Werewolf Vs Modern Werewolf

When one hears the term “werewolf,” the first thought typically tends to fall inside the general theme of the “brutal, mindless killing machine” shown in movies like “An American Werewolf in London” or “Dog Soldiers.” However, today’s werewolf simultaneously parallels and differs from the medieval werewolf. While versions of the modern werewolf take pieces from its medieval predecessor, they vastly are of their own design. This new design can be traced back to sales; new and original ideas are needed to appease the audiences. Literary werewolves in the medieval ages were presented as gentle wolves who did not attack unless provoked. For example, in the most famous medieval text about werewolves, a noble man named Bisclavret transforms into …show more content…
In films, such as “An American Werewolf in London” or “Dog Soldiers,” werewolves are shown as beasts that have little to no control over what they do, going as far as becoming a harbinger of slaughter and gore. In “An American Werewolf in London,” a man is attacked for no reason other than that he is made of meat. His friend is killed in the attack. Weeks later, the man himself transforms into a werewolf, due to being attacked, and goes on a blood-thirsty killing spree throughout London (An American Werewolf in London). This werewolf, while transformed, is a hideous hybrid of man and wolf. While maintaining the general form of a man, he becomes covered in fur and is stretched to disgusting proportions. He also loses any sense of humanity, which is proven by his killing of homeless people, a rich couple, and a man in the subway. None of these people had any prior relationship with the werewolf, he just attacked them for no reason other than that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Another modern werewolf example, the werewolves from Neil Marshall’s Dog Soldiers, depict the creatures as an experiment gone wrong. These werewolves are the result of an attempted man-wolf army that leads to crazed half-man, half-wolf monsters that rampage across Scotland; they brutally murder most of a patrol of special force soldiers. Without reason, …show more content…
Initially in cinema, the werewolf was a tragic character. In the pioneer werewolf film, Werewolf of London, the main character is bitten and turns into a werewolf, leading him to kill several people. Instinctively, he wishes to kill the ones he loves the most (Werewolf of London). Compared to An American Werewolf in London, where the main character kills to satisfy a bloodlust, one can see a clear difference in motive from Werewolf of London. But when compared to Bisclavret, who attacked who he hated, one can see a difference that branches in a third way. While Werewolf of London uses a tragic character, the idea of killing is opposite of Bisclavret. However, in An American Werewolf in London 46 years later, the idea of killing is wildly different from both Werewolf of London and Bisclavret; the werewolf has a bloodlust and nothing more. One can assume that what a lot of what makes up the modern werewolf stems from the desire to sell the creature. Low budget slashers and horror movies can and do make money, and this idea could very well have led to the development of the modern werewolf’s motives for killing. The senseless violence and killing exhibited by modern werewolves in movies is scarier, and is what an audience