"Monsters Unleashed " #4 Wolfman story

Marvel monster magazines were always high on my list of "must buys" whenever and wherever I found them, and they comprise a big part of my monster magazine collection. This time I'm bringing out of the collection cabinet issue #4 of "Monsters Unleashed," published in February, 1974. I was 15 when I bought it, and I remember reading it in the back seat of the car as my mother drove us and my Grandma over to visit a relative.

Since there is a new "Wolfman" remake in the theaters right now (which I haven't seen yet, and will probably wait to get when it comes out on DVD), I thought I'd post this werewolf story to coincide. More of a detective story than a horror tale, with an attempt at the "noir" style (even to the heroine dresing in a trenchcoat and fedora), the hairy one only appears in the end.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

And, the werewolf is killed, as usual, by one that loves him. As a followup there was a one-page article in memory of the greatest werewolf actor, Lon Chaney, Jr.

Curse of the Werewolf article

I've seen trailers that gave away the climax of the film, but a poster?

Hammer's one and only werewolf movie does for the genre what their Dracula, Frankenstein and Mummy movies did; revitalized it with energy and more horror. A terrific score highlights the action and character pathos as we see an innocent man doomed by cruel fate to become a wolf under the light of a full moon.

Some screen captures from the DVD:

The credits are superimposed over one of the most striking visuals in any Hammer film... the werewolf's eyes in close up, shifting back and forth, and never blinking the entire time. My own eyes were watering as bad as the wolfman's, from watching what must have been a very difficult thing to do.

The makeup is a departure from the traditional Universal monster, with only enhanced eyesbrows and fangs, with the hair beginning at the edges of the face. It seems more like a man with wolf-like elements, than a fully-changed beast. The film also departs from the traditional "wolf bites man" method of receiving the curse; here, he's a victim of a cursed birth, resulting from the rape of a madman, and being born on Christmas Day. One would think that a child born on that day would be blessed rather then cursed; it seems a bit unfair to punish a child who had no choice in the matter. But, that's the superstition in the story and even his baptism shows he is under an evil influence.

Upon being killed by a silver bullet by one who loves him, in this case his adoptive father, he doesn't even change back to a man when killed; another departure from the expected. One of the most unusual werewolf movies made, and one of the best.

The cover of Issue #1 of the short-lived "Movie Monsters" magazine, which came out in the winter of 1974. The article below is from the inside.

Below are some of the marvelous promotional shots for the movie with the hirsute wolfman and the lovely Yvonne Romain. Strangely, the two never encounter one another in the movie; for Yvonne plays the unfortunate mother of wolfman-to-be who dies giving him birth. So in these shots he is attacking his mother! I suppose they wanted to show the wolfman with the most attractive female in the cast, but the images are misleading.

A nice painting of the werewolf below which I found online, but was unable to trace the source.

Dark Shadows #6 Part 2

Today's Monster Memories are of:

Gold Key's Dark Shadows #6: Part 2
(Click on images to view in Big-Bellied Mummy size!)

Barnabas savagely attacks the innocent mummy both physically and verbally. All he wanted was to borrow some Grey Poupon and ask directions back to Egypt.

Last time, as you remember (if you don't, read the previous entry below) I posted the first half of the Gold Key Dark Shadows comic #6, published in 1970. In it, we discover a mummy has somehow come to the perpetually-overcast town of Collinsport, and not just your usual mummy; this one is, shall we say, somewhat "brawny" or "big-boned." He's unique in another respect... in that he can run at full tilt like a sprinter. Now, most traditional movie mummies (not to be confused with the real-world mummies who move very little, if at all) creep along at a geriatric's pace, dragging one leg behind them like they stepped in doggie doo-doo and swinging the one free arm. They are never in a hurry, and depend solely on either the element of surprise or a paralysing fear that causes the intended victim to only stare and scream as the moldy fingers approach to choke the life out of them. One would not be surprised in the least to see one plodding along using a walker with little wheels on the front!

Even Christopher Lee's rather athletic Mummy in the Hammer film moved in such a stiff-legged manner that if he didn't corner his victims they could usually have escaped. But the mummy in this story is not only nimble for his considerable size, but unusually quick on his feet for a 3,000 year old gauze-wrapped corpse. Oh, and he howls like a dog, also! What's up with that?

Here it is, for those patiently waiting; Part Two, the conclusion of the opus I glibly called "The Case of the Howling Mummy." Drink a smoking cup of Tana Leaf Tea to summon forth the immortal Inner Child, and enjoy!

And, so, the poor pot-bellied mummy is burned to death and everything is once again right in Collinsport. The Bandaged One, finding himself awakened in a strange country, in unfamiliar surroundings and hounded by torch-waving villagers who spoke not his language, becomes a misunderstood victim of cruel circumstance. I hope you feel good about this, Barnabas... you cold-hearted, friend-poisoning, mummy-bashing bloodsucker creep!

Gold Key's Dark Shadows Issue #6

Today's Monster Memories are of:

Gold Key's Dark Shadows comic Issue #6
(Click on images to view Giant-Mummy-Sized)

In August of 1970, when this comic was published, I was 11 years old and living in Parkersburg, West Virginia. We rented our house from the owner of a convenience store which we lived behind, and I would sweep his store and parking lot to earn some extra money, which quickly went back to the store for candy, soda and comic books. This was one of those I bought there, and stands out in my memories of that time. I mean, really; vampires, werewolves, mummies; what wasn't there to like about it?

The photo cover was cool, although I thought as a kid that the boy in the picture had a pointed ear, and must be a mini-werewolf like Eddie Munster. But I realised years later in looking at it, the it's only a leaf in the way. I remember holing up in my hideout, which I had cleared out under an overgrown thicket of wild bushes covering a small gully, and reading it while I nursed a cinnamon Square-Shooter sucker and a peach Nehi.

In the story, a downright hefty and obviously well-fed mummy ends up in Collinsport. Barnabas, turning into a detective, only needed to don a deerstalker cap and smoke a pipe, while wielding a magnifying glass to be Sherlock Holmes. There's a lot of running, and finger-pointing, and Barnabas is suspected; while he blames poor lycanthropic Quentin for the mummy's misdeeds. Ol' Barney, being the good guy that he is, prepares to poison his pal to help him out. After all, what are friends for, if not to show tough love? Quentin has a killer hangover and just wants to be left alone. As for the mummy's murderous ways, there's never any reason for the bandaged one to attack those random people, but I guess it's just what he does, being a mummy and all. Maybe his weight causes him to be insecure and the killing is just a way of compensating.

Anyway, here's the first part, scanned in and formatted for your maximum viewing pleasure; a story I call "The Case of the Howling Mummy!"

Now, that's what I call a mix-up... switching the bodies of the old man and an Egyptian mummy! How does something like that happen? The overweight mummy would had to have been removed from his sarcophagus (by several strong men) and put in the modern coffin, and the dead American placed in the ancient tomb. Somebody would have HAD to have done it on purpose. But why?

And look at the body of Capt. Collins; nearly a hundred years after death and not a sign of decomposition! Why? Or am I thinking too much about it? Surely, if I can swallow a vampiric hero and a living mummy I can overlook a slight plot hole or two.

To Be Continued next time... same Monster-time, same Monster-channel!