Episode 180 - Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf: LIVE!

[grudlian. 4725]

One thing I think is weird is Paul's story of watching Requiem For A Dream. I worked at a movie theatre for over 15 years. I legit can not even figure out how what Paul described could happen. By the time Requiem For A Dream came out, most theatres nationwide were running a platter system. That means, essentially, the entire movie is built and run as one two hour reel. So, to play the same reels a second time in the same show without stopping before that happened might almost need to be intentional.

If the theatre were on a two projector changeover system, it's definitely possible with sloppy booth work. It would be pretty easy to fix almost immediately. If they were on a platter system, I'm having trouble imagining a scenario where it could happen that's not completely ludicrous.

[tomspanks 9039]

Anyone else notice that Christopher Lee is squatting when he prays, rather than kneeling?

 

He's getting swole for mass.

[Elektra Boogaloo 3371]

That’s awesome! He was also the only cast member to have meet J. R. R. Tolkien. I believe Tolkien had given him his blessing to be in any future adaptations.

 

That man lived a life, huh?

 

Well this is actually a sad bit of trivia. I mean, half-sad. Lee didn't want to do villain roles anymore so when Jackson called he thought he would be playing Gandalf who was like his hero. So apparently there was like a half an hour or so when he was confused, and Jackson had to break it to him or whatever. (If it were me, I would've just filmed all the Gandalf scenes twice because fuck it, he's Christopher Lee.) But Ian McKellen said he was perfectly lovely about it on set. When, as we have seen, he could have easily had McKellen killed and made to look like an accident.

 

Per this movie - I’m curious, has anyone actually read any of these books? Because as they pointed out, this movie feels not very wearwolfy. I wondering how true to the book it is.

 

I have not read the books and I'm usually the nerd who has read the books.

 

Speaking of, this weekend I was toying with the idea of a How Did This Get Read bookclub, thanks to Paul's twitter. Here are the books I thought of:

 

#1 (with a bullet) The one gymkata is based on

#2 The One Cobra and Fair Game are based on

#3 Disaster Artist

#4 Twilight

#5 Safe Haven

#6 Stephen King's Lawnmower Man Short Story (I refuse to read Dreamcatcher, it's too long; I have things to do.)

 

I forget what else.

[The_Triple_Lindy 2482]

 

He's getting swole for mass.

Nice wordplay, sir.

But serious question: do you think he goes to mass? Is Stefan religious? He prays, he says "in the name of god" when he stabs Stirba, he seems to have a great deal of ceremony about him. But he doesn't seem to take the funeral very seriously, and he also lives in a world full of monsters, and it always throws me with characters in monster movies are religious. Where exactly do werewolves fit into god's plans?

 

Plus, the fact that, real or fictional, I've never seen anyone of any religion pray while squatting.

[SaraK 1980]

 

 

I have not read the books and I'm usually the nerd who has read the books.

 

Speaking of, this weekend I was toying with the idea of a How Did This Get Read bookclub, thanks to Paul's twitter. Here are the books I thought of:

 

#1 (with a bullet) The one gymkata is based on

#2 The One Cobra and Fair Game are based on

#3 Disaster Artist

#4 Twilight

#5 Safe Haven

#6 Stephen King's Lawnmower Man Short Story (I refuse to read Dreamcatcher, it's too long; I have things to do.)

 

I forget what else.

 

Please don’t make me read Twilight again. I accidentally downloaded it when I lived overseas and read all four books when I had this horrible horrible flu/food poisoning/dysentery. The series makes me nauseous just thinking of it.

 

The rest I’m game for

 

Edit - I realize now that you weren’t necessarily inviting me or anyone from this forum

[Cameron H. 23786]

 

Well this is actually a sad bit of trivia. I mean, half-sad. Lee didn't want to do villain roles anymore so when Jackson called he thought he would be playing Gandalf who was like his hero. So apparently there was like a half an hour or so when he was confused, and Jackson had to break it to him or whatever. (If it were me, I would've just filmed all the Gandalf scenes twice because fuck it, he's Christopher Lee.) But Ian McKellen said he was perfectly lovely about it on set. When, as we have seen, he could have easily had McKellen killed and made to look like an accident.

 

 

 

I have not read the books and I'm usually the nerd who has read the books.

 

Speaking of, this weekend I was toying with the idea of a How Did This Get Read bookclub, thanks to Paul's twitter. Here are the books I thought of:

 

#1 (with a bullet) The one gymkata is based on

#2 The One Cobra and Fair Game are based on

#3 Disaster Artist

#4 Twilight

#5 Safe Haven

#6 Stephen King's Lawnmower Man Short Story (I refuse to read Dreamcatcher, it's too long; I have things to do.)

 

I forget what else.

 

Yeah, I had heard that about the Gandalf thing, but I couldn't remember where I had heard it. I was afraid my brain had just made up some random fact, so I didn't bring it up.

 

I'm game for a Book Club! I literally just joined Goodreads (I know, I know - now they're shitty to Indies and small presses) and this sounds amazing. I just set a reading goal of 45 books this year. So far, I'm on track

 

As far as getting through the Twilight books, my trick was just to read the dialogue and the first sentence of every paragraph. Everything was so redundant, that I was able to keep up without any issue.

[tomspanks 9039]

 

Well this is actually a sad bit of trivia. I mean, half-sad. Lee didn't want to do villain roles anymore so when Jackson called he thought he would be playing Gandalf who was like his hero. So apparently there was like a half an hour or so when he was confused, and Jackson had to break it to him or whatever. (If it were me, I would've just filmed all the Gandalf scenes twice because fuck it, he's Christopher Lee.) But Ian McKellen said he was perfectly lovely about it on set. When, as we have seen, he could have easily had McKellen killed and made to look like an accident.

 

 

 

I have not read the books and I'm usually the nerd who has read the books.

 

Speaking of, this weekend I was toying with the idea of a How Did This Get Read bookclub, thanks to Paul's twitter. Here are the books I thought of:

 

#1 (with a bullet) The one gymkata is based on

#2 The One Cobra and Fair Game are based on

#3 Disaster Artist

#4 Twilight

#5 Safe Haven

#6 Stephen King's Lawnmower Man Short Story (I refuse to read Dreamcatcher, it's too long; I have things to do.)

 

I forget what else.

 

Holy shit, I was thinking about HDTGW - but not based on the podcast. I'm deep into Fire and Fury and I was thinking how did this get written???

[muttnik 476]

I thought that when Paul paused during the fire stunt anecdote he was going to say someone suggested actually lighting Christopher Lee on fire, and the face I made in those few seconds...

 

June's description of what she thought the movie was about, a pack of dogs finding their roots, made me think of the plot of the third movie (The Marsupials), which partly is about Australian werewolves (who are Tasmanian tiger offshoots) and their culture and beliefs. And yes, a character does get pregnant -a hybrid pregnancy in fact- and nurtures the baby in a pouch. But I hadn't seen that movie in at least fifteen years so I Wiki'd the plot and wow it is way more bonkers than I remembered. Like, papal pardoning of werewolves bonkers. So I know what I'm rewatching this weekend.

[grudlian. 4725]

Why is Christopher Lee the first person to tell Not Jamie Lee Curtis and the brother that Karen was a werewolf.

 

Karen died on set during a taping. I can believe the segment never made it to air and the tape was stolen. I can't believe Karen's family never asked what happened to her. I can't believe Not Jamie Lee Curtis didn't ask her coworkers what happened the day Karen died on set. I can't believe a news station didn't ever report on a real life werewolf existing. Someone, somewhere would have said something. Even if the video evidence were destroyed, I would tell everyone that would listen if one of my coworkers turned into a werewolf in front of me.

[SaraK 1980]

 

Holy shit, I was thinking about HDTGW - but not based on the podcast. I'm deep into Fire and Fury and I was thinking how did this get written???

 

Big egos, tiny brains, zero foresight?

[Cameron H. 23786]

Per this movie - I’m curious, has anyone actually read any of these books? Because as they pointed out, this movie feels not very wearwolfy. I wondering how true to the book it is.

 

According to IMDB, although the novelist had input on the script, it had little to do with book he wrote.

 

This is the only Howling sequel that directly follows the original film's events, and is also the only Howling film to feature the input of the original novelist, Gary Brandner, despite the fact that this film is not actually based on his 1979 novel, 'The Howling II

 

My question is: what kind of second-rate novelist titles the sequel to their book [something or other] "2?"

[Cameron H. 23786]

If anyone wants to do a podcast about crazy books, I'm down

[SeaSkunk 212]

Second of all, I highly recommend seeing Tig's standup and watching the documentary about her (that I hope is still on Netflix).

 

Love her stand up. When she really has the space to tell a story it's great. Even the story about "Mr Thomas" was great. I just wish she had had real comments to add about the movie.

 

Was anyone at the theater and know why Stephanie kept getting cut off? She was a pretty good guest when she was allowed to talk.

[muttnik 476]

But serious question: do you think he goes to mass? Is Stefan religious? He prays, he says "in the name of god" when he stabs Stirba, he seems to have a great deal of ceremony about him. But he doesn't seem to take the funeral very seriously, and he also lives in a world full of monsters, and it always throws me with characters in monster movies are religious. Where exactly do werewolves fit into god's plans?

 

Werewolves, vampires, and Black Lagoon monsters are what happens when God has a three day work week.

 

Thinking back to when I used to watch this movie in my youth, I always figured Stefan and Stirba were siblings from way back when. So, personal childhood theory, not canon, I assumed Stirba made a pact with the devil and became the mother of werewolves like Lilith was the mother of vampires. Stefan, horrified by his sister’s actions, vowed to God to undo her carnage, and that’s why he’s become kind of eternal. He and she had to die together.

 

This is all making me want to pick up these books and see if I'm anywhere near right.

[PollyDarton 1807]

Re Tig: I'll say this. She didn't seem into it and I think that's a shame also IMO Jason seemed to be annoyed by her blasé demeanor. I could care less if she slept through it, it's that she just didn't seem like she wanted to be there I guess?

That being said - I certainly chuckled at her a few times and any episode of How Did This Get Made is better than no episodes AND the worst episodes of HDTGM are better than the best episode of most podcasts.

 

Moving on.

 

I wanted to add a semi omission:

Paul mentioned that the film was partially filmed in Czechoslovakia - which of course is now the Czech Republic. I have had the great privilege of visiting its amazing capital City, Prague, a few times. Czechoslovakia had a peaceful revolution in 1989, so after that pretty much any movie that is supposed to look like Eastern Europe or a former Soviet country was filmed there. It's kind of funny then that Christopher Lee tells Ben he has to go to Transylvania and then *BOOM* it is a shot of Prague's extremely famous astronomical clock in their Old Town Square. It's been running since medieval times and is really f*cking cool. It works because of some kind of witchcraft magic (naw... JK... but it does have some kind of really old mechanism obvs.) It's beautiful and I hope everyone gets to see it sometime.

Edit: Now that I think about it, It's sad that they didn't just say they needed to go to Prague instead of Transylvania because it is just as creepy and it would differentiate it from f*cking VAMPIRE lore. C'mon people... have some fresh ideas!

[tomspanks 9039]

PollyDarton, you beat me to it. When they showed the shot of Prague's astronomical clock, I Googled "where is Transylvania" because I thought maybe I missed the memo about Transylvania's relocation.

[The_Triple_Lindy 2482]

 

 

 

[RyanSz 3140]

I watched the same video Tig and Stephanie watched and I will never understand why full movie uploads do the zoomed-in, kinda fuzzy look. It's not like the copyright owner is going to pass on pulling the movie because it looks crappy and the actual title is listed for the film so it's not like the uploader is hiding it. As for the rest of this series, I can say that they may have the biggest drop in quality of any horror series I've seen. Usually it's gradual in the decline, but The Howling series just plummets starting with the second and even faster after the third, which isn't a so-bad-it's-good film, it's just terrible and actually really boring.

 

After hearing that this was filmed behind the Iron Curtain and that it drew a huge punk crowd for a few scenes, I would have loved a little cameo in Atomic Blonde where James McAvoy ends up with his various punk friends going to where they are shooting the film and seeing Lee there in his getup. Also, is this film the inspiration for Christoper Lee releasing a couple metal albums?

[Cam Bert 8145]

If anyone wants to do a podcast about crazy books, I'm down

I like the sounds of this!

[Cam Bert 8145]

I really like how the guards for Stirba's castle were theses men wearing full on horned metal helmets. I mean there is nothing in real werewolf mythology or in this movie's made mythology that states "the only way to kill a werewolf is to destroy the brain." Rather everything we see in the movie that kills werewolves makes it seem like the torso would be the best possible target. What makes this even more odd is the one time we see one of these guards being taken out is with a blow to their helmeted head.

[Cameron H. 23786]

I watched the same video Tig and Stephanie watched and I will never understand why full movie uploads do the zoomed-in, kinda fuzzy look. It's not like the copyright owner is going to pass on pulling the movie because it looks crappy and the actual title is listed for the film so it's not like the uploader is hiding it.

 

It's a way to circumvent copyright laws. A good example would be this image:

 

 

Obviously, South Park is making fun of Wal-Mart, but when they refer to it as "Wall*Mart" they can't be sued for slander or copyright infringement. "We're not talking about 'Wal-Mart! This is a fictional store called Wall*Mart." Once altered, It becomes unique. I could literally paint a picture almost exactly like Andy Warhol' s Campbell's Soup Cans, cross out the flavor, write "Campbell's Poop" in Sharpie, and sell It as a Cameron H original.

 

When you put swirling stars in the background, speed up the playback, or zoom in, you're effectively changing the work. You're making it something "New." I'm not saying it won't get challenged or even taken down, but you're not going to get sued.

[SaraK 1980]

I watched the same video Tig and Stephanie watched and I will never understand why full movie uploads do the zoomed-in, kinda fuzzy look. It's not like the copyright owner is going to pass on pulling the movie because it looks crappy and the actual title is listed for the film so it's not like the uploader is hiding it.

 

The first time I illegally downloaded a movie, it was super zoomed in and I just honestly thought it was a choice. I then saw it in iMax for some reason and it blew my mind. Very weird.

[The_Triple_Lindy 2482]

I really like how the guards for Stirba's castle were theses men wearing full on horned metal helmets. I mean there is nothing in real werewolf mythology or in this movie's made mythology that states "the only way to kill a werewolf is to destroy the brain." Rather everything we see in the movie that kills werewolves makes it seem like the torso would be the best possible target. What makes this even more odd is the one time we see one of these guards being taken out is with a blow to their helmeted head.

Yeah, that was with a flail mace, and dummy said something like, "That's a new way of killing." People were murdering with maces since before Stirba was lycan.

[Cam Bert 8145]

Yeah, that was with a flail mace, and dummy said something like, "That's a new way of killing." People were murdering with maces since before Stirba was lycan.

Clearly he didn't play D&D.

 

I wonder if the spikes on the flail mace were silver or titanium.

[The_Triple_Lindy 2482]

Werewolves, vampires, and Black Lagoon monsters are what happens when God has a three day work week.

 

Thinking back to when I used to watch this movie in my youth, I always figured Stefan and Stirba were siblings from way back when. So, personal childhood theory, not canon, I assumed Stirba made a pact with the devil and became the mother of werewolves like Lilith was the mother of vampires. Stefan, horrified by his sister’s actions, vowed to God to undo her carnage, and that’s why he’s become kind of eternal. He and she had to die together.

Anyone else notice that this ... werewolf cult (?) seems to be holding a dozen captive women, besides the ones they're using in their rituals? There are several in the back of the room during the Stirba ceremony ...

 

... and there are at least two cages in the room with Jenny during the blood ceremony.

 

What do you suppose the cult's plans are for them? I'd say sacrifice except Stirba seems to be they're deity, unless muttnik is right and they're a satanic cult. Maybe there are other old werewolves that will undergo the life rejuvenation ritual. Or maybe they're going to be converted.

 

Either way, I'm concerned. No one seems to pay them attention, and when random slave girls aren't even worth a mention in your cult, some horrible things must be going down. Plus, they didn't seem to be there later during the orgy, so something happened to them which again, in this cult, didn't even make the highlight reel.

 

By the way, I totally didn't know Lilith was linked to the vampire mythos at all.