Ah... That's Better

Werewolf Head

A much better werewolf head. This is more of what I had in mind.

Wolf-Man

My werewolf is based on the more traditional werewolves that appeared in films such as:


Werewolf of London (1935)

The Wolf-Man (1941)

The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

I have always preferred this style to the more wolf-like and it is simply because you still see the human in the face. Modern werewolves are too monstrous, trying to be tough and bullish. 

To me they just stop being scary. Above are examples from Van Helsing (2004. They just become a dragon for the hero to slay, instead of a supernatural transformation.

The original design is better because I can believe that this was once a human. Where in the werewolf mythos, does it say you become a huge monster. It doesn't, your body merely turns animalistic and that is why I prefer it. Plus I find seeing the human's eyes through the make-up sad and therefore more frightening. So there we are... my lecture on werewolves.

Again I find the feet gross, the way they are suspended like that.

Vampire Wolf

As mentioned before, Dracula can shape-shift into a wolf. Well I decided to design it so that it is a mix of wolf and bat. I think this gives it a demon dog look, much like the one in An American Werewolf in London.

The head is obviously based on a bat, but also the tail, which on a bat is membrane like, but on this design that would be useless. So I morphed that with a wolf's tail and VOILA! The bottom image is just to show that this is a flat faced wolf, still keeping the once human element and it is actually how I prefer my werewolves, but we'll move on to that later. The front legs, i think are out of proportion, but hopefully you get the idea. I think I wanted an Alpha-Male vibe to it, since it is Dracula.

It actually looks like Panthro!

Vampire Bat

I'm designing classic monster in the hope they will be useful for future films. First up we'll start with Vampires.

No, NO! Proper vampires. Ones that actually vant to suck your blood. Ones that shun from the day light. Ones that don't look at girls mysteriously, with a constipated face and begin a frustrating franchise of back and forthing and end with a vampire cesarian! Ones like... Christopher Lee, show 'em how to do it Chris--

-- My God he's awesome!


No these are vampiric beasts. In Bram Stoker's original novel of Dracula, the title Count could shape shift into a bat, a wolf and smoke. I probably won't draw the smoke, but below you can see the bat and wolf. I decided to make the bat more monstrous, but the size of a human. It just seems more threatening. Plus it's an interesting design. I'm pleased how this turned out. In fact this is a design I have been trying to crack for a couple of years. If I find the older version I'll post it. It turns out I just needed to make the face more bat-like. I tried to colour it, but because of the cross-hatching... well it didn't happen, but I imagine it to be like a dull, dusty brown. 

The last image is torn from Van Helsing's book on Vampires. I took a lot from bats, such as the hands for feet, which look very creepy, but are also reminiscent of ape feet, so it is not just bats that are present here. Where the wings bridge the outside wrist to the shoulder were based on actual bats. Using nature as an influence grounds the design. It makes the audience believe it and that is important.

PERFECT MOVIE: THE SHADOW

Alright. I know it has been a few weeks since I last did this, but I have seriously been struggling with the Flash Gordon cast. Basically I am stuck on Flash and Dale. So that will come eventually, I just need more work on it. With that said let's dive into this edition of Perfect Movie starring my favourite Pulp hero, The SHADOW!

THE MORE YOU KNOW!
Originally a narrator for the radio, the character was so popular that he was given his own book The Shadow Magazine in 1931. Soon he gained his own radio show, which was a big deal back then, with Orson Welles providing the voice of the character. These radio shows are fantastic and I listen to them all the time. The Shadows abilities vary due to the media. In the original magazine he was only a masked vigilante, then in the radio series he was an invisible avenger, which he gained travelling east. This is great because he is just a voice that tricks the villains into "Spilling the beans" as they panic under his reputation. 


THE CAST


Let's start with cast this time.


The Shadow/ Lamont Cranston: The Shadow has a distinct face, with the long crooked nose and hypnotic eyes. Plus he needs a great voice, with a sinister laugh and wicked sense of humour. If this were the 80s I would cast Timothy Dalton. However this is not, therefore I choose Hugo Weaving, who we have all seen in The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003) and The Matrix films (1999- 2003)- huh he sure likes trilogies! However we also saw him in V For Vendetta as the only thing that actually worked in that film. In that he provided a dark sense of humour and he wasn't as monotonous as Elrond or Mr. Smith (which was their character). So there we are Hugo Weaving as The Shadow and his alter-ego "wealthy young man about town" Lamont Cranston.

Margot Lane: Margot Lane was Lamont Cranston's assistant who often helped The Shadow in his investigations. She knew his identity, which is something I always like. She was never a damsel-in-distress, in fact she often saved The Shadow's life. For Margot we need someone who has that classic 1930s/40s vibe. I was going to say Marion Cotillard, but I want to save her for my Batman episode. I think I am going to go for someone younger, just so that it doesn't seem like a middle-age film. Plus I don't want Lamont and Margot to have a relationship, because he always seemed like he was only concentrating of crime fighting. So I am going to choose Carey Mulligan, because she is young, but has that old world feel, plus she's a good actress which helps.

There weren't a lot of reoccurring villains in the radio show (that's what I am familiar with), so I guess it down to the crew.

CREW

What I love about The Shadow is that it was dark, with a lot of plots involving the wrong man in jail. With that we need a director who has experience in the gangster/ street setting, but also with dark and fantastic. With that it seems obvious to choose Matthew Vaughn, who started his career with Layer Cake and more recently X- Men: First Class, then somewhere in the middle with Kick- Ass. He is a very competent director who has dealings with both.

I would want the film to be set in the pulp era, just because that is all the fun, but it probably wouldn't be a successful move. I would expect to see it in the modern setting, but I would like it to have that feel of a gritty 40s set, kind of like the first Burton Batman. 

Wait a minute, with the Nolan Batman films at an end, what's next for the Caped Crusader? Looks like it's my duty to find out! See... the Oli-Signal!!

I AM OZ! The Great and Powerful!

Although the Wicked Witch is universally accepted as the scariest part of The Wizard of Oz (1939), for me personally it was always that ominous fake head the wizard had. I mean jeez-- This is the "Wonderful Wizard of Oz!"

Sailor Scouts

I've been re-watching Sailor Moon recently, forgetting it's actually a really cool show. It's got superheroes, Demons, Fairy Tales, Monsters, everything. Just because everyone of the lead characters are female people write it off as just a silly girls show, but it's not. It's more like Buffy the Vampire Slayer for kids. Anyway I got Photoshop recently and decided to draw what I was watching. So here you are, my three favourite Sailor Scouts in my style. 


Sailor Jupiter- Was always my favourite character.

SAILOR MARS

SAILOR MERCURY

My God! I'm a twenty year old MAN talking about Sailor Moon!!

Cthulhu Deco

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

(In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming)

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

My Spider-sense is tingling... why is every f***ing new movie a f***ing remake, jesus sweet GOD!! Now they're doing Spider-man JESUS CHRIST!!! Well let's go see this:

136 minutes later...

Oh-my-God! This movie was... incredible... This was a fantastic movie. A very good ADAPTATION. Let's just get this clear, it's not a remake it is an adaptation. I was just joking before, but I've seen people refer to this as a remake, reboot, but anyway let's review. 

WARNING SPOILERS

I suppose I should compare this to the previous films. First the characters. 

Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/ Spider-Man was fantastic. I liked the fact that they made him intelligent, which is who Peter is. In the other films, I never felt as though Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man was scientifically minded and he seemed too muscly. Plus Garfield was a better actor. He was really funny as well. He does all funny lines that Spider-Man has, but it wasn't corny. He had a great doofy dorkness to him. When he gets emotional the audience does and its much better than that thing Maguire does when he is upset:

Jeez.

Now the girlfriend. AT LAST! A superhero girlfriend who isn't a complete idiot! Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy was incredible. So intelligent and not just "Oh, stick her in a lab coat and make her say science things", no as in actually using her brain. Not once is she hanging out of a window waiting for Spider-Man to save her. There's one bit where the lizard has her cornered and you think, "Oh God here we are, typical Damsel in Distre..." But no, she was waiting for him armed with a lighter and spray can! BRILLIANT!! And she makes the antidote that saves the day. My God, are you even in the right film. I liked the 60s look to her as well, since Gwen is a classic Spider-Man character. I hope they don't follow the same story lone as the comics, because it really would be tragic. Gwen was always my favourite of Peter's girlfriends, even more than MJ. 

Rhys Ifans was also great as the Dr. Curt Conners/ The Lizard. He was a sympathetic character, not because his wife died, or his father was "murdered" by Spider-Man (I hated that storyline). He was sympathetic because he lost his arm. That's all, but he lost it before the film. There was no story to it, like his wife and son were mugged by a mutated Piranha, or something. My favourite shot of the film was of Dr. Conners raising his "Good" arm to a sheet of glass almost completing his body. It was really touching, but also reminded me of Brazil!

Now for the story. I was feeling that it was just going feel like a repeat of the Uncle Ben story that we have sen so many times. Therefore a waste of time. But no, it involved  the (as yet) unsolved mystery of Peter's parents, you got to know Uncle Ben better and I liked the fact that the Spider bite weaved (sorry) into the plot. Denis Leary was great as Captain Stacy of the Police. Not only is he Gwen's father, but he also has to bring in Spider-man, thought to be a vigilante. I personally don't like it in Superhero films when the police are after the hero. It just slows the film for me. But here it worked, because it didn't get in the way. I also really liked the costume a lot better. I never liked the Sam Raimi costume. I could never work out why either. I think it was the raised silver. Here, I think it was the shades of Red and Blue I liked. I don't know, you decide.

Overall, it was Amazing. I give it 4 and a half Burnt to a crisp Lizard Men out of 5. Well done!

 

Johnny Quest, one of my favourite cartoons of all time. My scanner is too small, or the paper is too big, so I did draw the elbows.

Perhaps comics cutest couple, Ralph (Elongated Man) and his wife Sue Dibny. How dare DC kill her?!!

Sue Storm, The Invisible Woman. The paper seemed to have been bent, which gave it a cool effect.

PERFECT MOVIE: The Lord of the Rings from the 1950s

Hello and welcome to Perfect Movies where I pick a subject for a made up film adaptation and try to deduce the perfect cast and crew. Now you know the rules, let’s start with an adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings from the 1950s, when the book was first published.

DIRECTED BY: The director of this would have to be someone who made films on a BIG scale. I would say Cecil B. DeMille, but I can’t put my desired cast in that much danger. Other examples would be Terrence Fisher, who directed many of the great Hammer Horrors, just for his sense of suspense and fear. Also John Sturges who directed some wonderful epic films in his time such as The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, but I think this role will have to go to John Ford, whose body of work includes glorious scenery of The Searchers, and seeing the way in which he creates these magnificent epic landscapes, puts him in prime position to direct this adaptation.

PRODUCED BY: This may be an odd category, but the producers are often forgotten about in Hollywood. I think for this film it would have to be two producers famous for fantasy films, George Pal and Charles H. Schneer. 

WRITTEN BY: Hopefully J.R.R. Tolkien would be on board with writing a screenplay of his own book. I don’t really think that he had much experience in playwriting and certainly none in screenplays, so I am going to cheat a little bit and suggest that the author of the screenplay be Nigel Kneale, a writer of the Quatermass serials and the screenplay for First Men in the Moon, therefore Tolkien can work with Kneale on the body of the film saying what can be taken out, the order of events, and Kneale can tighten that. 

SPECIAL EFFECTS BY: Well this is a no-brainer! Ray Harryhausen. Need I say more!

Now for the Cast, let’s go:


First let's start with hobbits (Oh God... must resist Mickey Rooney JOKES...)!

FRODO:Francis Matthews. He usually plays the nice, naive youth in many Hammer films and that's Frodo. Plus Captain Scarlet is playing Frodo!!

 

SAM:Playing the loyal Samwise. Boy this was a hard one. I wanted someone who was pleasant an from Yorkshire. Therefore we are going for Peter Sallis. You all know him as Aardman's "CHEEEESE" loving hero Wallace. Now imagine this face when he in his twenties. He is Sam.

MERRY: For Merry I am going to go ahead with casting Alan Freeman, who I was only introduced due to Dr. Terror's House of Horrors and he played a nice, typical family man, not that is what Merry is, but he seemed like a good choice for the role. 

PIPPIN:I am going to go with Roddy McDowall, who always seemed like a funny, generous guy, rather like Pippin.

GANDALF: Michael Hordern. The man had the perfect voice for Gandalf and played the grey pilgrim in the BBC Audio Drama, which is fantastic, by the way!

ARAGORN: Next time for Strider, The Ranger of the North, King Elessar Telcontar... I am so alone. Anyway, I think the only guy to play the gruff Ranger- Charlton "Stinking Paws" Heston. The only thing is, he can't use a gun, so he probably wouldn't want to do it.

LEGOLAS: Choosing an actor to play Legolas wasn't difficult. I immediately thought of Leonard Nimoy. No questions asked really.

GIMLI: This was harder. Choosing an actor to play the gruff dwarf. Now this is going to sound odd, but I am going to go with George Sanders. He is perhaps best known for the voice of Shere Khan, the Tiger from Disney's Jungle Book (1967). He has a very smooth voice, but I saw him in The Black Swan (1942), where he plays the pirate Captain Leech and I didn't recognise him. He is perfect for Gimli.

BOROMIR: For the tragic Gondor prince, named Boromir, I decide to go for a classic Shakespearean actor, and what better actor to play the power hungry hero than Orson Welles. In his career he played arrogant characters like Citizen Kane and Macbeth. Plus Orson Welles is in my fake film (Giddy Geek Scream!)

BILBO: Patrick Troughton. Maybe this is due to this comic adaptation i used to read, but Troughton just always springs to my head when I read Tolkien. He could just wear his Doctor outfit.

SARUMAN: Vincent Price. Need I say more.The man also has a great voice. Price has made a career of playing villains. Plus he was good friends with Christopher Lee, so that kind of means something.

It's the kind of voice that really crawls under my skin, therefore perfect for the decietful Saruman the White... 

...oh, sorry.

ELROND: Yul Brynner. Despite being one of the coolest guys on the planet, I think Brynner has that cold, emotionless okk just right for Elrond. Another choice would of course be Leonard Nimoy, but I think he would be too young for the role. Plus the baldness would look intersting. It was Brynner’s role as Ramesis in The Ten Commandments that sealed the deal for me.

GOLLUM: Gollum must be played by an actor who os known for his villainous, weedy characters, but since Peter Lorre is already taken, I am going for James Cagney. The image below is from the Lon Chaney biopic, The Man of a Thousand Faces (1957). I never thought it looked right, but for Gollum it looks great!

THEODEN: The determination of James Mason's Captain Nemo in Disney's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, just shows what a great King Theoden he would make. 

EOWYN:This was a tough one, as it is true that most female characters weren't as strong as Eowyn, so this is really going by looks. Therefore I think that Barbara Shelley, a frequent actress in Hammer Films, should play Eowyn. She is a very good actress and can play stern feisty characters, especially when it comes vampires.

GRIMA: Peter Lorre. Who else. Plus he is working with Vincent Price again! He has that slimy voice and acting persona that perfectly suits Saruman's aide.

GALADRIEL: Galadriel is someone who should fair, beautiful, but seem as if they are ancient. Therefore I am giving the role to Katherine Hepburn. A classical actress who has all of those qualities.

DENETHOR:Denethor is a tragic figure, displaying madness at a violent rate. Alastair Sim's turn as Scrooge in... Scrooge (1951), is perfect for the mad king!

FARAMIR:Basil Rathbone, my favourite Sherlock Holmes! Not that it has anything to do with this vote. Rathbone has that suave personality. Faramir has to gain Frodo's trust and vice versa. Plus Rathbone was a trained fencer and appeared in many swashbucklers. 

WHEW! Well that's it for this first edition of Perfect Movie, I hoped you enjoyed it. Don't worry next week we'll deal with something with a smaller cast, but it has to be big, explosive, an epic tale of love, war and heroic deeds... it has to be...

...oh yeeeaahh!!

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