Werewolf (1996 film)
| Werewolf | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Tony Zarindast |
| Written by | Brad Hornacher Tony Zarindast |
| Produced by | Mark Fitzgerald |
| Starring | Jorge Rivero Richard Lynch Federico Cavalli Adrianna Miles Joe Estevez |
| Distributed by | A-Pix Entertainment Inc |
Release date | 1996 |
Running time | 99 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | unknown |
Werewolf, also known as Arizona Werewolf, is a 1996 film that was lampooned in a 1998 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Plot
Archaeologists working in Arizona find a werewolf skeleton. The ill-tempered foreman, Yuri (played by Jorge Rivero) gets into a fight with his crew, Tommy, Joel, and Bill. In the course of the fight, Tommy is scratched by the werewolf skeleton. This greatly alarms his fellow diggers, especially Joel (played by Joe Estevez). The head archaeologist, Noel, details what he knows of werewolf behavior, which he bases on American Indian mythology. Here the werewolf, or yetiglanchi takes on strange behavior including "sleeping nose to anus."
Tommy is taken to the hospital, where he begins showing signs of lycanthropy, finally turning into a werewolf and attacking people. Joel and Bill arm themselves with shotguns and silver bullets and succeed in subduing Tommy.
The scene now shifts to a house in suburban Flagstaff. A writer named Paul Niles (Federico Cavalli) arrives. At a party, he is introduced to one of the archaeologists, Natalie Burke (Adrianna Miles) and takes a romantic interest in her. Yuri is jealous and behaves badly - he is expelled from the party by his boss Noel. Yuri walks to the laboratory and conspires to create a new werewolf: he drugs a security guard (played by director Tony Zarindast) and injects him with blood drawn from Tommy. A new werewolf is indeed created, but the werewolf makes the unfortunate choice of driving itself home, and it suddenly crashes into some oil drums and dies in the ensuing fire.
The following day, Paul visits the lab at Natalie's invitation. He gets into a fight with Yuri, who attacks him with the werewolf skull. Paul is scratched by the skull, and now it is his turn to start showing symptoms of lycanthropy. He starts attacking people at night, but remembers little of it. Finally, Natalie and Yuri spy him changing. Yuri plots to capture Paul and take him to the lab, Natalie tries to help him. In a murky chase sequence, Paul, in werewolf form, kills Yuri. He and Natalie (now a werewolf, herself) reunite at the end of the movie.
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Werewolf was lampooned in a 1998 episode of movie-mocking television comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000. Mike Nelson and his robot friends made considerable light of the clumsy direction of the film, the relatively cheap nature of the werewolf costume, and the fact that almost all the cast - despite playing Americans - spoke English with thick accents, saying such phrases as "you and Noel is in it for fame and fortune? But over my dead body!" Because of the numerous ripe opportunities for riffing, Kevin Murphy, who played Tom Servo, referred to the film as "a gift from God".[1]
Notable cast
- Jorge Rivero — Yuri
- Richard Lynch — Noel
- Federico Cavalli — Paul Miles
- Adrianna Miles - Natalie Burke
- Joe Estevez - Joel
- R.C. Bates - Sam "the Keeper"
References
Trivia
Several scenes from "Werewolf" were shot on the campus of Glendale Community College in Glendale, CA. The lab scenes took place in the old Physical Science building before it was refurbished in the early 2000's. The footbridge that crosses Verdugo Rd., in front of the College, is seen in several nighttime shots. Director Tony Zarindast had purchased the stock shot of the car driving into the oil drums and exploding before shooting. He had his personal car painted to match the color of the car in the stock shots.