"But what of the darkness...?"
This is apparently the first of a new kind of Marvel thing on Disney Plus- not a continuing serial, not quite long enough to be a film, but a chance to tell a one off story. And, Halloween coming up as it is, we begin with some early '70s nostalgia in Werewolf by Night- although I remember the character from the late '80s run in Marvel Comics Presents.
I know Jack Russell well as a conscientious werewolf who does his best to not kill anyone when he turns into a werewolf, which is awfully nice of him. I'm also vaguely aware of the late Ulysses Bloodstone, and I love the treatment of Man-Thing in this- Ted- the monster who is not a monster but is, er, Giant Size. The werewolf looks cool but Man-Thing looks extraordinary.
But this isn't just about early '70s Marvel nostalgia, It's about capturing, in monochrome, the tone of Universal horror, including the deliciously camp humour of James Whale. And, with the late Ulysses Bloodstone's corpse being made to mechanically move to his recorded voice like something out of a haunted house, the effect is a chieved with aplomb. Gael Garcia Bernal is excellent as Jack Russell (woof woof), while Laura Donnelly- and I must watch The Nevers- is magnificent as the intrepid Elsa Bloodstone, who ends up in possession of the estate and the Bloodstone itself after her wicked stepmother is violently killed. No doubt we shall be seeing her again, in particular.
This is a wonderfully fun piece of pastiche horror. I love it.
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