The Cabin in the Woods Beastiary Part 1 – The Werewolf
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One of the most popular films to hit the big screen in recent years is about to hit little screens as The Cabin in the Woods drops on DVD and Blu-ray September 18th. To help you prepare for all the action, we’ve decided to give you a little background on some of our favorite monsters!
Co-writers Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard, who respectively produced and directed the film, were looking to breathe new life into the horror genre with The Cabin in the Woods, and they certainly succeeded! One of the most prominent monsters in the film is the legendary werewolf. And, as you’ll see, it’s certainly not a beast to be trifled with.
The legend of the werewolf, or lycanthrope for the more snooty among us, is actually much older than you may think. Stories of a man morphing into a wolf, or a wolf-like creature, can actually be found as far back as Ancient Greece. And, unlike many popular monsters, the werewolf legend usually doesn’t vary much from the norm. Werewolves are cursed individuals who shape-shift into wolves or anthropomorphic wolf-like creatures (the latter being much more entertaining than the former), usually in conjunction with the cycle of the moon. They have great speed and strength and an insatiable appetite. However, it wasn’t until approximately 1935 when werewolves became vulnerable to silver in popular literature and film. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Some legends contend that humans bearing the werewolf curse can even be identified in their human form. Things to be on the lookout for when trying to identify an incognito werewolf include a big, thick unibrow, curved fingernails, bristles under the tongue and the fact that if you cut their flesh, you will reveal fur underneath. And as far as domestic weres go, it appears that the legend was brought to North America by Vikings during the Norse colonization, and we’ve embraced them ever since.
So whether we are talking about Larry Talbot, Will Randall, Ginger Fitzgerald, Sirius Black or Alcide Herveaux, we’ve always loved our hairy brethren. And things are no different in The Cabin in the Woods, where an extremely aggressive werewolf makes his presence known amongst a flurry of excitement.
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