Comments on: The Return of the Vampire http://wtf-film.com/site/2010/02/05/return-of-the-vampire-the/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=return-of-the-vampire-the Celebrating the good, the bad, and the bizarre since 2003 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:33:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: houseinrlyeh http://wtf-film.com/site/2010/02/05/return-of-the-vampire-the/comment-page-1/#comment-1772 houseinrlyeh Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:33:15 +0000 http://wtf-film.com/site/?p=3943#comment-1772 I'd call a man wearing something very similar to the Larry Talbot make-up in a Hollywood horror film of the 40s a wolfman. Further, the full moon, loss of faculty, being bitten variations are just one way the werewolf myth works, not the only one. I don't really see the relevance of finding an exact classification for him to be honest. The second point I'll give you, although that part of the scene is not staged too clearly. Her assisting in the staking but not actually looking is just a bit too improbable to work for me. I’d call a man wearing something very similar to the Larry Talbot make-up in a Hollywood horror film of the 40s a wolfman. Further, the full moon, loss of faculty, being bitten variations are just one way the werewolf myth works, not the only one.
I don’t really see the relevance of finding an exact classification for him to be honest.

The second point I’ll give you, although that part of the scene is not staged too clearly. Her assisting in the staking but not actually looking is just a bit too improbable to work for me.

]]> By: midnightcyn http://wtf-film.com/site/2010/02/05/return-of-the-vampire-the/comment-page-1/#comment-1758 midnightcyn Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:08:16 +0000 http://wtf-film.com/site/?p=3943#comment-1758 They never actually call Andreas a werewolf, and a hirsute human is not unknown in standard european folklore. Andreas, in fact, doesn't follow any pattern of lycanthropy to begin with; no full moon, no loss of faculty, no pentagrams or being bitten. I never thought of him as a Larry Talbot wannabee, so his character doesn't bother me. Another point you raise is Lady Jane not recognizing Tesla; if you watch closely, she never sees his face in the opening scene. All she sees is the mirror, which doesn't show his features, natch. The older gentleman does all the staking. They never actually call Andreas a werewolf, and a hirsute human is not unknown in standard european folklore. Andreas, in fact, doesn’t follow any pattern of lycanthropy to begin with; no full moon, no loss of faculty, no pentagrams or being bitten. I never thought of him as a Larry Talbot wannabee, so his character doesn’t bother me.

Another point you raise is Lady Jane not recognizing Tesla; if you watch closely, she never sees his face in the opening scene. All she sees is the mirror, which doesn’t show his features, natch. The older gentleman does all the staking.

]]> By: houseinrlyeh http://wtf-film.com/site/2010/02/05/return-of-the-vampire-the/comment-page-1/#comment-1737 houseinrlyeh Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:40:00 +0000 http://wtf-film.com/site/?p=3943#comment-1737 Oh, Andreas works fine as part of an allegory, but on the plot-level he still has to function as a talking wolfman, and that's where Willis' performance (and Andreas as a character) doesn't work too well for me. I'm not all that fond of stressing the allegorical level when talking and thinking about film myself. A vampire on screen needs for me to function as a blood-drinking undead first, and as a representation of societal anxieties after that. Oh, Andreas works fine as part of an allegory, but on the plot-level he still has to function as a talking wolfman, and that’s where Willis’ performance (and Andreas as a character) doesn’t work too well for me.

I’m not all that fond of stressing the allegorical level when talking and thinking about film myself. A vampire on screen needs for me to function as a blood-drinking undead first, and as a representation of societal anxieties after that.

]]> By: Samuel Wilson http://wtf-film.com/site/2010/02/05/return-of-the-vampire-the/comment-page-1/#comment-1735 Samuel Wilson Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:21:04 +0000 http://wtf-film.com/site/?p=3943#comment-1735 Andreas's limitations as a wolfman, by your standards, are related to his symbolic role as follower to symbolic-German Tesla. Return of the Vampire is very much a wartime allegory and probably can't be fully appreciated without that historical awareness. I think that once you understand what Andreas represents, Matt Willis's work becomes more impressive. He deserves credit alongside Lugosi and Inescort for giving Return the personality or soul that makes it more than an imitation-Universal film. Andreas’s limitations as a wolfman, by your standards, are related to his symbolic role as follower to symbolic-German Tesla. Return of the Vampire is very much a wartime allegory and probably can’t be fully appreciated without that historical awareness. I think that once you understand what Andreas represents, Matt Willis’s work becomes more impressive. He deserves credit alongside Lugosi and Inescort for giving Return the personality or soul that makes it more than an imitation-Universal film.

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