This is a blog that is devoted entirely to film analysis. I tend to analyze movies in a historical context. What were the cultural trends at the time? What was the rationale behind the movie?
I also tend to write about lesser-known movies, as there really isn't much more that can be said about most mainstream movies. I hope you enjoy!!!
If I had to choose my favorite decade overall for filmmaking, it would be the 1950s. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the films of the 50s were vastly superior to those of any other decade, it’s mainly due to the fact it was quite possibly the most eclectic time for cinema.It was a decade in which the genres ranged from the big budget musicals to low budget science fiction films. It was a decade in which, out of panic, the studios devised all sorts of gimmicks to steal back their audience from the ever growing threat of television. If you want to know how filmmakers viewed television, watch any film from the 1950s and it’s never portrayed in a positive light. It was the first time that studios (primarily American International Pictures) started making films that pandered to a teenage audience; the mid 50s saw a boom of teenaged theme movies with titles like I Was a Teenage Werewolf and Teenage Caveman. What’s interesting is that despite their ridiculous titles, some of these films (Teenage Werewolf) are actually quite good; certainly a lot better than they have any right to be.My favorite out of the bunch is the 1957 Invasion of the Saucer Men, because despite its silly title monsters and teenage sensibilities, it’s actually a far more interesting film than the filmmakers ever intended.
Invasion of the Saucer Men is the type of movie that gets absolutely destroyed by the film critics, because it usually gets lumped in with all the bad science fiction films of the 50s. For instance, Leonard Maltin in his video guide book gives the film one and a half stars, but never really explains why. After all, it’s a silly science fiction film, therefore no explaining is necessary. While Invasion of the Saucer Men is no classic, it’s certainly not as bad as most movie critics would have you believe, in fact it holds up fairly well to most sci-fi “classics” of the decade like The Day the Earth Stood Still and Forbidden Planet. Both films are horribly overrated by the critics solely for the fact that they were made by prestigious studios (FOX and MGM), where as The Invasion of the Saucer Men was released by AIP, which specialized in schlock (entertaining schlock).
Invasion of the Saucer Men has an interesting subplot that details the cover up of a UFO that the Air Force accidentally blew up. In the film, the Saucer Men land in a heavily wooded area and start scouting the area. The Air Force gets wind of it and drive down to investigate the saucer.The men try to communicate with the saucer verbally, but when they get no reply, they come to the conclusion that it is empty and decide to enter by force.Air Force engineers cut through the hull of craft, but in the process set off a fuse that causes the saucer to explode. The local authorities hear the explosion and send a policeman to investigate. He is greeted by Lt. Wilkins, who tells the officer that one of their jets crashed and everything is under control.The police officer accepts Wilkins story and drives away. The most interesting part of this subplot is that it is implied that this is not the first time that the Air Force has covered up a UFO crash. In the end, with the cover up a success, Lt. Wilkins and Col. Ambrose have the following exchange:
Ambrose: Makes you proud, doesn’t it?
Wilkins: What does colonel?
Ambrose: Being part of a show like this; protecting our country from alien invaders. Just think about it, only this special unit and the president of the United States will know what happened here tonight.
Wilkins: You mean you think we know what’s happened!
Ambrose: Well, of course we do!
Wilkins: Colonel! This top secret service is like scratching; once you get started it’s hard to stop.
Ambrose: What are you getting at lieutenant? SPIT IT OUT!
Wilkins: Well, did it ever occur to you colonel that there might be other units just like ours covering up other things?
This may seem like a standard science fiction plot, but it was basically unheard of the 1950s to portray the military in such an unflattering light; Colonel Ambrose is a pompous boob who elicits nothing but disgust from Lt. Wilkins.Ambrose takes pride in defending the country from alien invaders, when in reality all he did was botch a major operation (explode a flying saucer), while the real protagonists of the film, teenagers Johnny and Joan, are defeating the Saucer Men in another area of the woods.
In a nice twist, it’s not only the Air Force that is covering up the Saucer Men’s existence, but the Saucer Men as well. While driving back from the local make out spot, teenagers Johnny and Joan accidentally hit a Saucer Man.Johnny is afraid that he ran over a kid and gets out of his car to investigate, only to find the corpse of bulbous extra terrestrial lying underneath his fender.Before Johnny has a chance to look at the Saucer Man, one of its hands detaches itself from its wrist, crawls over to a tire on Johnny’s car “Elvis,” sprouts needles from its fingertips and proceeds to stab the tire, causing it to deflate. With his car out of commission, Johnny decides the best thing to do is call the police from a nearby telephone. While Johnny and Joan are away, the other Saucer Men come to collect the body of their compatriot and replace it with the body of would be conman, Joe Gruen, who has met an untimely end at the hands of the Saucer Men.The police arrive at the scene before Johnny and believe that Joe is the victim of a hit and run accident. When Johnny arrives at the police station, he is unaware that they have found Joe’s body in place of the Saucer Man and is duped into signing a confession. When he tries to persuade the police that he hit an extraterrestrial, they just ignore his pleas and chalk it up to him being a “mixed up teenager”.
Johnny and Joan escape from the police department in hopes that they can find evidence to back up their story; they track down Joe’s roommate Art and hope to persuade him that they are telling the truth. Art is skeptical, but agrees to go along with them and is attacked by the Saucer Men for his effort. When Johnny and Joan call the police for help the police once again ignore them and tell them that the hit and run charges have been dropped, because the autopsy revealed that Joe died of alcohol poisoning hours before the alleged accident.It turns out that the Saucer Men’s main defense is injecting alcohol into their victims, Joe was already wasted when he ran into them, hence the alcohol poisoning, while Art survives the ordeal slightly tipsy.
The Saucer Men are probably the only screen villains (extraterrestrial that is) not hell bent on taking over the world, rather are part of a scouting mission that goes horribly awry. It’s not revealed what their mission is, but it is made apparent that they do not want their presence known; to extent that they are willing to frame a young couple who have seen too much.They will do anything to ensure secrecy, include murdering the scheming Joe Gruen, who was planning to make millions off the dead Saucer Men before biting the dust himself. The Saucer Men, however, have only vital weakness….THEY HATE LIGHT!The meet their demise when Johnny and Joan gather up all their teenage friends and have them turn their headlights on the slowly advancing Saucer Men. The Saucer Men evaporate into thin air and the make out point is saved.
Invasion of the Saucer Men is one of the first (if not the first) science fiction films to have teenagers as its lead protagonists, prior to this most science fiction heroes were scientists, military men, or men in higher positions in life.There was usually a science vs. military subplot prevalent throughout these films; the scientists wanted to understand and, if possible, communicate with the creature, whereas the military only wanted to destroy the damn thing.The military usually came out on top in the end, when it was revealed that the creature had no desire to communicate and was bent on taking over the world/or destroying large cities. Invasion of the Saucer Men discards this subplot altogether, focusing more on Johnny and Joan’s attempts at getting the local authorities to believe their story about the Saucer Men, and when failing to do so, taking the matter into their own hands. This is a trope that would dominant science fiction/horror films for the next 50 years, but it’s interesting to see it first hand in a fairly obscure 50s sci-fi thriller. Johnny and Joan are determined to fight these monsters, while the adults just stand around and sneer at them.The police and Joan’s father perceive Johnny as a hoodlum, who is destined to wind up in prison, while crotchety old farmer Larkin threatens to blast them full of rock salt for trespassing on his property and getting his cows drunk. It could be argued that the real antagonists are the adults, because in the end, the Saucer Men really aren’t much of a threat and are defeated rather easily, whereas farmer Larkin is still out and about, ready to blast the next teenager that trespasses on his property.
I know what you must be thinking at this point: This movie sounds absolutely ridiculous! Extra-terrestrial invaders that inject alcohol into their victims and are allergic to light! That sounds lame!
It would be lame, if the film was a straight horror film, but the filmmakers approach it in a very tongue in cheek manner. It is rumored that it was initially supposed to be a straight out horror film, but when director Edward L. Cahn saw the Saucer Men costumes he decided it would be best to play for laughs. However, it must be said that Cahn (with the exception of the climax) does an excellent job of handling the creatures, often showing them in shadows or in close ups, but never allowing the viewer to get a good look at them. The scene in which Johnny hits the Saucer Men is especially effective, because the Saucer Man is briefly glimpsed in silhouette, giving the scene an appropriately eerie edge.The humor is largely supplied by Joe , Art, and old man Larkin. The opening shot is of Larkin’s dilapidated house, punctuated by a flash of lightning, just then Art’s voiceover (he’s the narrator of the film) intones, “Spooky, huh?”He then informs us that, “a plain, old farmer lives in this house, an easy going sort of guy.” Just then a car drives by and out comes old man Larkin brandishing a shot gun, grumbling, “I’ll get the law after them.” We are then introduced to Joe and Art sitting in a diner; Joe, in a drunken stupor, asks a pretty waitress, “I wonder if you can tell me how to…..get to first base with you tonight.” The waitress walks away offended, Art gives Joe a dirty look, and Joe defends his actions with, “At least I tried!” It’s not pivotal to the plot, but it’s a scene that sets up the characters and their relationship with one another: Joe is always looking for an angle, while Art is fairly indifferent to everything. Joe is played by Frank Gorshin, who would later find fame as The Riddler on TV's Batman.
Even the relationship between Col. Ambrose and Lt. Wilkins is played for laughs. Ambrose is a pompous, humorless windbag who is suspicious of everyone, while Lt. Wilkins does his best to keep a straight face when listening to Ambrose ramble on and on. It’s pretty fitting that at the film’s end Wilkins can no longer keep himself in check and deflates Ambrose’s ego by hinting that there are other units out there covering up similar things.The humor certainly helps gloss over the film’s shortcomings.
The most pleasant surprise about Invasion of the Saucer Men is its two leads Steve Terrell and Gloria Castillo; both are extremely likable and are believable as a young couple. It certainly helps that their characters Johnny and Joan are fairly intelligent people, as opposed to the personality free mannequins that usually dominate these types of films.It’s to the film’s credit that these two characters often behave in a rational and believable manner, when Johnny runs over the Saucer Men, he calls the police.When the police don’t believe him, he seeks out someone who might (Art). When Art is attacked by the Saucer Men, Johnny phones the police again and when they refuse to send help, he seeks out the aid of his friends. I especially like the character of Joan, because she actually plays a role in bringing down the Saucer Men, as opposed to being just a lovely decoration for the male audience to gawk at. Joan stands by Johnny’s side throughout the entire film and is as determined put an end to the Saucer Men as he is. The film could have easily followed the tired storyline of Joan being kidnapped and Johnny having to come to her rescue, but instead it’s Art that gets kidnapped, and Joan and Johnny come to his aid. When Johnny goes to rustle up some friends, Joan is right there with him, getting the attention of the teenagers by running from car to car and explaining the situation in a calm, but urgent manner.
It’s interesting to note the role of women in low budget, 50’s science fiction, because they were often depicted as being brave, intelligent, and completely self sufficient.While their A-movie counterparts were often given nothing to do, the women in these films often played a pivotal role in defeating the title monster, or in the case of Beverly Garland in It Conquered the World went out with a bang. All one has to do is compare Alta from Forbidden Planet to Joan from Invasion of the Saucer Men.In Forbidden Planet, a big budgeted MGM film, Alta’s (Anne Francis) sole function is to add sex appeal to the proceedings, otherwise her character is fairly useless, while in Invasion of the Saucer Men, Joan is willing to step into danger with Johnny, because she finds it preferable than waiting at home. She may not be the ass kicking heroine of today, but she’s certainly not the brainless sex kitten that became prevalent throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s.
Invasion of the Saucer Men was remade in 1965 as The Eye Creatures by hack filmmaker Larry Buchanan, whose other noteworthy credits include: The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald, Mars Needs Women, It’s Alive, and other AIP remakes.The title creatures consist of actors wearing black leotards covered with plastic eyeballs, with a rubber eyeball mask to boot.The Eye Creatures is so cheap and completely inept, that it makes the original look like a Steven Spielberg production by comparison. The star is Beach Movie hunk John Ashley, who unlike Steve Terrell, is completely bland in the lead role. If The Eye Creatures is remembered at all, it’s for the fact that it became fodder for the boys at Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Credits:
Cast: Steve Terrell (Johnny Carter), Gloria Castillo (Joan Hayden), Frank Gorshin (Joe Gruen), Lynn Osborne (Art Burns), Raymond Hatton (Larkin), Russ Bender (Doctor), Douglas Henderson (Lt. Wilkins), Sam Buffington (Col. Ambrose).
Director: Edward L. Cahn.
Screenplay: Al Martin
based on the short story "The Cosmic Frame Up" By Paul W. Fairman. 69 min.
Scooby Doo, Where Are You: Which Witch is Which? (Scoobypedia summary):After coming home from a fishing trip, the gang runs into a witch and zombie who have been haunting the swamp and scaring everyone off.
Mark of the Vampire (wikipedia summary): Sir Karell is found murdered in his own house with two tiny pinpoint wounds on his neck. Dr. Doskil, and Sir Karen's friend, Baron Otto, are convinced that the vampire, Count Mora, and his daughter, Luna, are responsible for the murder, but the Prague police inspector refuses to believe them. Now Sir Karell's daughter, Irena, is the count's next target. Enter Professor Zelen, an expert on vampires and the occult, who's sent into prevent her death. At the same time, secrets are revealed surrounding the circumstances of Sir Karell's death.
Scooby Doo, Where Are You was my favorite cartoon growing up as
a kid, mainly because I was a huge fan of monster movies, so it was always fun
to see the Mystery Inc. gang encounter a different monster (albeit fake one)
every week. The show would follow a simple formula: The gang randomly bumps into a supernatural being (ghost, mummy, werewolf,
etc), gather clues and, through a set of contrivances, catch the monster and unmask it as some poor schmoe out to make a quick buck. Then Scooby Doo would do something comical and everyone (sometimes even the
villain) would get a good laugh out of it.
My favorite
episode of Scooby Doo, Where Are You is
Which Witch is Which, because it has everything that is essential to Scooby
Doo:
1)Reused animation, or limited
animation as it known.
Scooby Doo, Where Are You often used the same animation over and over again
(ex: Close up of Freddy, The Mystery Machine Driving through a swamp) as a way
to save money. Which Witch Is Witch reuses the same shot of the Zombie holding a lantern twice in the episode.
The first instance occurs when the gang is driving down a dirt road and they see a man standing on the side of the road, holding a lantern.
Freddy decides to ask the stranger for directions, only to come face to face
with this:
The zombie moans and groans a few times and the gang drives away. A few
minutes later they stop off at a General Store and tell the owner Zeke about
their encounter with the zombie. Zeke tells the gang he's seen the zombie with his frog hunting partner, Zeb. In a bracketed flashback we are shown Zeke and Zeb wandering through the swamp with rifles, when they a stumble upon an old, green faced witch shouting incantations over a bonfire, just then (in a long shot) the zombie materializes out of nowhere, then it abrupt cuts to a close up of the zombie...holding the lantern. The frame is slightly cropped so the lantern is not as visible, but it sill occupies a good portion of the frame. What's even more shameful is that flashback happens less than a minute after the gang's first encounter with the zombie, so the image of him holding the lantern is still very much ingrained in the viewer's mind.
2)The first person the gang encounters is the villain. About 75% of the timethe first person the gang encounter turns out to
be the villain (or at least in on the hoax). After the gang encounters the zombie on the
road, the first person they encounter is Zeke, owner of the General Store, and
a regular expert on the whole zombie/witch phenomenon. When Zeke tell them
whole the backstory on the zombie and witch, there are only two conclusions that
loyal Scooby Doo followers can draw:
Either, Zeke is being hoaxed by some pranksters
out for personal gang.
Or,
Zeke is in on the hoax, along with his friend Zeb.
Since, there are no other characters in the episode (other than the
sheriff) it is definitely the latter.
3)
An over elaborate, nonsensical scheme by the villain.
It is revealed that Zeke and Zeb hijacked an armored car and sunk
it in the swamp, so they could come back for the money later. However, as time
passed they forgot where they sunk the armored car, so they donned the disguise
of the witch and the zombie to frighten away intruders, while they searched the swamps for the lost loot. Of course, given how
sparsely populated the area is, they could have easily carried out their search
at normal hours without having aroused any suspicious whatsoever. Sure, they
might have succeeded in scaring a few of the locals, but there are always going to be the curious few who want to catch a glimpse of the witch and zombie. I could
easily see this turning into an episode of Fact
of Faked, in which Ben and the gang decide to test whether or not a video
of the zombie/witch is indeed fact. Or
imagine, while donning the disguises of the zombie and witch, Zeke and Zeb
encounter an armed local, who is a “shoot first, ask questions later" type, then they would be screwed.
4)The villain remains in character,
even though no one is around. This is a common
occurrence in Scooby Doo (and most
Hanna Barbara mystery cartoons as well) where the villain will still carry on
the act of being a monster, even though no one is around to witness it. Often there will be close ups of the villain hiding behind bushes, or just randomly
cackling while the Mystery Machine drives away.
In Which Witch Is Which, there
is a scene in which the witch (Zeke) and the zombie (Zeb) come across a bag of
money and the witch overwhelmed with joy crones, “LOOK AT THE MONEY! MONEY! MONEY! MONEY!” Of
course, Scooby is in the bag and hops away. However, prior to Scooby’s
hilarious entrance, Zeke and Zeb had no idea anyone was around. In fact, they are convinced that they have successfully scared away those meddling kids and that dog, so why carry on with the act? Are they method actors devoted to their craft or are they
just paranoid?
5)The reveal at the end is more absurd than a paranormal explanation.
The highlight of every episode of Scooby
Doo was the reveal at the end, in which the gang would take turns
explaining the villains’ motives and how the trickery was done. However,
usually their debunking was far more ridiculous than a paranormal explanation . For
instance, if there was a ghost involve, usually it was done through the use of
film projectors; problem is the projectors the villains used were usually of
the 16 mm variety and certainly did not possess the ability to project images
onto thin air. In Which Witch Is Which, it is revealed that the witch’s floating
ability was accomplished by a giant balloon shaped like a witch, though
it hardly explains why the balloon was cackling while in mid flight or that the
balloons look absolutely nothing like the witch the gang witnessed floating on the
ship. The witch appears and disappears
through the use of smoke bombs, but usually it’s a split second after the bomb
goes off and there’s nowhere the witch could be hiding to throw the bomb from
out of view. Sometimes, the writers of
Scooby Doo would often forget to explain away events that seemingly contradict
a rational explanation (floating knives for one). What makes this show so compelling is that you’re
often left with more questions than with answers, because of the lazy writing and bad animation.
Scooby Doo, Where Are You essentially revived a common plot
device that was prevalent throughout horror films in the silent and early sound era of film, the whole, “it was all a plot” ending. Like Scooby Doo, these films would revolve
around a small group of people being harassed by a monster, only for it to be unmasked
as a relative/benefactor hoping to keep the inheritance/treasure for himself; probably the famous of this subgenre is Mark of the Vampire. However, there are
two notable exceptions:
1) The hoaxers are the heroes. In Mark of the Vampire it is revealed that the vampire storyline is a
huge scam concocted by the protagonists into capturing a murderer, Baron Von
Zinden, though it’s never really explained why they think such an elaborate scheme
would work. Apparently the sight of the
walking corpse of his victim (Sir Karell Borotyn) will frighten Von Zinden into
confessing his crime.
2) Scooby Doo, Where Are You plays like a typical mystery thriller
(for kids), planting clues throughout the course of the episode, thus tipping
off the audience that the monster seen lurking about is a hoax. Mark of the Vampire, on the other hand,
plays like a straight horror film for 45 minutes, never so much as hinting that
this is an elaborate ruse to catch a murderer. The film goes to great lengths
to convince the audience that the vampires are genuine, only to pull the rug
out from under them. Even more frustrating is that as soon as it is revealed
the vampires are a ruse, they are not seen again until the very ending of the
film, in which they are shown taking off their makeup, while Bela Lugosi rants on about how great he was. There is no scene in which the
characters stand around and explain how the actors portraying the vampires
pulled off such clever trickery, thus leaving the audience with more questions than
answers.
Like Scooby Doo,
the unmasking at the end is far more implausible than a paranormal explanation,
mainly because it seems impossible that a troupe of stage actors could pull off
such high level trickery. Throughout the
course of the film, we are treated to the following scenes:
1)When Count Mora and his daughter Luna are first introduced, they seemingly walk through a giant spider web, leaving it completely intact, thus implying that they possess supernatural powers. This scene is a direct lift from 1931’s Dracula (also starring Bela Lugosi and directed by Tod Browning), in that film when Dracula is first introduced, he walks through a giant spider web, much to the amazement of the befuddled Renfield. The major difference is that Dracula is indeed a real vampire; whereas Count Mora and his daughter are later revealed to be actors posing as vampires. This fakery makes even less sense, because no one is around to witness this act. They apparently did it just for the hell of it.
2)Luna, through the apparent use of telepathic powers, lures the heroine (Irena) outside and proceeds to bite her neck. Irena is later to be in on the hoax, but as with the “walking through spider web” gag, this is completely unnecessary, as the man that is being tricked is not around to witness it. It would have been far simpler for Irena to let out a scream, pretend to faint, and paint two bite marks on her neck. Or maybe Count Mora and Luna are method actors, who really get into their parts.
3)The
servants describe to Professor Zelen that they saw a bat transform into Count
Mora out on the balcony. The butler is revealed to be in on the hoax, but he’s
also accompanied by the maid, who seemingly has no idea what is going on. Once
again, the real villain of the film (Baron Otto Von Zinden) is not around to
hear this account. Who exactly are they hoaxing again?
4)Luna
(sporting giant bag wings) is seen gliding from the second floor of the castle
down to the first floor, and for once Von Zinden is actually around to witness
it. This is a set up that doesn't really seem to effect Von Zinden one way or another, he kind of just nods it off with complete indifference.
The thing
that really gets lost in the narrative of Mark
of the Vampire is the fact that the vampire hoax DOESN’T WORK! The sight of
vampires lurking about doesn’t frighten Von Zinden into confessing his crime,
in fact he never confesses his guilt at all, but rather is hypnotized by
Professor Zelen into re-enacting the murder of Sir Karell Borotyn. Essentially,
the protagonists could have saved themselves a lot of time and money had they
just hypnotized Baron Von Zinden in the first place, rather than hiring stage
actors to sell the vampire ruse. But then again, the film would only be a half
hour long.
As noted
above, the stage actors portraying the vampires often remain in character, even
when no one is around to witness them. Throughout the course of the film, Count
Mora (Bela Lugosi) and his daughter will be seen lurking about, despite the
fact that no one is around to see them. The majority of Lugosi’s role consists
of reactions shots of him looking on, while the main characters walk about
without so much as batting an eye his way. Even more perplexing is that before
the vampires are revealed to be a ploy into tricking the lecherous Von Zinden,
there is a scene in which Luna is about to bite Irena’s neck, only to be
interrupted by the incompetent love interested Fedor. Luna lets out a creepy
hiss, grabs Irena by the hand and runs away, while Fedor is stopped in his
tracks by Count Mora. This scene is fairly pointless to the overall narrative
of the film and its only function is to give the audience one last shock before we get into the final act, in which the heroes capture Von Zinden.
There are two facts one needs to know about Mark
of the Vampire in order to understand it better:
1)It is a remake of the 1927 silent
film London After Midnight also
directed by Tod Browning and starring the great Lon Chaney. London After Midnight’s claim to fame is
that is a lost film, the only thing that survives from the production are a
series of stills that show Chaney donning genuinely frightening make up.
2)Over twenty minutes of footage was
cut, which might explain why the film feels so disjointed at times. Top billed Lionel Barrymore is introduced
twenty minutes into the film without any real preamble; he just appears at the
heroine’s bed side. It often seems Lugosi’s character has a line, only for the
film to cut away to someone else. It is rumored that the cut footage hinted at
an incestuous relationship between Count Mora and his daughter, but the film’s
wonderful commentary (by Steve Jones and Kim Newman) seems to indicate that it
was mostly comedic in nature.
My personal theory is that Browning was remaking not one, but
two movies of his: London After Midnight and
Dracula. The reveal at the end is
taken from London After Midnight, but
a lot of the imagery and characters are taken directly from the 1931 version of
Dracula:
1)Bela
Lugosi.
Even though he’s credited as Count Mora, Lugosi for the most part
reprises his role of Dracula for this film, to the point that he even dons the
same costume. The major difference being that Count Mora remains an unseen presence for most of the film; Lugosi’s role
can be described as being more of an extended cameo than a major role. He
appears every now and then to do something spooky, but then disappears while
all the principals walk through the scenery. Mark of the Vampire plays greatly to Lugosi’s strengths as an
actor; Lugosi never learned to speak English well and often stumbled through
his lines, but he had a great screen presence. His lack of dialogue and limited screen time actually add an aura of mystery surrounding his character that was completely lacking in Dracula. The first twenty minutes of Dracula are memorable, mainly because it
exploits Lugosi physicality to great effect, but it goes downhill once he is
called upon to recite dialogue while enclosed on a small set.
2)The
Wise Professor.
Dracula had Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing, while Mark of the Vampire has Lionel Barrymore
as Professor Zelen. They both serve basically the same function: convince the
authorities that vampires are real and warn the heroine about the great danger
she is in. Edward Van Sloan is extremely
stiff as Van Helsing, though it actually works given that Van Helsing is very humorless and obsessive in his quest to stop Dracula, but Lionel Barrymore is an absolute delight as Professor
Zelen, practically stealing every scene he is with his very energetic and often
humorous performance. What’s amazing is that in 1935 Lionel Barrymore was
an A-list actor, considered to be one of the best amongst his peers, yet here
he is in a B horror movie giving it his all.
Most actors often looked down on horror films and went through the
motions, but Barrymore genuinely seems to be enjoying himself. Barrymore gives Mark of the Vampire the spark that was
desperately lacking in Dracula.
3)The
Bland Leading Man:
This was a common
trope in most early 30s horror films, the boring love interest to the more interesting heroine. At Universal Studios, this thankless role often went to
David Manners, who often did his best not to get in the way of the proceedings.
In Mark
of the Vampire the thankless role of Fedor is given to Henry Wadsworth, who
maybe the most worthless character in horror history. How worthless is Fedor?
He’s the only character (other than the maid and Von Zinden) that isn’t in on
the vampire hoax. Apparently, Professor Zelen and company were afraid that
Fedor might mess up their scheme, so they decided it would be best not to
tell him. He is completely irrelevant to the plot. As dull as Jonathan Harker was in Dracula, at least he served some
function to the overall story; Fedor just plods through the scenery with a
baffled look on his face. Dracula has
the “love conquers all” ending, in which it is implied that Jonathan’s love for
Mina helps bring her back from Dracula’s spell, whereas Mark of the Vampire has Irena apologize to Fedor for not letting
him in on the ruse.
It often feels like Browning and company
are sending up the worthless male lead by assigning him the traits that you
would typically find in the heroine: There’s one scene in which he recounts to
Irena and company how he fainted while walking past Count Mora’s castle and the
awoke to find two bite marks on his neck.
It is my opinion that Mark
of the Vampire is a vastly superior film to Dracula, especially on a technical level. Dracula, especially the LONG middle section, often feels like a
photographed stage play; the camera remains stationary while the actors enter
the set, say their lines, and exit. Out of all the Universal Monster films from
the 30s, Dracula is the hardest to
sit through, largely due to its sluggish pace.
Despite the fact that there’s a vampire on the loose, it never feels
like anything is truly at stake. The
characters stand around and talk, talk, talk, but they don’t take any course of
action. It isn’t until the last ten
minutes that the filmmakers decide to notch up the urgency level
by having Dracula kidnap Mina, forcing Jonathan and Van Helsing to leave the
confines of the sitting room to rescue her.
Mark of the Vampire has a far more cinematic feel to it: in the opening scene we are treated to a tracking shot of an old wash lady walking through a cemetery with a basket, getting startled by a bat, dropping her basket, and running away. Dracula consists largely of long shots with practically every cast member in frame, occasionally cutting to a close up; Mark of the Vampire is more heavily reliant upon editing, often cross cutting between two (sometimes three) events happening at the same time. As the film progresses, the pacing of the films picks up and then slows down again once Von Zinden is hypnotized into re-enacting his murder of Sir Karyall.
The biggest flaw of Dracula, is
the count loses most of his menace once he leaves the confines of his
Transylvania castle. The first twenty minutes of the film are wonderful; the
filmmakers successfully build up a sense of dread and danger just by the
reaction of the villagers faces when Renfield announce he’s going to Dracula’s
castle. The villagers urge Renfield not
to go, but when he is adamant that he must. A kindly old lady gives him her
cross for protection. This is a wonderful build up to the character of Dracula
and the audience is treated to an eerie scene in which Dracula and his brides
are seen rising from their graves. Again, Lugosi’s performance is best served
in a stylized setting, once you take him out of the context of an old dark castle
and put him in the middle of a nicely furnished sitting room, it drains away
the menace. It certainly doesn't help that a few shots are framed to make it
seem that Dracula is shorter than the protagonists.
Mark of
the Vampire works largely because Count Mora remains an unseen presence
throughout most of the film and usually has his daughter Luna do all of his
dirty work. We sense he possesses great powers, but never actually see him do
anything, which helps retain his mysterious aura. There’s a sense that
Count Mora is always one step ahead of the protagonists, hence it is a letdown
when it is revealed that he and Luna are fictional ploys used to capture a
murderer.
Mark of the Vampire also improves upon Dracula in building up
suspense; the urgency increases with each successive act. The characters do
stand around and talk, but at least there are actual scenes of them
investigating the area, trying to locate Count Mora and his cronies.
As much as I have nitpicked on both Scooby Doo, Where Are You and Mark of the Vampire for their cop out endings, part of their charm is the fact that both programs provide such simple solutions to seemingly complex scenarios. There's a scene in Mark of the Vampire in the Inspector (Lionel Atwill) intones, "We all thought our vampire scheme was so simple, so certain of success."
It has been theorized that Mark of the Vampire is actual a parody of horror conventions of the time, this isn't evident the first time around, but on multiple viewings (once you know the twist ending) the humor starts to emerge. There's a sense that the characters are having fun at the expense of the poor Von Zinden; they play pranks on him and tell him all sorts of crazy stories in hopes that it will make him sweat. Plus, the film ends on a joke; Lugosi (doing a nice send up of himself) looks in the mirror and says, "I was greater than any vampire." Then a stagehand tells him to shut up and help him pack. Whether you want to believe this theory or not, Mark of the Vampire, despite its plot holes or because of them, is a rather remarkably entertaining film from the golden age of horror films.
Mark of the Vampire Credits Cast: Lionel Barrymore (Professer Zelen), Elizabeth Allen (Irena Borotyn), Lionel Atwill (Inspector Neumann), Bela Lugosi (Count Mora), Carroll Borland (Luna), Jean Hersholt (Baron Otto Von Zinden), Henry Wadsworth (Fedor Vincente), Donald Meek (Dr. J Doskil), Holmes Herbert (Sir Karell Borotyn), Leila Bennett (Maria), Jessie Ralph (Midwife), Ivan F. Simpson (Jan), Michael Visaroff (Innkeeper). Director: Tod Browning Writers: Guy Endore, Bernard Schubert, John L. Balderston Running Time: 61 minutes
IMDB synpopsis for Teen Wolf: Teen discovers that puberty for him means he turns into a werewolf. One of the beneficial side effects is that it also turns him into a top-notch basketball player. But will his notoriety cost him his friends and can he find true love?
IMDB synopsis for Encino Man: Stoney and Dave find a caveman (Link) trapped in ice, thaw him out, and show him around town. Although Link is slow to catch on to basic concepts of 20th century life, he has no trouble impressing all the girls and helping Stoney and Dave find the coolness they've been searching for.
There has been a long standing debate in the film community as to which film is better: Encino Man or Teen Wolf. Both films have been recognized by scholars and movie goers alike as being the two of the greatest films EVER made; hence it has become an obsession to find out which one is better. They both share similar storylines: average high schooler wishes he was popular and through a set of extraordinary circumstance (one finds out he is a werewolf, the other finds a caveman in his backyard) have their wish fulfilled. However, despite the similarities in story, the films have two conflicting views on what it means to be popular:
Encino Man - Dave gets everything he wants and it turns out to be even better than he expected;He gets the girl of his dreams, his arch nemesis has been embarrassed, and he becomes the most popular guy in high school, because of the awesome pool party at his house.
Teen Wolf - Scott gets everything he wants and it turns his life into a disaster: The girl he has longed for turns out to be a flake, his grandstanding on the basketball court has alienated his teammates, and his overall cockiness as the wolf has made him some bitter enemies. Success breeds contempt! When he finally comes to his senses, he realizes (like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz) that happiness was always there to be found, he just had to look harder. Mick gets his comeuppance, but not nearly to the same degree as Matt Wilson.
The interesting thing about both films is that they take horror film premises (Teenage werewolf, thawed out cavemen let loose on the modern world) and turn them into teen comedies. I have always theorized that Teen Wolf began as an average teen comedy, but then one day the writer saw the 1957 horror film I Was a Teenage Werewolf on television and said to himself, “This movie would be much better if the lead character was a werewolf.” It would explain why Teen Wolf follows every teen comedy formula, despite having a werewolf in it.
To determine which film is better, I have decided to break each down into seven categories: Protagonist, Antagonist, Object of Desire, Sidekick, Romance, High School Dance sequence, and Montage. Whatever film edges out the other in these categories will be declared the winner. So let the analysis BEGIN!
Protagonist: Teen Wolf and Encino Man share similar protagonists in Scott Howard (Michael J. Fox) and Dave Morgan (Sean Astin). They both are ordinary, rather unremarkable high school students who long for bigger and better things.
Scott is an undersized player on a losing high school basketball team (The Beavers) who yearns for the affection of pretty blonde (and high school stage actress) Pamela Wells. There are two obstacles standing in Scott’s way:
1) Pamela essentially blows him off every time he speaks to her.
2) She is dating baddie Mick, who is a star player on a rival basketball team.
He is so infatuated with Pamela that he disregards his childhood friend (and The All American Girl Next Door) Boof. It’s a credit to Michael J. Fox that Scott is a likable character; many teen comedies from that era (see The Heavenly Kid) often suffer because the protagonist is an unlikable bore, too busy whining about his problems rather than doing anything to fix them. It certainly helps that Scott has a sense a humor about himself; in the film’s opening Scott’s basketball team is getting humiliated 71-12 at home and Mick (after offering Scott his hand and pulling him up for the floor) says, “You guys suck!” Scott, half smilingly, replies, “No, really?” It’s an embarrassing loss to be sure, but Scott takes it in stride and proceeds to move on with his life.
Scott’s biggest flaw is that he temporarily lets the fame of being the Wolf get to his head; he’s been a fairly anonymous figure his entire life, so once the fanfare starts, he doesn't know how to handle it. He gives the people what they want at the expense of his friends and teammates. His antics are delightful to the masses, but absolutely irritating to those that are close to him (except Stiles, but more on that later). However, despite his temporary fall from grace, Scott is able to redeem himself with relative ease. When he realizes that there is a potential danger in being the Wolf, Scott vows never to turn into it again, even if it means getting shunned by his fellow classmates (and the sports loving community as well).
Encino Man's main flaw is its main character, Dave.
Sean Astin, while not a bad actor, is not particularly charismatic and his character suffers greatly for it; Dave is an unlikable bore, who isn’t deserving of the happiness he receives at the end. At the beginning of the film, Dave realizes he has wasted most of his high school experience and is determined to end it on a high note, namely getting his own page in the high school yearbook and hooking up with the beautiful Robyn.
There are two things standing in his way when it comes to Robyn:
1) She is embarrassed to be seen in public with him.
2) She is dating baddie Matt Wilson.
Dave bemoans the fact that Robyn is dating a complete jerk like Matt Wilson, but he is no prize turkey himself. It is revealed that Dave and Robyn were friends prior to high school; when Stoney points out that Dave had a chance with Robyn, he whines, “She hadn’t hit babehood yet!”
Things take a turn for a worse when Link enters the picture; whereas Stoney genuinely wants to be friends with Link, Dave is only interested in exploiting Link for his own personal gain. His whole plan of winning over Robyn and recognition from his classmates is by leaching off of Link’s popularity; essentially he’s the Ringo Starr of the three. Actually, I take that back, Ringo Starr wrote the awesome song “Don’t Pass Me By” and was the easily the best actor out of the Beatles, so Dave is nothing like him.
Even worse is that Dave is often very condescending towards Link, saying, “He’s practically a monkey. We found him! We can do whatever we want with him.” Therefore, it’s not too surprising that when Robyn expresses interests in going to the prom with the fun loving Link, Dave snaps and attempts to abandon him in the middle of nowhere. If not for Stoney’s intervention, it would be interesting to see if Dave would have gone through with his plan, or had a change of heart.
The filmmakers clearly relished filming the scenes with Stoney and Link; it would certainly explain why Dave’s character arc is so abrupt in its resolution. For nearly 75 minutes Dave is a complete tool not worthy of our attention, but then all of sudden (with less than ten minutes of running time left) he sees the error of his ways, realizes Link is special and is content with being his normal self. It is after he has this epiphany that he is then given a chance to be heroic at the film’s end, though even this moment is rather underwhelming: Matt Wilson has stolen Polaroids of Link frozen in a block of ice and is about to show them to the rest of the Senior class, when Dave comes flying out of nowhere and knocks them out of his hand. It is an admirable attempt by Dave to protect Link’s identity, but it get’s overshadowed by Link tossing Matt Wilson into a cake and Stoney pouring punch over his head. Granted, Scott has a similar character arc in Teen Wolf, but the difference is that the resolution to his story doesn’t seem rushed, nor does it take backseat to the goofy antics of his hilarious sidekick. In Encino Man, Stoney the sidekick (despite not having a character arc) and Link are given center stage, while Dave more or less waits in the wings, waiting for his cue.
The question all you Encino Man fans might be asking is: What about Link? Isn't he the protagonist as well?
The answer: No. Link doesn't go through a major character arc, while he does learn how to adapt to modern times, he essentially is the same person he was at the beginning of the film. Link is more of a walking plot device, whose function is to make sure Dave hooks up with Robyn by the film's end. Hell, you could easily change Link from a caveman to a genie and you would still basically have the exact same movie.
Edge: Teen Wolf.
Antagonist:
Teen Wolf has a pair of antagonists: Mick and Vice Principal Thorne. However, Thorne is relatively minor subplot and his story is resolved through the intervention of Scott’s father that it makes more sense to focus on Mick. The interesting thing about Mick is that for the first half of the film he is fairly indifferent towards Scott; the only time he ever encounters Scott is on the basketball court, but other than that the two of them have no real relationship, good or bad.
It isn't until Scott starts fooling around with Pamela (Mick's girlfriend) that Mick becomes antagonistic towards Scott.
Scott is deserving of Mick's wrath, because not only is he seeing Pamela, but he rubs it in Mick's face: the two of them are goofing off at a bowling alley, when Scott notices Mick and asks "Did you know he was going to be here?"
Pamela continues to flirt with Scott by bending over and bowling the ball from between her legs, resulting in a gutter. Scott quips, "Wow! That was good form!" He then teaches her the proper way to bowl by putting his hands all over her. Mick has had enough and shouts, "Hey, that's my girl. Don't touch her again."
Scott laughs it off and says, "She's my date tonight, pal!"
Mick, not one to back down, even from a werewolf, approaches Scott and says, "I'm not afraid of you freak! Underneath tall that hair you're still a dork, Scott. I've handled your kind before. You're mom used to steal chickens, 'til I blew her head off with a shotgun. Right, Scott?"
Scott gets angry and throws his bowling ball off screen, Mick just smiles.
As harsh as Mick's comments are, his anger is completely justified: Pamela is his girlfriend and Scott knows it, but still proceeds to flaunt her in front of Mick and his friends. It isn't until the dance scene that Mick crosses the line, first by punching Scott when he is in human form, and then by calling Boof a tramp, even though she hasn't done anything to deserve it. In the end though, Mick gets his comeuppance:
1) He is the goat of the Championship game. He snatches defeat from the jaws of victory when his late foul on Scott sets up the game winning basket for the Beavers. Scott makes both of his free throws and is the hero of the game, while Mick stares on in disbelief.
2) He loses Pamela. After the game, Mick walks over to collect Pamela and she tells him to "Drop dead!" The truth of the matter is that Pamela is a bigger villain than Mick, first by leading on Scott, then by spurning Mick in his hour of need.
The main antagonist in Encino Man is Matt Wilson.
He is not as complicated as his is Teen Wolf counterpart, Mick, he's just an asshole…pure and simple. He is also a far more memorable villain because:
1) He has a catchphrase. Instead of telling people to shut up, he simply says, "SHOOSH!"
2) He is a true bully in every sense of the word. He does everything in his power to make Dave's life at high school miserable, including stapling Dave to a bulletin board and writing "EAT ME" on his forehead.
Matt's villainy is seen throughout the course of the film, while Mick's was limited to the last half hour.
For the first half hour, Matt is likable, if only for the fact that he makes a living tormenting the unlikable Dave. But once Link enters the picture, you start to see him for the true asswipe that he is.
He takes an antagonistic attitude towards Link from the very first, mainly due to the fact that Link is very popular among the female students...including Robyn. When Matt first sees Link in the classroom, he asks, "What is this dipshit?"
Matt becomes even more embittered towards Link, when Robyn breaks up him for punching Link in the face at the local ice rink. Link sees that Matt is bullying Dave and decides to intervene. He steps on the ice and starts slipping, Matt skates up to him, says a few thing and proceeds to punch Link in the face, much to the disgust of everyone. In the blink of an eye Matt goes from being a class hero to a class zero, while the entire class begins to canonize Link.
After this incident, Matt is determined to discredit Link in front of his classmates and breaks into Dave's room, where he literally stumbles upon pictures of Link still frozen in the block of ice. He is certain has found his ace in the hole and proceeds to the prom to reveal this stunning revelation to the rest of the students, but as expected (because Matt is a douchebag) it all back fires. When he announces that Link is a “caveman,” the audience erupts in applause. Matt is further humiliated when Link throws him into a cake and Stoney pours punch on his head, telling him to "SHOOSH!” In the end, Matt Wilson gets his comeuppance, while Dave undeservedly gets Robyn.
Edge: Encino Man
The Object of Desire:
In teen comedies there is usually the love interest and the object of desire. The object of desire is the popular girl the main character obsesses over in the beginning of the film and through series of contrivances (sometime supernatural) hooks up with towards the middle of the film. However, the object of desire usually turns out to be a superficial bitch more concerned about popularity than being in a real relationship; after a series of disastrous incidents the main characters dumps her and realizes that his true love was right there all along in the form of his pretty childhood friend (the true love interest of the story).
This is the formula Teen Wolf follows: Scott is infatuated with Pamela Wells, even though she doesn’t give him the time of the day. When he encounters her at a party, he walks up to her and asks, “You looking for someone in particular?” She responds, “Not you!” and walks away.
However, once Scott turns into the wolf, Pamela jumps aboard the bandwagon and makes it a point to be seen in public with him wherever/whenever possible. Since Pamela is the “bad girl” of the story, there’s naturally a mild sex scene between her and Scott that takes place in her dressing room: the scene begins with her parading about in her bra and panties, while Scott stares on wide eyed, trying to keep his composure. Pamela asks Scott, “What does it take to turn into the wolf?”
Scott says he needs to be worked up. Pamela then replies, “What do you think about to get worked up?” She then takes off her bra, walks over to the seated Scott, leans over him, and starts kissing him on the lips. The two of them fall out of frame; the film then cuts to Vice Principal Thorne walking to his car and stopping as he hears a wolf’s howl coming from the school.
For sake of the narrative, Pamela has essentially served her purpose and is sidelined for the rest of the film.
Without trying to come off as a shallow, I think the problem with Pamela is that she is a rather unremarkable object of desire. The fatal flaw of most teen comedies is that the “plain” best female friend is usually far more attractive than the unattainable object of desire that the male protagonist lusts after and Teen Wolf is no exception to the rule; Boof is not only prettier than Pamela Wells, but she’s far more interesting as well.
Pamela has possibly the most unremarkable introduction in Film History: she’s first seen in a long shot, sitting on the gym bleachers, unable to hold back her yawns during the lopsided basketball game. This shot lasts less than a second and the only indicator that Scott has any interest in her is when he briefly glances her way during a time out. Of course, this could be the filmmaker’s way of showing just how distant Pamela is from Scott, but that seems unlikely, given the fact that almost everything else is telegraphed in advanced.
Compare Pamela’s introduction to Robyn’s in Encino Man and you see what I mean. Robyn is first seen in close up, standing out doors on a sunny day (as opposed to the dreary gym Pamela is sitting in) and has a huge smile on her face. It is easy to understand Dave’s attraction to Robyn based on the visuals alone, but with Scott it’s more along the lines of, “Why are you interested in that boring blonde in that stands, when you have a far more lively brunette cheering you on?” Lorie Griffin is by no means an unattractive woman (she is pretty), but she’s filmed in the most unflattering way possible, where as Megan Ward in Encino Man is given a very glamorous (almost super model) entrance.
Encino Man is interesting because it combines The Object of Desire and The Girl Next Door into the character of Robyn, therefore eliminating the subplot of Dave having to choose which girl he wants. Robyn is a far more interesting character than Pamela for three reasons:
1) She and Dave were childhood friends, but grew apart once high school hit. She isn’t mean towards Dave, but it’s pretty clear that she is often embarrassed to be seen with him in the hallways; especially when he starts ranting about how he found a caveman in his backyard.
2) She is more open minded than the standard Object of Desire. In most teen comedies when the main character gets with the popular girl, he is disappointed to learn that she is a self-absorbed, shallow bitch (Pamela in Teen Wolf); far different than what he fantasized her to be. He dreams of the perfect relationship, but instead is trapped in a living hell. Robyn is the exact opposite, the more you see of her the more you like her. A good scene that demonstrates this point is when Link enters a bar and the others follow him; Dave is uptight and nervous the entire time, Stoney befriends gang members, and Robyn starts dancing on the floor with Link. She even joins joins Link in a Congo line, while Dave sulks in the corner.
3) She has a character arc. Pamela begins Teen Wolf as a self centered bitch and is still a self centered bitch by film’s end; Robyn begins Encino Man content with her social circle and being Matt Wilson’s girlfriend, but by the movie's end no longer cares about being popular and has fully embraced Dave and his friends.
In a normal teen comedy this would be a happy ending, but in Robyn's case it is a complete tragedy, as Dave is not worth her time and effort.
Edge: Encino Man.
Sidekick:
A popular trope in teen comedies is the sidekick, whose purpose is to provide the “comic relief.” While the main character is usually uptight and serious, the sidekick is more laid back and mainly interested in having a good time. However, as the film progresses the sidekick becomes less relevant to the plot and is forgotten about to make way for the protagonist’s character arc (ex: fighting the bully, winning the girl, etc).
Encino Man subverts this trend in many ways, because Stoney remains pretty relevant throughout the movie. This is probably due to the fact that in 1992 Pauly Shore was the best known out of the three leads for his MTV show, Totally Pauly. Brendan Fraser was on an unknown, while Sean Astin had faded into obscurity (and was primarily known for his role in The Goonies). Of course, a decade later, Shore was the one who faded into obscurity, while Astin and Fraser would go onto bigger and better things. Stoney’s defining features are his hippie attire and his usage of bogus slang. Here are just a few of the phrases he throws out during the course of the film:
When talking to Dave about his infatuation with Robyn: The truth is bro, life's about greasing the 'do back, buddy, and wheezin' on the buff-fest, man. High school was interesting, alright? It was kinda like a harsh ride. Ah, ah...
To Dave’s parents about why he is always eating dinner at their house: If you're edged 'cause I'm weezin all your grindage, just chill. 'Cause if I had the whole Brady Bunch thing happenin' at my pad, I'd go grind over there, so dont tax my gig so hard-core cruster.
To the convenient store employees: Link and I are cruising the Mountain, bro, and we’d figured we wheeze a little juice.
Stoney’s bogus slang will either crack you up or irritate the living hell out of you; it’s definitely a
acquired taste. If you were a teenager in the late 80/early 90s, then chances are you will find Stoney
funny……OTHERS BEWARE!
While Dave only thinks of Link as his ticket to fame and fortune, Stoney develops a genuine bond with Link to the point that Link starts talking like Stoney (“Weezin’ the juice!”) Stoney in many ways is the heart of Encino Man, because despite his oddball appearance and personality, he’s often the voice of reason: when Dave is about to abandon Link in the middle of nowhere, Stoney pulls up on his scooter and calls Dave out on his bullshit, “You’re the one who weezed off his gig the whole time, ‘cause you thought maybe it would get you somewhere. And now the guy gets a little crusty and you’re going to bag him. It’s not happening Dave! I’m sorry, that’s not how it works with friends, man. You don’t bag your friends, just because they get in your way; no matter what, dude!”
It could be argued that Stoney has too much screen time and that Dave (the main character) gets lost in the mix. It’s certainly no coincidence that Dave is nowhere to be found on the DVD cover; it’s Stoney and Link striking silly poses. In fact, the filmmakers don’t really seem all that interested in Dave’s character arc and treat it as an afterthought. I could just picture the producer and the director on the set:
Director: Great job, everyone! That’s a wrap! Pauly, you were hilarious! Brendan, get job!
Producer: What about Dave?
Director: Who?
Producer: You know…the main character! Sean Astin plays him!
Director: Oh, that’s right! Sean Astin is in this movie. What about him?
Producer: You never resolved his character’s storyline.
Director: Ummmmmmm….what was that again?
Producer: His crush on Robyn…..
Director: Oh yeah! I know, we’ll film a kissing scene between the two of them and everything will be peachy keen!
Producer: OK! But shouldn’t we develop the storyline just a little bit, you know to make it seem more genuine.
Director: And cut out some hilarious Pauly Shore antics? HELL NO!
In Teen Wolf, Stiles is the exact opposite of Stoney, in that he has no problem exploiting Scott’s lycanthropy for his own personal gain. Stiles main goal is to be popular and comes up with various schemes achieve this goal.
At the beginning of the film, there is a party and Stiles takes it upon himself to get a keg of beer, so he will be viewed as being cool. His first attempt at getting the keg (dressing up like a delivery man and attempting to bribe the store owner) is an embarrassing failure: the owner takes the cash and then tells Stiles he still needs to see some ID. He then lassos Scott into his plan, by giving Scott money and a toy gun. His idea is that Scott will hold the owner at gun point, get the beer keg, and throw the money on the counter (“That way he can’t say we robbed him.”) Scott realizes how ridiculous this plan is and sees if he can talk the owner into selling him a keg.
However, Stiles goes through all the trouble for absolutely nothing: he arrives at the party with the keg and asks where to put it. The host points to whole pile of beer kegs and say “OK, put it down over there. If we don't get to it, take it home."
Stiles uses Scott’s lycanthropy for his own personal gain; he sells Teen Wolf merchandise in the school hallways and christens his van “The Wolfmobile” so he can be seen by spectators while cruising the town. It’s never revealed if he uses his connections to Scott to get laid, but it wouldn’t be out of character for a guy like Stiles. When Scott decides to drop the wolf for good, Stiles is devastated. It never dawns on him that being the Wolf has been an incredible burden on Scott; all he can think about is how it will effect him both socially and financially. Stiles is an enabler and often encourages Scott’s douchebag behavior: at one point in the film Stiles is driving the Wolfmobile with a beer can in his hand, while Scott does flips and hand stands on top of the van. Stiles is your standard teen movie sidekick, in that his main function is to offer up a few laughs here and there, and to be completely invisible at the film’s climax. Though, Jerry Levine deserves a good deal of credit for bringing lots of energy and likability to what could have been a thankless role: In one funny throw away bit (buried in the middle of montage), Stiles is awaiting for the results of a test he took; the teacher hands it to him, he turns it over and is completely excited over the D- he got on it. He shows the results to the guy sitting next him (Chubbs) and flashes a thumbs up. It’s a brief moment (and is a background action) but it perfectly sums up Stiles.
Edge: Encino Man Romance: The biggest flaw of Encino Man is the coupling of Dave and Robyn at the film’s end, mainly because the film does a horrible job of developing their relationship; there is no scene in the movie in which Robyn comes to the stunning realization that she has feelings for Dave. Their relationship does progress throughout the course of the film: It goes from her being slightly embarrassed by Dave to her embracing him as a friend, but there’s nothing else present on screen that would make you believe she would ever want to date Dave. NOTHING! Ten minutes before the dance scene takes place, we are presented with a scene in which Dave calls Robyn up on a pay phone (FROM JAIL) and asks her to go to prom with him. She says no and to add insult to injury tells Dave that she wants to go with Link and then asks Dave to ask Link for her. Needless to say this makes Dave furious; Robyn tries to smooth it over by suggesting they go as a group instead, but Dave won’t hear any of it and hangs up the phone, determined to get rid of Link. Dave redeems himself later by trying to cover up Link’s secret at the dance, but even then it’s hard to believe that this act would be enough for Robyn develop romantic feelings towards him.
The other problem is that Robyn is almost nowhere to be seen in the first half of the film; she makes an occasional appearance and here, but it isn’t until the second half that she becomes a more pivotal part of the story.
The Robyn/Dave storyline is shoved into the background to make room for more zany antics involving Link and Stoney. The biggest mistake the film makes is that when it does focus on Robyn and Dave, the two of them are never alone; Link and Stoney are always in tow to provide comedy relief. They are never given an intimate moment together, hell even their kiss at the end is interrupted by Link. The closest thing Dave and Robyn had to an intimate moment is when he calls her on the phone to ask if she will go the dance with him, it’s the only time in the film in which he doesn't get cock blocked by Link or Stoney, but even that ends disastrously for him.
Teen Wolf establishes a bond between Scott and Boof right from the get go; she is first introduced cheering Scott from the bleachers during a high school basketball game. When Scott has a chance to score two MEANINGLESS points at the game’s end (his team is losing 71-12), Boof is at the edge of her seat, crossing her fingers that Scott makes the basket, even though it has no bearing on the game. When the ball bounces off the rim, she is deflated.
More importantly, the two of them are given nice, quiet moments together scattered throughout the film to show that there is a deep bond: after the game, she walks with Scott to his dad’s hardware store and listens to him as airs out his frustrations; the main one being why Pamela Wells won’t say those “two words” to him. Later in the film Scott tries to pick up Pamela at a party, using the line, “You looking for someone in particular?”
Pamela replies, “Not you!” and walks away.
Boof sees the whole thing and jokingly says to Scott, “There you go! She said two words to you!”
In the middle of the movie (before Scott reveals that he is a werewolf to the entire school) Scott is walking Boof home and they two of them recall a time when they were kids and tried to run away from home, but their plan was thwarted because they weren't allowed to cross the street. Then she pulls Scott aside and tells him that if he ever needs someone to talk, she will always be there.
He appreciates the concern, but doesn’t think she would be able to understand that whole “I’m a werewolf” thing. It’s a nice scene that doesn’t necessarily advance the story, but it provides depth to the Scott/Boof storyline that is completely lacking in Encino Man.
Boof remains the voice of reason throughout the film and isn’t afraid to call Scott out on his bullshit, towards the film’s end they have the following exchange:
Scott: Will you go to the dance with me? Boof: I’ll think about it! Scott: Is that a yes? Boof: Yes. On one condition, you take me to the dance. Scott: I thought we just established…. Boof: You, Scott Howard. Not the wolf. Scott: No. Look, I’ve got to be the wolf. That’s what everyone expects. Boof: Is that what you want?
Scott: Everybody likes the wolf. (Boof flashes Scott a dirty look). Well, almost everybody. You said it yourself, if I go as Scott Howard, I’m going to be average. Why do I have to be like everybody else? Boof: That’s not a problem for you anymore.
High School dance sequences are a pivotal part of almost every teen comedy, because it’s usually a convenient way to get all the characters together in one room and help resolve the storyline. The dances usually happen towards the end of the film, but in some cases (Better Off Dead) they are stuck in the middle.
The dance sequence in Encino Man is a device used to resolve all the plot threads at the same time (Matt’s demise, Dave’s redemption, Robyn’s realizing her love for Dave, etc). It begins with Link and Robyn being voted the Prom King and Queen; their coronation is interrupted by Matt, who bursts in claiming that he has learned Link’s true identity. He has broken into Dave’s home and stumbled (literally) onto photos of Link frozen in a block of ice. Matt gets up onstage and says, “He’s a caveman.” The audience breaks into applause, much to Matt’s dismay, as he’s about to take out the photos, Dave comes flying into the gym and knocks them out of Matt’s hands. Matt punches Dave in the face, this anger Link and he picks Matt up on his shoulders, spins him around, and sends Matt flying fast first into a cake that is sitting on the refreshment table. Stoney walks into frame, takes a ladle of punch, tells Matt to “SHOOSH!” and then pours it over the vanquished villain’s head. Everyone breaks out into applause and gets onto the dance floor. Link, Stoney, and Dave breakout a new dance and within a second the whole school has it memorized and starts dancing along. The party is the moved to Dave’s new swimming pool in his backyard and he has finally realized his dream of being the most popular boy in school. Link gets his cavewoman back, after it is revealed that she has thawed out too and is in the bathtub washing away all the dirt. Stoney remains Stoney!
The dance sequence in Teen Wolf serves a far different function; it is where the shit hits the fan for Scott and, hence, it carries more dramatic weight. Scott enters the dance as the wolf; everyone sees him, starts clapping their hands and clears a path for him to walk through. Scott walks up to Boof and asks, “Care to dance with the wolf?” The crowd starts chanting “Wolf” and Boof quips, “You’re public wants you.” Scott tells her to come on and they start dancing. The Teen Wolf is one of the greatest awful dances of all time! That’s the closest way of describing just how ridiculous it is. Scott shakes his elbows back and forth, throws his hands into the air, and then does some random clawing motions. It’s AMAZING! As was the case with Encino Man, the other students see this dance and have it memorized within a second. Boof has had enough of this nonsense, takes Scott by the hand, leads him into the hallways, and asks “What am I gonna do about you?” Then throws herself at Scott and starts to make out with him.
Cut to Pamela and Mick at the dance:
Pamela: All I said was: I might wanna dance with him.
Mick: You can’t possibly take it seriously. Not unless you want to have his puppies.
Cut to Scott and Boof still kissing in the hallway. Scott is back to his normal self. Boof takes notice and says, “I want Scott for just a half hour. I really missed him.” Scott acquiesces, holds her hand, and walks back into the gym with her. Mick sees Scott in his human form, wastes no time in exacting his revenge and proceeds to punch Scott in the face, which sends Scott sailing into the gym floor. Mick stands over Scott, points his finger and says, “Stay away from Pamela. She’s mine. Stick with your own kind, freak. (Points to Boof) Like that little tramp.”
Scott, enraged, turns into the werewolf, lunges at Mick and rips off his shirt. This elicits laughter from most of the crowd, except Scott’s estranged friend Lewis, who is disturbed by Scott’s actions. A look of shame fills Scott’s face and he runs out of the gym.
This moment last only a few seconds, but is a pivotal turning point for three reasons:
1) Scott is finally paying for his sins as the wolf. As the wolf, Scott’s ego has ballooned to such gigantic proportions that he isolated an old friend(Lewis), while making an enemy out of Mick. As mentioned before, Mick had no interest in Scott whatsoever until Scott started to fool around with Pamela. While Mick’s anger maybe misdirected (he should really be upset at Pamela for fooling around), it is in many ways justified. It is only when he insults Boof (who did nothing to him) that he crosses the line.
2) This moment confirms Scott’s true love for Boof. When Mick punches Scott in the face, he is more stunned than anything else. In many ways, he seems to realize that he had it coming. What triggers Scott’s transformation into the wolf is when Mick calls Boof “a tramp.” Mick has crossed the line in insulting Scott’s true love and he takes it upon himself to defend her honor.
3) Scott fully realizes that being the wolf has its consequences and can be dangerous. After Scott’s temper has cooled, he realizes that he could have seriously harmed Mick, even killed him, if it wasn't for the intervention of a few students. This scares Scott and he vows never to become the wolf again, he might not win any popularity contests, but he finally starts to appreciate the “average” things he had prior to being the wolf. Being Scott Howard is not so bad after all. Not to mention Boof is vastly superior to Pamela (in looks and personality. Stupid Scott for not realizing this!)
The dance sequence in Teen Wolf is definitely the stronger of the two, because there’s a lot going on, despite the very little screen time devoted to it. It doesn't end on a happy note, but it helps set up the finale in which Scott faces Mick on the basketball court for the championship game. Encino Man’s dance scene’s primary function is to help set up the unconvincing kiss between Robyn and Dave at the film’s end. It doesn’t work, because there’s no emotional weight to it. Plus, it ends rather abruptly to segue way into the pool party at Dave’s house.
Edge: Teen Wolf
Montage:
Whether chronicling a nerdy girl’s makeover into a hottie, or the male protagonist getting progressively better at sports, the montage has served teen comedies well over the last 30 years. The two go hand in hand.
Encino Man has three montage sequences: Dave and Stoney giving Link much needed make over, Dave training Link how to defend himself (by watching Kung Fu movies and wrestling videos), and Link and Stoney having fun at an amusement park. The makeover montage is set to the song, "I'm Too Sexy" by one hit wonder Right Said Fred. It's your typical makeover sequence, the characters fuss over what clothes Link should wear, how they should style his hair, etc.
The amusement park sequence is set to song "Stone Cold Crazy" by Queen and while it isn't relevant to the actual story, it is a fun moment, largely due to the fact that it's just Link and Stoney clowning around. Not to mention, Dave isn't around to ruin their fun. The training montage is fairly useless as well, though it does get paid off at the film's end, when Link uses a wrestling move on Matt Wilson. Still, it's a fairly fun sequence and does have an awesome moment when Link smashes a board over Dave's head.
Teen Wolf is heavily reliant on montages to advance the story line:
The first montage takes place during/after Scott's first public transformation into the wolf and chronicles his sudden rise to fame. It's set to an obscure song called "Way To Go," which has the memorable line, "Supposing my clothes catch on fire and my car hits a tree."
Not only does this montage chronicle Scott's popularity, but it shows how the novelty of the wolf starts to wear thin on the people closest to him, namely Boof and the basketball team. At first they find his show boating amusing, but begin to resent it when he starts to hog the spotlight. At one point, his teammate Brad is dribbling the ball, when Scott steals it away from him and does a slam dunk.
The second montage happens after Scott has given up on the wolf and decides to play the championship game as "himself." The audience boos Scott and his teammates at first spurn him, but he changes their mind when he makes an impassioned speech about how they don't need the wolf and they can win it as a team, thus setting up one of the greatest come from behind wins in cinema history: The Beavers are losing 22-3 and look like they are out of gas, when Scott shows up and gives his inspirational speech. The comeback is further sparked when Chubbs makes a basket, after Mick shouts, "Shoot it, fatboy!" This gives the Beavers confidence and their miraculous comeback is chronicled in an exciting montage, set to a song called "Win In the End." This set's up the finale in which Scott has a chance to win the game by making two free throws...HE DOES! Thus proving that the whole "be yourself" message we were taught as kids is, indeed, true!
Edge: Teen Wolf
It was a close race, but it looks the winner is TEEN WOLF! Not only does Teen Wolf have a better lead character, a more believable romance, and a kick ass dance sequence, but it also proves once and for all that teen comedies would nothing without awesome montages to help advance the story. Thank you!
Credit:
Teen Wolf (1985)
Cast: Michael J. Fox (Scott Howard), James Hampton (Harold Howard), Susan Ursitti (Boof), Jerry Levine (Stiles), Lorie Griffin (Pamela), Jim McKrell (Principal Thorne), Jay Tarses (Coach Finstock), Mark Arnold (Mick), Mark Holton (Chubby), Scott Paulin (Kirk), Matt Alder (Lewis).
Director: Rod Daniel
Screenplay: Jeph Loeb, Matthew Weisman
Running Time: 92 min.
Encino Man (1992)
Cast: Brendan Fraser (Link), Sean Astin (Dave Morgan), Pauly Shore (Stoney) Megan Ward (Robyn), Richard Masur (Mr. Morgan), Mariette Hartley (Mrs. Morgan), Robin Tunney (Ella), Michael DeLuise (Matt Wilson), Rick Ducommun (Mr. Bush), Jonathan Ke Quan (Kim), Patrick Van Horn (Phil), Dalton James (Will), Rose McGowan (Nora), Jack Noseworthy (Taylor).
Director: Les Mayfield
Screenplay: Shawn Schepps
Running Time: 88 min.
