Werewolves, this time

CEBU, Philippines - Trust my brothers to choose The Wolfman to watch on Valentine’s Day. Our other options were Dear John, Love Happens, Valentine’s Day and Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. But they just had to choose the gory monster flick. Did I mention they were with their girlfriends?

It wasn’t all that bad for me, though. Even if I believe every girl should be swept off her feet by her man, I don’t really take the commercialized notion of romantic love to heart. That, and Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins are looking good, even as men who has turned into werewolves.

The Wolfman is a remake—or, better yet, a retelling—of the horror classic The Wolf Man, which was released in 1941. Directed by Joe Johnston, it stars Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving and Geraldine Chaplin.

It tells the story of Lawrence Talbot (del Toro), who goes back to his ancestral home in London when his brother’s fiancée Gwen (Blunt) writes him that his brother Ben is missing. Upon arrival, however, Lawrence finds out from his father Sir John Talbot (Hopkins) that Ben’s mutilated body was found in a ditch inside their estate just the other day. He promises Gwen he’d try to find out what happened—a promise that brings his life to a rather tragic and disturbing turn when he survives a werewolf bite.

The Wolf Man (1941) is a classic for many reasons, chief of them its being the film that popularized a lot of things we now consider to be part of werewolf lore: that werewolves turn during the full moon and that they are vulnerable to silver. This poem has also been believed to be an ancient rhyme, although it was penned by screenwriter Curt Siodmak for the film: