Tournament of Werewolves: American Bracket
On day one of our ultimate werewolf showdown, we have two head-to-head competitions in our American Man-Wolves bracket, and two more over in the International division.
ROUND 1: LARRY TALBOT vs. EDDIE QUIST
Larry Talbot (The Wolf Man, 1931) is the great-grandaddy of all werewolves - the guy who basically launched a thousand lycanthropes. Although his transformation was inspired by wolfbane rather than the full moon, it was Talbot who discovered his hirsute kind's weakness for silver, and the sad fact that the curse of the werewolf is transferred through a bite - in this case, from no less than Bela Lugosi. Feral but still fairly human, Talbot prowls the countryside with the best of them, and can only be stopped by a fiercely-wielded silver cane, although if it's wielded by his father he seems likelier to succumb.
Eddie Quist (The Howling, 1981): The wolves in The Howling are libidinous as well as lethal, and they take their sweet time transforming from humans into their hairier counterparts. But these man-eaters aren't mere monsters; rather, they're sophisticated creatures who assemble entire community where they can run free without the fear of staring down a silver bullet. Mind you, sometimes bad apples like Eddie Quist can ruin everyone else's good time with his appetite for homicide, but these wolves' travails are the first time the creatures not only create their own culture, but end up on the six o'clock news.Best moment: Quist's taunting and torture of Terri, a nosy human investigating the colony, is a riveting bit of suspense.
ROUND 1: DAVID KESSLER vs. WILL RANDALL
David Kessler (An American Werewolf in London 1981): Overheated and lovestruck as a mortal, David Kessler succumbs to his animal instincts as a werewolf, soon finding that he's an exceptional killer - even if the discovery comes at the cost of his clothes, and his best friend. Unlike other lupine competitors, however, David has the advantage of familiarity with modern-day society, having not only squared off against the police, but a double-decker bus, the fleeing denizens of Trafalgar Square, and perhaps most terrifyingly, the audience of a peep-show theater. Best moment: David makes mincemeat of six people in a single night, but it's his pursuit of an unlucky tube passenger that proves most terrifying.
Will Randall (Wolf, 1994): Will is slow to discover his nocturnal talents, but he quickly adapts them to around-the-clock behavior by establishing his territory, making a meal out of no less than a prizewinning horse, and conquering an in-her-prime Michelle Pfeiffer. Mind you, this particular creature looks a lot more like Jack Nicholson, the actor who plays him, than most of his decidedly more beastly competitors. But he's also the only competitor who possesses wolflike senses, a shark's grin, and the ability to use both at the same time. Best moment: Taking on a group of muggers is pretty badass, but chasing down and graphically dismembering a deer on his first night as a wolf wins this prize.
Winners of these two match-ups will face off on Friday, February 5, along with the survivors from our International, She-Wolf and Teen Wolf brackets.
