Editorials
“Listening is Where the Love Begins”: The Power of Kindness in ‘Werewolves Within’
Werewolves Within begins in darkness, as the sounds of howling wind and menacing strings accompany a black screen. Slowly, white text fades into view, each line shivering alone for a moment before the next forms. “Listening is where the love begins,” declares the first line, followed by the second, “Listening to ourselves.” The third line appears in pieces, starting with the words, “and then,” before finally completing the sentence with, “our neighbors.” As the background cacophony builds, the words remain silent on the screen, forcing us to consider their full and dreadful weight. With a sudden musical sting, attribution to the quote appears: “Mr. Rogers.”
That’s a great joke, the first of many in the delightful film from director Josh Ruben and screenwriter Mishna Wolff. To some, the juxtaposition of Mr. Rogers’s words and scary music is ironic and laughable, rendering the kindly old minister’s life philosophy as impotent and ridiculous against the threat of monsters. While Ruben and Wolff clearly welcome the audience’s laughter, it’s also clear that the movie isn’t interested in making fun of Mr. Rogers’ ideals. Instead, Werewolves Within is a horror movie in which listening and love, of ourselves and of our neighbors, is more powerful than any evil.
The filmmakers spread that belief through the movie’s protagonist, Forest Ranger Finn Wheeler, played by the endlessly charming comedian Sam Richardson. From his very first scenes, Finn establishes himself as a nice guy, one who struggles to find the balance between being honest about his wants and being respectful to others.
At first, Finn comes off as a bit of a pushover. We meet him as he’s driving to his new post in the New England town of Beaverfield, leaving a message for his estranged girlfriend. “Give me a call,” Finn says toward the end of the message. But he quickly catches himself and amends the command to say, “or don’t, your choice.” Again, he catches himself and again amends his statement to say, “I would like to hear from you,” before proudly declaring, “this is me saying what I want.”
In his introduction, Finn seems indecisive and weak-willed, making him a poor choice to come to Beaverfield. The tiny town is being torn apart by the proposed pipeline, with some certain that the addition will destroy their idyllic abode and others desperate for the payout the company is offering.
Finn finds himself caught in the town’s division almost immediately. Upon entering the inn where he’ll be staying, Finn literally stands in between the innkeeper Jeanine Sherman (Catherine Curtin) and oil company representative Sam Parker (Wayne Duvall), as the latter pressures the former to sell her property. When Sam interprets Finn’s observation about the dangers of the pipeline as a threat, the ranger nearly trips over himself to assure the oilman that he meant no offense.
In the first few scenes, Werewolves Within establishes Finn as a nice protagonist, the latest in a long line of kind-hearted, Mr. Rogers-loving heroes in popular culture. Paddington Bear, as voiced by Ben Wishaw in the wonderful family films by Paul King, and the Jason Sudeikis character Ted Lasso, the American football coach turned English football coach in the show that bears his name, are at the forefront of this movement. One can easily see why such characters would be so popular. Beyond the sheer quality of storytelling involved in their respective features, Paddington and Ted Lasso represent a welcome corrective to the hate-filled anger of the Trump era, much of which was presaged by and continues online.
But in most cases, characters like these feel wholly fantastic. We like to believe Paddington’s maxim, “If we are kind and polite, the world will be right.” We want to share Ted Lasso’s adoption of Walt Whitman’s advice and be curious instead of judgmental. But these characters deal with relatively low-stakes threats. Sure, Ted must experience the relegation of his team and the dissolution of his marriage, and Paddington faces taxidermy and imprisonment. But these threats back away fairly quickly, leaving our heroes in peace. One could be forgiven for thinking that the kindness preached by these characters only works against such minor threats.
Werewolves Within takes this same approach and applies it to a truly monstrous story. As the citizens of Beaverfield metaphorically attack one another over the pipeline decision, a werewolf appears to literally attack them, starting with Mrs. Sherman’s husband and a yuppy couple’s dog. Supported only by letter carrier Cecily (Milana Vayntrub), Finn must convince the townspeople to put aside their differences and stay together in the inn, working together to deal with the lupine threat. As the townspeople cast blame on one another, Finn reminds them that they’re all neighbors, all part of the community.
SPOILERS FOR THE END OF THE FILM BELOW.
As the movie unfolds, the movie endorses Finn’s perspective. Sure, the werewolf still attacks some people, but most of the townspeople die by killing each other. Not only do they fail to stop the actual monster, but they kill more citizens than the werewolf.
Conversely, Finn stays alive precisely because he puts trust in others and treats them with respect. Even in the film’s climax, when he realizes that Cecily is the werewolf, Finn holds on to his principles. “This town is full of two-faced assholes, and you know it,” Cecily rants at Finn, frustrated that he won’t be mean like the others. In response, Finn’s hero speech is a defense of politeness. “Sorry! I’ve gotta tell you, it’s fucking okay to be nice,” he rants, before catching himself again; “Excuse my language; it’s f-ing okay to be nice.”
As she transforms into a wolf, Cecily dismisses the idea. “In a dog-eat-dog world, you could be nice,” she sneers before flashing a sharp-toothed smile and saying, “Or you could be me.” By the end of the scene, Finn does have to fight to save his own life, finally (almost) killing her by shoving a snowshoe through her ear. But even then, he refuses to subscribe to a dog-eat-dog philosophy. In fact, it’s his kindness that ultimately saves his life, as he’s rescued from Cecily’s attacks by Mrs. Sherman and by Emerson Flint (Glenn Fleshler), the reclusive survivalist who is convinced by Finn’s invocation of Mr. Rogers.
By showing us the power of kindness and good neighborliness, the finale of Werewolves Within clarifies the joke in its opening. Yeah, it’s funny that a Mr. Rogers quote appears juxtaposed against threatening darkness. But the darkness does not overtake the quote. Instead, those words shine through and sit above the darkness.
Werewolves Within shows us that treating others with respect and dignity isn’t suitable to silly premises in kid’s movies and sitcoms. Rather, it’s a powerful weapon to counter evil, far more effective than paranoia and attack. If we listen to ourselves, listen to our neighbors, and act out of love, then we can defeat all sorts of monsters, whether they be masquerading werewolves or aggressive neighbors – just like Mr. Rogers taught us.
Werewolves Within is now available on all VOD outlets.
The great Ernest Dickerson turns seventy-five years old this month, so we’re looking back at his most memorable contribution to the horror genre – 1995’s Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight!
The film hit screens while the Tales from the Crypt series was winding down its run on television, and it stands apart with a story that feels a step or two removed from the franchise norm. That was the smart play, though, as the show’s stories – and those from the original EC comics – work best in short bites. The result is a film that holds up beautifully as a gory good time.
Now keep reading to see what I heard on the commentary for…
Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)
Commentator: Ernest Dickerson (director), Michael Felsher (moderator)
1. Dickerson was in post-production on Surviving the Game when he got a call from his agent saying that producer Gil Adler wanted to meet about a Tales from the Crypt feature film. It went well, so Dickerson met with Joel Silver next and secured the job.
2. The original screenplay for the film came to the producers as a spec script wholly detached from the Tales from the Crypt brand. They added the Crypt Keeper (voiced by John Kassir) bookends to make it fit.
3. Dickerson was more familiar with the original EC comic books having read them as a kid, but he had watched a few episodes of the HBO series, so he knew what the current vibe was for the project.
4. Adler directed the film’s wraparound segments, meaning Dickerson never actually got to work with the creepy puppet. “Gil and the Crypt Keeper had a great relationship,” he adds, “they worked together for years.”
5. While he was new to the Tales from the Crypt family, Dickerson had previously worked as a director of photography on the Tales from the Darkside anthology series. That show is underappreciated in my humble opinion, and I will go to bat for both it and the equally underloved Monsters.
6. A big appeal of the horror genre for Dickerson is the idea of dark mysteries that challenge our imagination. For this film, that came down to the mythology being created between the characters.
7. Five executive producers are listed in the opening credits, but Dickerson says the only two he had dealings with were Silver and Richard Donner. The other three were Walter Hill, Robert Zemeckis, and David Giler.
8. Dickerson had only ever seen Billy Zane in movies with a full head of hair, so he was surprised when Zane showed up on the first day with a bald head. “He had this case, and he opened up the case that he had all these hair pieces in, and he says, ‘So which one of these do you think I should use?’” Dickerson looked at him and suggested he just go bald for the character.
9. While the bulk of the opening exteriors were filmed in a desert just outside Los Angeles, the shot of the old church at 11:26 was created on a warehouse hangar soundstage where the film’s interiors were shot.
10. When he had read the script, Dickerson pictured the character of Jeryline (Jada Pinkett Smith) “as a little, tough lady.” He had recently seen Smith in Menace II Society, and while the producers had someone else in mind for the role, he fought to get her instead.
11. Just as Zane surprised Dickerson with his hair (or lack thereof), Smith arrived on the first day with her hair dyed platinum white. He “liked the idea” but asked her to please get it tweaked so it looked more yellowish blond. “It’s definitely a statement.”
12. He had seen Brenda Bakke in the 1989 sci-fi/action film from Japan, Gunhed, and thought she’d be great here as Cordelia. The rest of us might recognize her from Death Spa or Trucks.
13. Felsher comments that the film’s setup does a good job not telegraphing who’s going to live or die, and he uses the “nice guy” (Charles Fleischer) and “the kid” (Ryan O’Donohue) as examples. “You don’t play by those rules here,” he says, and Dickerson replies that he wanted to subvert those rules. That extends to Smith as well because she’s Black, “and usually in movies like this they’re the first folks to die.”
14. Dickerson says they had forty days of filming, “which, the way I’m used to working, was a very generous schedule.” It was budgeted at around $10 million.
15. This probably won’t surprise you, but Zane improvised the bit at 26:25 after he jumps out the window and says, “Fuck this cowboy shit! You fuckin’, hodunk Podunk, well, then, motherfuckers!”
16. In the original script, the demons that The Collector (Zane) raises from the dirt actually looked more like the people they used to be. “They were more human,” but the very smart decision was made in pre-production to make them look far more unique instead.
17. The demons are killed by shooting their eyes, but Dickerson felt there should be one more element to it. “Shoot out their eyes, you gotta duck because the souls come shooting out, and if it hits ya, boom, it can kill ya.” This is a fun touch.
18. He’s been asked more than once if these demons are where Peter Jackson got the idea for how the orcs would look in his Lord of the Rings movies. “They do look like orcs.”
19. He recalls having seen Ronny Yu’s The Bride with White Hair shortly before going to work on Demon Knight, and he hoped to bring some of that staged style into his own film. An example of that in practice is Brayker’s (William Sadler) brief flashbacks to Christ on the cross.
20. Character deaths were mostly based on the idea that “each person’s downfall was going to be predicated by their weakness.” The Collector discovers someone’s weakness and then uses it against them. Cordelia wants to be loved, Jeryline wants to travel, Uncle Willy (Dick Miller) is a horndog for both liquor and ladies, Danny loves horror comics, etc.
21. Dickerson says that plenty of genre classics were in the back of his head while making the film, including Assault on Precinct 13, Alien, Aliens, and more.
22. Cordelia is possessed into a demonic form, and Dickerson’s idea for how she’d look was originally a bit different. “Since Cordelia was a prostitute, I thought that her mouth should actually be a vertical slit that was in her stomach… which would open up with teeth and a tongue.” It was nixed, he says, when “the wife of one of the producers read that and said ‘no way you’re putting that in the movie.’”
23. The key makes an appearance in the followup, Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of Blood, but it wasn’t originally meant to. Apparently, early test audiences expected it to be a more connected sequel to Demon Knight, so the filmmakers added it in to appease them. This is where I go on record saying that Bordello of Blood is a fun time. Can’t touch Demon Knight, obviously, but it’s more entertaining than its reputation suggests.
24. They had to film Uncle Willy’s bar scene “dream” twice, once with the women topless and once with them in bikinis, to have versions for both theaters and television broadcast. “Dick’s a pro.” (To be fair, Dickerson says this in regard to Miller having to endure the makeup application, but the sentiment fits both situations, so…)
25. Dickerson says he’s “always amazed at the love that people show this film,” and adds that fans bring it up to him incredibly often. This is great to hear, as we should always be telling artists how much their work means to us while they’re still alive and able to hear it.
26. Zane also suggested the gag at 1:08:21 with the sponge coming out of his mouth. The beat reminds Dickerson to praise the actor even more, adding that he was an “ally” to the director when “bad ideas” came down from the studio suits.
27. He didn’t get any pushback on killing little Danny. He did insist on one added element, though, as he wanted to immediately follow the boy exploding in the air with a shot of his bloody and torn sneaker hitting the ground below. “And the sneaker had to be a hightop.”
28. Dickerson says there’s “something kinky sexy about” Smith being covered in blood, and then the two commentators go quiet for almost two minutes out of respect for the scene. It’s a good opportunity to reflect on how Dickerson had previously mentioned Alien and Aliens as films being in the back of his head during filming, and how two scenes here reflect that – Jeryline stripping down to her underwear for the final confrontation feels like a nod to Ridley Scott’s film, while an earlier scene with Irene (CCH Pounder) and Dep. Bob (Gary Farmer) realizing they’re surrounded and choosing to blow themselves up alongside some of the demons is something of a callback to the air vent sacrifice in James Cameron’s film.
29. Asked about the film’s critical reception at the time of release, Dickerson says it received good reviews from horror-loving critics and then talks about the importance of horror in general. “Horror has always been a great way of putting out ideas, of talking about some of the things that affect us as people. Some of the best horror, like the best science fiction, talks about what it’s like to be human. Some of the best horror gets very political.”
30. The original ending would have featured The Collector showing “his true self, which is a demon made of fire.” They spent a lot of time trying to make it work, but it was “extremely difficult… back in the day of analog effects.” It was rewritten into the faceoff between him and Jeryline featuring the dancing, the crotch fire, Zane’s attempts at saying “love,” and his eventual demise from her bloody spit.
31. They both agree that a direct sequel to Demon Knight could be a lot of fun, but Dickerson says he’s unaware of any talk on the possibility.
32. Dickerson was super excited about this new Scream Factory Blu-ray in 2015, and he mentions that before its release, he had imported a Blu-ray from Germany presumably to enjoy the film in HD. He’s just like us! (Or am I the only one here who’s imported a German Blu-ray of the much maligned werewolf flick Big Bad Wolf…)
Quotes Without Context
“I was so happy to get Dick Miller for this movie.”
“There was a time when guys used to put ketchup on everything.”
“I’m a big student of Hitchcock, and the best way to make a moment of horror work is to lull the audience into a false sense of security.”
“A villain should always be the most interesting person in a movie.”
“They were a really great bunch of performers who were performing on these little leg-extension stilts wearing a diaper that had a radio-controlled tail that was being manipulated by a special effects tech right out of the frame.”
“It’s hard to direct air; it doesn’t do what you want.”
“The only censorship problem came from the producer’s wife, who didn’t want the vagina dentalis [sic] in the movie.”
“One of the executives wanted to know why the devil didn’t try to have sex with Jada.”
“It always starts with the script.”
Keep up with more horror commentary breakdowns here.
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