giacchino and Quinn subvert typical horror tropes in relation to the monster and ‘The Other’.
The highlight of this special for me was the character of Elsa Bloodstone, played by Irish actress Laura Donnelly. Although she is one of the human characters, who were prominently presented as the true monsters in this special, she differs from all of the others. Her character was shunned by the family she grew up in and became an outcast to all the other human characters in the special. She is the human ‘Other’ and shares more in common with Jack and Ted then she does with her family. Thanks to incredible stunt choreography, Elsa comes across as a true action hero, and becomes the ‘Final Girl’ so often associated with the horror genre, as the last female protagonist left standing when the action has passed.
Werewolf By Night is a howling delight and I couldn’t recommend this special more, it’s a complete and compelling story told in a relatively short runtime, with some great surprises along the way. Streaming now on Disney+.